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04-18-2010, 01:33 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: virginia | | | chronic string breakage - HELP!
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hey talkbass, this is my first post here, and i have a problem. i'm breaking strings left and right! i've gone through 4 sets in the last month and a half. i took my bass to a luthier and he filed the saddles, thinking they were too sharp, but that didn't help. i can't afford to keep buying new strings. you guys got any ideas? |
04-18-2010, 01:36 PM
|  | Less barking, more wagging! | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA | | | Tell us more. What kind of bass? What kind of strings? Are you using standard tuning? Is there any consistency as to how or where the strings break? How do you play? |
04-18-2010, 01:53 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: virginia | | | playing a ric 4001, using DR Sunbeams. 4 strings, standard tuning. The strings consistently break right where they meet the saddles. I tried playing with different gauge strings, lighter and heavier, but it didn't help at all so i went back to my comfort zone of 0.45 gauge. and as i said, the saddles were deburred by a luthier. no one string seems to break more than the others. |
04-18-2010, 01:55 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: virginia | | | also, i play with my fingers most of the time, but will occasionally hit some chords with a pick. i never slap. |
04-18-2010, 08:59 PM
| | Registered User
I setup & repair guitars & basses | | Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Kensington, Ca | | | you guys got any ideas?
Quote:
Originally Posted by quincy_j_clomo  hey talkbass, this is my first post here, and i have a problem. i'm breaking strings left and right! i've gone through 4 sets in the last month and a half. i took my bass to a luthier and he filed the saddles, thinking they were too sharp, but that didn't help. i can't afford to keep buying new strings. | It's probably your technique. Also, are you buying cheap strings?
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Instrument repair/setup, Bay area
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04-18-2010, 09:03 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Canada | | | Do you play very hard?
If you're using DRs (quality strings) and had your bridge checked out for sharp edges, I can only think that you must be playing awfully hard to have consistent breaks.
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04-18-2010, 09:05 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: NYC | | | does graph-tech make a saddle that will retro fit your bridge? seems like a strange problem - even if you play extremely hard you shouldn't be breaking that many strings . . . |
04-18-2010, 09:09 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Quebec | | | Are your strings tapered ? I use Dean Markley SR2000, and the tapered E broke 2 times recently, and I had almost never broke a string before. |
04-18-2010, 09:13 PM
|  | Regal User | | Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Orange County, CA | | | The only times I've repeatedly broken strings, it was because the saddles were too close to the string holes on the neck, causing a very severe, abrupt angle on the strings. If the saddles are right next to the end of the bridge (furthest from the neck) that may be the cause. If that is where the saddles need to be for good intonation...then you could lower the action. |
04-18-2010, 09:25 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Canberra, Australia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by quincy_j_clomo hey talkbass, this is my first post here, and i have a problem. i'm breaking strings left and right! i've gone through 4 sets in the last month and a half. i took my bass to a luthier and he filed the saddles, thinking they were too sharp, but that didn't help. i can't afford to keep buying new strings. you guys got any ideas? | Quincy I had exactly the same problem as you! My top 3 strings were breaking all the time. Even broke my E string once. Under advice, I also filed down my bridge saddles and lubricated them after every string change. This didnt really solve the problem. I was using DR fatbeams and Lo-riders at the time.
Recently, I have been using Sadowsky SS blues. I have not had a string break on me in the last 6 months. I think these strings are less flexible. They certainly feel that way. I think the reason I was continually breaking the DRs is because my sweat must be more corrosive than other's. You may be the same. Try giving the sadowskys a go. They're cheaper and they sound decent. Similar to the DRs, unfortunatley not lasting as long however.
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Victor Wooten + Steve Bailey =... Victor Bailey?
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04-18-2010, 11:21 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: virginia | | | thanks
well, thanks everyone. i'll try those suggestions out and see what happens. |
04-19-2010, 11:10 AM
| | Less barking, more wagging! | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: San Diego, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by paganjack The only times I've repeatedly broken strings, it was because the saddles were too close to the string holes on the neck, causing a very severe, abrupt angle on the strings. If the saddles are right next to the end of the bridge (furthest from the neck) that may be the cause. If that is where the saddles need to be for good intonation...then you could lower the action. | This would seem a likely cause - especially when strings are breaking at the bridge. Can the OP post a few snapshots?
Last edited by Jazzdogg : 04-19-2010 at 01:16 PM.
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