• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

When's the last time you broke a string?

#102
About 25 years ago... my dad was driving me to a lesson. I forget why but he had to stomp on the brakes. My bass was in a hard case but went flying into the backs of the front seats. When I got to my lesson I opened my case and the G string had popped. That's the one and only time I have had a string break.
 
#103
I play upright at a bluegrass venue out of town that does a jazzed up version of Amazing Grace. I like to play the walking part. Later that winter I was playing a bluegrass jam with a church group. They played Amazing Grace, (a much more conservative version) and I forgot where I was and played the walking version. I noticed a gentleman waving at me and giving me the snake eye. Just about that time the core of my E string let go with a big bang, (I was amped). When I started to change it the gentleman came over and started giving me grief for playing that kind of trash in his church. I just packed it up and left. He had more power than I thought.
 
#107
1983 - I was debuting my new-to-me '71 P at a gig when the string broke mid-song. I hadn't discovered the burr on the saddle which had been abrading the string, and my Godzilla meets the Hulk attack didn't help things. Luckily my trusty Rick was at hand so the remainder of the gig went smoothly.
 
#108
During a gig about 10 years ago. Snapped the G string at the bridge. Had to transpose on the fly. No backup but I luckily had a pack of strings. The rest of the band distracted the audience while I replaced the string.
 
#109
JazzyJacuzzi said:
I remember breaking strings the first four or five years I started playing bass, but I can't recall ever breaking a string in the past 10 years.

When's the last time you broke a string? How did it happen?
Click to expand...
Last year. Strung it, tuned it up, pop.

E and D strings.

Mark bass sent me new strings.

D string broke again on the new set.

Never bought another pack of markbass strings.
 
#110
I had twin friends in school, c.82-84, who were the major local act. Jon played guitar and Si played bass. They both started young with guitars and, to begin with, Si played 'bass' on a down-tuned guitar. Most guitars won't drop an octave so he just went down to C#. When he eventually got a proper bass (1983 Vox Standard) he tuned A up to C# to keep some familiarity of fingerings. Even fresh Roto '66 can't take that level of abuse for more than a few hours and there was always a flying ball end or two most gigs. Thankfully in those days you could buy individual '66 over the counter at the local family-run music store.
 
#114
1982. E string. Rotosound. Broke at the bridge. I used to play mostly with a pick back then, close to the bridge, and thrash the bass pretty hard. We were three songs into the first set of a four set gig, with a standing-room-only crowd. Didn't have a spare bass. Didn't have spare strings (I was young and broke and hadn't yet grasped the concept of contingency planning). I muddled through the rest of the set, then when we took our break, the soundman jumped on his motorcycle and rode, through the rain, to his brother's apartment and stole the E string off of his brother's bass. That got me going again. From the next day onward I never gigged without a spare set of strings. A few years later I was able to afford a second bass.
 
Last edited:
#115
Me? Never broke a string on a bass, my #1 however had the G string fail twice, both with the same guy playing it. He was singing in a band I was in and was a very accomplished funk bassist but he mauled a bass when he played it.
 
#118
Couple of months before lockdown, early on during an out of town gig. It was my T-40’s first outing for a while and the first time it’s done that.

One of the other bassists on the bill lent me her Squier jazz to finish the set, and it was a very nice instrument. It was a really fun gig all round and we enjoyed hanging out with everyone.
 
#120
When's the last time you broke a string?

well a couple years ago I built this bass here

DSCF1168.JPG


a 5 string frankenstein bass with a 32" scale neck. When I hear talk about that you have to have a 35" scale neck to get a good low B then I figure well its time to build a 32" scale 5 string bass. The B works fine except I only have long scale string and when I string up the 32" scale bass with the low B it hits the tuner right where the string tapers and the string breaks ... So I developed this solution at the bridge.

DSCF1171.JPG


Now I can string it without breaking a string.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back