Double Bass Upright Bass String Broken at Bottom/Tailpiece

[Cara Steinberg]

Hello! My A string just broke on my upright at the bottom. I haven't played it in a few months and had it in the corner of a room. The humidity sits around 50 and the temperature is colder since the room is in the basement. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, am I storing the instrument correctly? Is this a normal issue to have?

My apologies for the poor description, I think the picture I've attached will help more.

I also had this happen with the E string last year. It came undone from the bass at the top though. The string broke while I was not playing it.

I haven't been playing upright for very long (about 2 years) and I don't know if I'm doing something wrong here. I would appreciate any insight or advice from experienced double bassists. Thank you!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I’ve been playing for decades, and I hit strings as hard as anyone I know. I’ve never had a string break like that at the tailpiece.

What kind of strings are they? If they are whatever came on the bass when you bought it, they might just be cheap strings that would be better to replace anyway - especially if it was an inexpensive bass and you bought it new.

 

[GretschWretch]

I had an A string snap loud enough that it woke me out of a sound sleep. Cold front passed through in the wee morning hours and the string contracted. Don't recall at which end, though.

 

[Cara Steinberg]

I’ve been playing for decades, and I hit strings as hard as anyone I know. I’ve never had a string break like that at the tailpiece.

What kind of strings are they? If they are whatever came on the bass when you bought it, they might just be cheap strings that would be better to replace anyway - especially if it was an inexpensive bass and you bought it new.

The strings are Kolstein's Heritage Jazz strings

 

[Cara Steinberg]

I had an A string snap loud enough that it woke me out of a sound sleep. Cold front passed through in the wee morning hours and the string contracted. Don't recall at which end, though.

That sounds familiar to me! It is odd I've had these strings break at both ends too.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

The strings are Kolstein's Heritage Jazz strings

I had one of those break on me some years ago in the pegbox when I wasn't playing on a bass that came with them. Other than that, I don't know much about them other than that they are low tension. But what you are experiencing sounds like a string issue rather than a bass issue assuming that you are in standard tuning.

 

[Cara Steinberg]

I had one of those break on me some years ago in the pegbox when I wasn't playing on a bass that came with them. Other than that, I don't know much about them other than that they are low tension. But what you are experiencing sounds like a string issue rather than a bass issue assuming that you are in standard tuning.

Ok, thank you! Any recommendations for strings? I am a more of a jazz bassist, so they don't have to be great for classical.

 

[bherman]

Ok, thank you! Any recommendations for strings? I am a more of a jazz bassist, so they don't have to be great for classical.

Cant go wrong with Thomastik Spirocores for jazz (either mediums or weich/light), or Pirastro Perpetuals or Evah Pirazzi. Spend some time in the TB strings forum and you'll get lots of opinions.

 

[Steven Ayres]

I use Kolsteins a lot. I've only had one break, and that was due to overtension. OP's break seems like a product-quality issue; I'd be talking with Kolstein about it.

 

[Cara Steinberg]

I use Kolsteins a lot. I've only had one break, and that was due to overtension. OP's break seems like a product-quality issue; I'd be talking with Kolstein about it.

Hm ok. I am a bit disappointed if it truly is a quality issue because this is the 2nd string to break from them. Thank you!

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Cara - I second the recommendation for Thomastik Spirocores. They are the gold standard of jazz strings. If you have other bassists in your area, it would be good to reach out and see if anyone has a set of Spiro mittels or weichs on a bass that you could play for 5 minutes. They are very different from the Heritage, but I would recommend the mitten S42 set as a good starting point. Plus, they will last forever.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

The Heritage strings have a Perlon (plastic) core, and Barrie changed the formulation several times trying to perfect them. I wouldn’t be surprised if others experienced breakage.

Another vote for Spiros for jazz pizz, Weichs if light tension is important to you. I tried a used set of Heritages for maybe five minutes and took them off because they sounded and felt like wimpy, floppy nothing and didn’t project well on my bass.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

I tried a used set of Heritages for maybe five minutes and took them off because they sounded and felt like wimpy, floppy nothing and didn’t project well on my bass.

This was exactly my experience as well. They felt like soggy, overcooked pasta to me.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Recommending a different type of string (steel core instead of synergic core) would solve the problem but limit the string choices. I would rather change a bit at the nut and tailpiece so that there is less stress on the string.

At the tailpiece there is a sharp angle at the upper end of the string slots. I would recommend to file the upper end of the string slots in a curve towards the bridge so that the string is bend less over a longer part which reduces stress. Of course, the string slots should be wide enough so that the strings are not clamped there.
At the nut the string slots need be wide enough, maybe better a little bit wider than needed. But there is a second sharp string angle at the pegbox side of the nut. By filing the top end curved towards the inside of the pegbox the string gets less stressed because the bending is less over a longer part of it.
The nut shape might need to get adjusted to the filed curve of th nut slots to avoid clamping of the string (1/3 to 1/2 of the string in the nut slot only). It doesn't matter if the string is not in contact over the whole length of the nut slot, the important part is to avoid the sharp bending at the upper die of the nut.
Due to the different angles to the pegs you might want to curve so that the string to the closest peg to the nut is not sharply bent and he others may not be in contact with the nut groove over the whol length. That results in a nicer nut shape than individually optimized contact areas for all strings. But it's you choice.

Keep in mind that a sharp edge can cut in between the windings of the string and let the (specially metal flatwound) windings cut into the synthetic or gut core and weaken it. Trying to tune the string in that case cannot transport the windings with the core towards the pegbox, so there is more mass at the vibrating part, which means more tension is needed to get the string to pitch than normal which might lead to a broken string, specially if it was weakened by a partial cut into the core already.
That more often happens with synthetic core metal flat wound strings than others. But also roundwound strings could be catched bending at a sharp edge if the tension is high enough.

This might not be needed for steel core strings, but if you might want to use synthetic or gut core strings in the future it doesn't hurt to make these small modifications.

 

[Mandobassman]

Cant go wrong with Thomastik Spirocores for jazz (either mediums or weich/light), or Pirastro Perpetuals or Evah Pirazzi. Spend some time in the TB strings forum and you'll get lots of opinions.

Spirocores are great strings. used them for years. But the D’Addario Helicore are every bit as good in my opinion, and cost significantly less. I’ve been using Helicore’s for the last 8 years and love them.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Helicores don’t last nearly as long as Spiros.

 

[bherman]

Helicores don’t last nearly as long as Spiros.

to each his own - I've tried Helicores several 3-4 times and didn't care for them. They are less expensive so if they work for you, that's definitely a plus!

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I might add to my last posting that synthetic material ages quicker than steel. So if the string is on the bass for a long time (several years, probably over five or ten) or by less than optimal storage conditions, then the core might have been weakened by age.

 

[Cara Steinberg]

I might add to my last posting that synthetic material ages quicker than steel. So if the string is on the bass for a long time (several years, probably over five or ten) or by less than optimal storage conditions, then the core might have been weakened by age.

So the issue I had could be caused by the string or the environment? The string was only about 3 years old...

 

[stefaniw80401]

So the issue I had could be caused by the string or the environment? The string was only about 3 years old...

It's likely a sharp edge on the TP. See DoubleMidi's earlier post above. I'll daresay that most of us have TP's with a sharp edge where the strings exits the ball-end mounting holes. This is rarely a problem for those of us using metal strings, because of the way the string's core is doubled around the ball. Gut strings may show some obvious stress at the contact points of the TP.

That said, you may be able to salvage that string by installing an aluminum crimp -- in effect taking the place of the ball that tore off. This is just a hack, and may get you by for a while.

Most E-string breakage occurs against the cheek of the pegbox if/when the person installing the string doesn't mind what they're doing. Consider yourself lucky if the string breaks. Worst case scenario would be that the cheek of the pegbox cracks outward from the pressure of the E-string as you tune it up. Always be on the lookout for this issue when you change strings.