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Darn guitar strings.

dinghy

dinghy

May 27, 2007
1,212
147
San Francisco
#1
I broke two darn sets' high E strings trying to find a good setup for my SX strat. Now I'm fresh out of high e's.

One was a 9, the other was an 11 set. EXL and Med.

This must be why I play bass.

:mad:

rant over

Mod edit: All profanity must be fully masked. Please reread the usage agreement.
 
#7
santucci218 said:
Coming from a kid who restrings guitars for a living, lol, if the strings break, you are doing it wrong. Buy a book or watch a video on how to do it. Go to your local music store and ask if you can watch the guy restring and setup the guitar. maybe write some notes down and stuff.
Click to expand...

+1. This is great video for how to string a guitar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ
 
#10
santucci218 said:
Coming from a kid who restrings guitars for a living, lol, if the strings break, you are doing it wrong. Buy a book or watch a video on how to do it. Go to your local music store and ask if you can watch the guy restring and setup the guitar. maybe write some notes down and stuff.
Click to expand...

+1
In at least 5 years I've never broken a guitar string (or a bass string for that matter) A fair share of reeds though...
 
#13
I second the recommendation on both learning how to do it proper-like and also to possibly check the bridge for burrs or other sharp spots.

Could also be your playing technique is too hard. I remember breaking many more guitar strings when I was learning to play, can't remember the last time I broke one recently...

I was breaking E strings on bass on my Fender jazz when I first got it, that's far more frustrating. Had to get my luthier to clean up the bridge, since then I've managed to keep my strings, with the exception of my L.A. gig last month.:(
 
#15
As mentioned, there's the issue of burrs on the saddle or binding in the nut. Then there's the issue of being too ham-handed and hitting the strings too hard.

But...

dinghy said:
I think I actually broke both of them downtuning them so I could fiddle with the truss rod. Dnt expect that.
Click to expand...

That sounds PURELY like an operator headspace/timing issue.

fig3-16.gif


Strings, and especially fresh strings will not break if tension is relieved from them. But strings, even fresh strings, will break if too much tension is placed on them.

Try winding the tuning key the other way or make sure your string is wound properly in the post and not caught and turning the opposite way.
 

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