HAS ANYONE EVER BROKEN TI JAZZ FLATS

[rymiraflores]

I am curious about this...I have been using TIs for 10 years and am on my 2nd set...never have broken one yet. Has anyone ever broken one and was it with pick or fingers.
I do find it odd when I read about people breaking strings...is this just because they play very hard?

[makkE]

It surely has to do with how hard you dig in. I used to break my rounds all the time, but never any flats until now. But then, I have also lightened my touch up a bit.
Still I think flats are simply less prone to break, because the saddle, nut and frets simply won't damage the flat windings as much as they damage the smaller round wires. If you think about it, there's a lot more coherent surface on flatwounds, wich I guess contribute to their sturdiness.

[bass rocks]

i broke a g string fingering a minor

[SLaPiNFuNK]

hehe, nice... bass rock...

I have seen what has happened to my upright strings happen to TI Flats. With the silk inner winding, I guess it makes the outer wrapping able to compress slightly. If you press hard enough on a fret, or lean string first toward a table, it can indent the string. Saw it on a friend of mines bass recently, he didn't even know it was there, but you can see and feel it. Its not a bend in the core like you would see on a round, but the wrap pressed into a flat shape (no longer perfectly round string) over the core.

[butchblack]

I think it's more how hard you play. I only know of one bassist who broke strings regularly. He was a plumber by trade and had massive and very strong hands. BTW he played tapewounds.

[3wavylines]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

With the silk inner winding, I guess it makes the outer wrapping able to compress slightly. If you press hard enough on a fret, or lean string first toward a table, it can indent the string.

The other night, I was playing bass along with iTunes on the computer. I had to go check if my son had fallen asleep yet. I leaned my p-bass against the cushion of the swivel office chair, strings down. As I walked out of the room, I heard a "BONG!" I turned around and my bass was face down on the floor.

Just before it got to the floor, the neck of the bass hit one of the legs (feet?) of the chair, just above one of the casters. The neck hit on the A string just beyond the 9th fret. If I tried to play an F# on the A string, it buzzed like crazy.

The fret had a mark on it from where the string hit it. The string was bent and flattened where it hit the fret. Luckily, after I put on a new A string, it didn't buzz anymore, so I don't need to take the bass to the shop. I am glad the string absorbed most of the force of the hit, rather than the fret.

So, I've never broken a TI Jazz Flat string, but I've bent one.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

Yeah thats what happens! That sucks, and thankfully you didn't take a chunk out of your finger board! (I'm guilty of that).

Thankfully, less than $8 can avoid that:

Planet Waves Guitar / Bass Rest

[mongo2]

In over 40 years of playing I've never broken a sting while playing.

In fact I can only remember seeing one player break a bass string while playing and it was Larry Taylor when he was with John Mayall way back when.

[Randyt]

TI ...never...But,I did break a Labella on my Jazz V (through body) It broke right at bridge saddle.
I guess I should of payed more attention to the warning on the string label.

[jmlee]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

Yeah thats what happens! That sucks, and thankfully you didn't take a chunk out of your finger board! (I'm guilty of that).

Used TI flats for years, never broken one...but on the subject of chunks and fingerboards...some years ago I was doing a run of the musical Chess using a BSX electric upright and my Fender Jazz Plus V. Had the BSX on a stand and was tuning the Fender standing up. Turned around to talk to a violin player (*never talk to the strings, it only encourages them...*), and knocked the BSX of its stand. It hit my oversized music desk and hit the floor hard. There was a lot of paint off the headstock, the bridge was cracked, and there was a huge dent in the fingerboard. The repair guy fixed everything and, to my amazement, was able to steam the dent completely out of the neck--somehow reinflating the cells in the wood. I was dumbstruck.

[SLaPiNFuNK]

huh... I never knew that you could do that!

(goes to look at basses to see if still owns one I damaged the fingerboard like this on)

[3wavylines]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

Thankfully, less than $8 can avoid that:

Planet Waves Guitar / Bass Rest

Thanks, I'm gonna pick up a couple of those.

[Jim Nazium]

I don't remember breaking any bass string ever. Of course at my age, that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I digress. TI flats are pretty low tension strings, so I would expect the breakage rate on those to be pretty low.

[onosson]

I've broken both flat and round strings, used to quite frequently in my first decade of bassplaying. Now I play smarter and lighter, and I might break one every couple years or so (rounds), usually the E or A. Have only just got into flats again (which were my only choice when I started - got into rounds later) but I expect they'll last a long time.

[Jazzdogg]

I've been using TI flats for several years - have 'em on 5 or 6 basses. Playing DB and electric since '68 and I've never broken a string of any kind.

[testing1two]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

Yeah thats what happens! That sucks, and thankfully you didn't take a chunk out of your finger board! (I'm guilty of that).

Thankfully, less than $8 can avoid that:

Planet Waves Guitar / Bass Rest

I used this for the first time last night at a gig and it works great. It doesn't have any locking mechanisms or velcro so don't expect too much, but with a little common sense it does a fine job.

EDIT: to make sure my post is relevant to the thread topic, I was playing TI flats and didn't break one. =)

[WoodyG3]

Well, I did break a TI flatwound string, but it was hardly the string's fault. I accidentally tightened the string way past pitch. It was a real "what the hell was I thinking" kind of moment.

[Brad Johnson]

Yes. Fingers. Really surprised me because I don't play unusually hard and the bass itself was fine.

[Jay2U]

I broke the D string of a set of Fender 9050 Flats. It snapped between the nut and the tuner.