How long has it been since you last broke a string?

[WhenTheDrumsStops]

Few months ago I broke the D and on average it happens once a year that I brake either a D or G string. I think it's because I boil my strings regularly to remove the dirt on the strings, it makes them a bit weaker I guess? And of course I slap a lot so that will wear out those strings too.

 

[Liam Wald]

55 years playing. never broke a string.

 

[And I]

I have never broken a bass string.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Must have been back in acoustic 12-string guitar days, 40 years ago. I used to buy octave G strings by the handful.
These days, it's fretless bass tuned standard - a low-stress environment; haven't yet broken a bass string, but I do still carry a pack of spares (and a spare bass...) on important gigs.

 

[Keger Jupit]

27 years ago...the E on a set of Billy Sheehan signature Rotosounds. I started taking string installation technique more seriously after that (3-4 wraps, wind down the post, pre-stretching). I became a bit OCD about it

 

[logdrum]

I've broken putting a used G..Tuning it up turning the tuners while plucking the D and wondering why it wasn't changing pitch. Plucked it hard and it snapped. This bass also had a graphite neck. Upright bass wound gut thaw on a bass previously and broke at the peg box.

 

[Plectrum72]

30 years and never broke a string (on an electric bass guitar).

 

[brett adams]

i also have never broken a bass string.

 

[Tony In Philly]

In 2007 I broke an A string at a gig. I think I was using a thumb pick at the time.

 

[Koshchei]

About 30 years. It was a guitar D string.

 

[NathOBX]

About a year ago i broke a D while playing Tequila, about twenty years ago i broke a low E. Check your saddles for burrs every time you change strings.

 

[Ewo]

Been playing electric bass since the late '60s. Broke a string on a gig in '71. I've carried a spare set of used strings to every gig ever since! They're already cut to length and wrapped around the tuning post, so it'd be a quick change.

Had a couple pop when restringing, in the years since. (Defective wrap in the ball end, I figure.) But that was the only time I had one break on a gig. (Knock on wood...but I've got spares with me...)

 

[M-rek]

I remember breaking the D string during my first year of bass playing. I had just discovered the schlappin‘-da-bass and didn‘t think about the possible consequences...
I broke another string, a D‘addario Chrome G string. Took it off my Stingray and re-strung it. During tuning up the string snapped on the sharp edge of the tuning post.

 

[Ian McLaughlin]

Playing with a pick some years ago, yeah I've broken a few, usually the E. Not for a long time tho.

 

[TheReceder]

Nothing against you, but I've always been a firm believer in having a backup bass tuned and ready to go in case of mishap. Any time I've worked with Pro's, this is the norm, and it kept its tradition once I went part time. Many will scoff here and say, "I've never had an issue, no reason to bring a spare." My answer is, "that will change after it happens once or twice and it shuts down the show." You got lucky and was able to get through just missing a string, but a 10 second bass change would have been easier. Not pointed at you again, but usually after a mishap, what I say makes sense.

I carry an extra amp, often two cabs, and anything else (cords) that might stop a show. Anything mechanical can break, and will often pick the worse time to do so.

I'm sorry you had the mishap, but I'm glad to see you learned from it.

Me? I broke one string, a G string after repeated boils, practicing in my room when I was 16. I've had just about everything else break on a bass, but only that one string.

No offense taken. You basically nailed it. I was used to playing the same Jazz bass since 1976. It never failed me, except in the old days when I did a "slide bass" solo with a beer bottle and a drumstick. Beat the heck out of it and occasionally lost a string.

The broken D string didn't impact me too much, The band just wondered why I was less talkitive than normal. There were a couple bass players in the audience that noticed and were pretty impressed with my ability to play around it, and again, the rest of the band didn't even notice an increase of clams, (there weren't any).

I can play around broke strings, but if anything, I began to wonder what happens in the event of a preamp fail in an active bass. Or something more catastrophic like me tripping on stage and trashing a neck. Could happen, and it's not to tough to have a bass backstage and have a stage hand grab it for me. (I'm not a fan of multiple basses on stage if I can avoid it).

I was always a one bass guy... actually only owned one bass, till one of my more recent bands started bugging me about not having a backup. So I bought a bass he hated and used it on stage (Guitarists seem to really hate Peaveys apparently) Since then I've been bit by the bug and in the case of this broken string, it was a bass I'd only played a couple weeks.

Now, not only do I have backup basses, I've got an optional in ears system, wedges that can easily handle the bass, and just for fun I've got an elf tucked away.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

25 years. And it was on a bass with a whammy bar. (Steinberger Bass TransTrem) never should have sold that bass.

 

[milesdavisblue]

One string in 45 years of playing that was 15 or 16 years ago. I still always carry a spare Bass just in case.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

In thinking about it today, I don't think I've broken a string in perhaps 15 years (playing out perhaps two to three times a month).

But decades ago, I remember breaking one or two strings every year.

Has my playing technique improved? Are strings sturdier? Are bass bridges better?

Just random musing . . .

I broke strings incessantly on my Fender Strat Plus until I got Graph Tech saddles... never broke one after that.

As far as the bass... I never see a string breaking on me (so long as it’s not a manufacturer defect). I play fingerstyle 98% of the time and when I use a pick, it’s a thin one. Also, I play mainly classic rock and blues, so I’m not “attacking” the strings, so to speak.

 

[JPaulGeddy]

1987, one and only, right as I was stringing it up. $40 that I did not have, wasted.

 

[LordRyan]

At least fifteen years ago. I broke an E string and didn't have a spare. Fortunately a friend of the band in attendance was a Bass player and happened to have one.

A couple of weeks ago a Bass player I play with when I'm on keys broke an A string on a borrowed Bass during the first set. He didn't have a spare and had to play the whole night to a huge Jersey Shore crowd with no A string. It was his first night on Bass after playing guitar with the band for a couple of years. He had just bought a Rumble 500 and had a new Bass on order. He had been practicing the parts and then had to re-think everything on the fly. He learned a valuable lesson that night.