Over tightened E string by accident

[Dr3thepooner]

Hey people,

What a noob mistake to make, put of a new set of med-light nickels on yesterday, and accidentally went almost full octave higher on Low E... :|. Immediately realized, I am an idiot, and went back to the proper E tuning.

Is there chance of any permanent damage to the neck?

Thanks.

 

[Avezzano]

Wood is elastic! If it did not break... it is just fine!

 

[bholder]

Slight, but if it returned to normal string action, you're probably ok. Unless, of course, you heard something go "snap". I would say with a well designed neck, the string should snap before the neck gets any damage.

 

[David Jayne]

No but you might have killed the string. May sound dead now, or very soon. May even break. Just the string.

 

[TolerancEJ]

It was only over-tightened for a short moment. The bass will be fine. I think I am more impressed the string didn't break, having been tuned an entire octave higher.

 

[rayzak]

I've done it and had no issues. Hopefully you'll have a similar experience. string was ok too
Think it was my D string though.

 

[songwriter21]

Therein lies the reason why graphite or graphite-reinforced necks are awesome...no worries. But, like previously said, if the action went back and without any weird sounds, then you're fine.

 

[songwriter21]

I actually did that and then some with my very first, almost 20 years ago. Went until it busted, going ABOVE the octave you hit. Luckily, I got a tuner after that!

 

[Dave W]

You'll be fine

 

[Dr3thepooner]

Phew... that's a relief hear, no put intended.
I think what really helped, is that the Low E is 100... it still sounds pretty good, but feels a bit looser than usual, i'd say!

Thanks for the quick replies ppls!

 

[Avezzano]

...relax: basses are robust tools, made for real men. Guitars are for weak people!!!!

 

[RED J]

I doubt if it was worse than putting a full set of high tension flats on. That just requires a truss rod tweek. Relax.

I experimented with tuning a BEAD set on a P bass up to EADG a few years back. Stayed that way for several weeks with no lasting effects when I changed it back to standard, and relaxed the truss rod considerably.

 

[Slevage]

I am also in the camp of---- neck is fine

String a whole octave higher

 

[Big Hoss]

Unless it's a total POS neck I would be far more worried about what you did to that string...

 

[petey293]

Peter Cetera spoke in an interview about getting his first bass:

"I got my Danelectro Short Horn and I asked somebody in our band how to tune it. He said, I think it’s tuned like the first four strings of a guitar. So, that’s what I did. I started playing, and I’m thinking, gee, it doesn’t sound real bassy. A few weeks later, a famous local bassist came and sat in at our club gig. He put the bass on and went, What the hell?! He quickly tuned it down the right way and I had to learn all over again; I was lucky the neck hadn’t snapped!"

If he was able to do that and leave it that way for a few weeks, you should be all right

 

[paparoof]

Peter Cetera wrote in an interview about getting his first bass:

"I got my Danelectro Short Horn and I asked somebody in our band how to tune it. He said, I think it’s tuned like the first four strings of a guitar. So, that’s what I did. I started playing, and I’m thinking, gee, it doesn’t sound real bassy. A few weeks later, a famous local bassist came and sat in at our club gig. He put the bass on and went, What the hell?! He quickly tuned it down the right way and I had to learn all over again; I was lucky the neck hadn’t snapped!"

If he was able to do that and leave it that way for a few weeks, you should be all right

wow.

 

[rtslinger]

Yeah I would think more like you did something to the string itself internally. As for the neck as long as you didn't have it tune like that for a long while I would not think you caused any damage to the neck just to play it safe check your bridge though tension like that could pull the screws out of the body.

 

[SteveC]

How did that string not break? An octave is huge. Wow.

 

[JxBass]

My first bass when I was a kid was a $79 Kent. When I asked someone how to tune it they said to tune the subsequent string to the 17 fret of the previous string. I'm sure they meant it would be an octave, more of an intonation check, but I took it literally. I tuned the A to the same pitch as the 17th fret on the E, and so on for the D and G. I knew when I was done that it couldn't be right and detuned it until I learned the right way.

Amazingly the Kent held up, the strings didn't break, and I never changed those strings in the two years I owned the bass. The action was pretty lousy and I'm sure the intonation was way off, but it would be a long time before I learned how to address those issues

 

[Gougedeye]

Hey people,

What a noob mistake to make, put of a new set of med-light nickels on yesterday, and accidentally went almost full octave higher on Low E... :|. Immediately realized, I am an idiot, and went back to the proper E tuning.

Is there chance of any permanent damage to the neck?

Thanks.

So, I've got a story relating to this. Several years ago, I had a bass that must of had some sort of burr or something in the e string saddle. My band was playing a gig several hours away from my home and I forgot my extra set of strings. But since I had just changed the strings, I assumed all would be well. Its bad to assume. 1st or 2nd song, sure enough the E string unravels at the ball end. Not having any extra strings, I improvised. Snipped the ball off, ran it through the bridge. Tied it in several knots and overtightened it to at least and octave and maybe 2 above normal. Lowered it down to normal and played the whole rest of the show without a hitch. So no damage to the neck or bass in any way.