How often do you break strings?

[ido1957]

Years ago I bought my Kramer Pacer and was breaking high E strings a lot. The tech said I might have a burr so he filed out the saddle and I have never broken a string since. Actually I can't remember breaking a string on any of my guitars for years. How often do your strings break and what string and guage are they?

[gardo]

I think I broke one last winter sometime. It was a D'addario .009 high E . I was bending the heck out of it at the time.

[Floyd Rosenbomb]

Never.

[Freeman Keller]

Never, and I play a lot of different guitars in a lot of different tunings

[badpenguin]

While playing, never. And I tend to use 10-46

While repairing, once or twice and it was the high E with a bad tuner.

[1001gear]

Hardly but, occasionally the high E and far less frequently the B; both from metal fatigue by bend. Without bends, the strings last well beyond the point I can't stand 'em.

People often break strings strumming though -something that makes no sense to me.

[knotty]

Never. Daddario or Rotosound. 9s or 10s.

[Chordite]

Once I have deburred machine heads etc' basically never.

Before I change them I usually go for some insane bends to see if they break.. they don't.

I change them maybe once a year liking the consistency of older strings so age is not a breakage factor either as far as I can tell.

[DeepEnd]

I'm a rhythm guitarist, don't do bends, haven't broken a string in years. I used to break the octave G sometimes when I played a 12-string but I haven't played it in years. I use Martin 80/20 lights (.012's) on my main acoustic and D'Addario super lights (.009's) on my electric.

[Grant Harding]

Almost none in the past 10 years. My main electric pinged 2 high E strings several months back due to a small burr on the bridge saddle (after 11 years of punishment) and I knocked it off and polished it up. Many hours of torture since and no breaks. I bend a lot.

[wankdeplank]

Can't remember the last time I broke a string. I use tens though for that reason, and yeah I'm a bending fool.

[t_e_l_e]

i had a time were i broke one or two every rehearsal, high score was 4 in one practice session, yes i was in a bad mood in that day, already before breaking the strings

 

last couple of years it went done, maybe one high e string in a couple of months

[AJ6stringsting]

If you break strings a lot , that usually means you got a sharp edge on your saddle on the bridge. Or you got one mean hand, plus a great fret job done on the neck.

I got Gibson style type bridges, Wilkinson or Floyd Rose trems. If I break a string on a Floyd Rose, I just unwind a couple of windings at the tuner and restring my guitar .... a real money saver ....

[papaschtroumpf]

In 6 months I've been playing the electric guitar, I broke a string once. Doing a bend at the 2nd fret on the high E.

Almost new GHS Boomer 10s. Most people say they never break, so I'll give them another chance.

 

I used to break classical nylon strings back in the day, usually also the high E, but I was poor and didn't change them as often as I should.

[soundcreation]

I break the odd high e string from time to time but that's mostly cause they've been on there for awhile and have started to rust and I'm doing bends. I think on new strings I've had maybe 2 or 3 over 8 years that I'd call defective.

[RGfretter]

Don't remember exactly. I'd say I only break maybe 1 a year...probably less. And I play pretty aggressive with the pick and bend wide...to 2 1/2 steps+.

 

You should never have much problem if your bridge/saddles are in shape...and you have no serious nut issues, or sharp edged string trees.

 

Also don't have a problem with old strings. A few of mine now are near a year old, sound good..and, don't break even under abuse.

[WRGKMC]

Strings have to be really old and brittle or defective for me to break them. If I find a brand of strings that breaks I simply try another brand first. How often you change strings is the Question. I rate strings in working hours, and not so much in time. If I put 40 hours on strings in a week, they are going to be all shot to hell. The wraps will be worn through to the cores and have sour notes because of that. If I put strings on and don't play that instrument they may take a couple of months to go dead.

 

I can unwind the ball ends fairly easily with all the bending I do. To fix that I simply put a drop of crazy glue on the ends and let it dry. Turns them into super bullets. I've also tried soldering the ball ends but the heat causes the string to loose its temper and they snap easily.

[onelife]

Often enough to have a method of managing the situation when it occurs.

 

I have spares within reach and usually have a backup guitar handy.

 

I break the fourth string most often and do so on every guitar that I play so I think it's more about the way I play than it is about the guitars.

[davie]

When I first started playing guitar, I use to break strings quite often, especially when I used fairly thick plectrum and strummed too hard. Nowadays, I rarely break any strings. I'm still using the original strings on a couple of guitars, which I bought like 4-7 years ago. Only occasionally will a high string (e or b) would break and its usually only during re-tuning.

[thatsbunk]

rarely if ever (can only remember once in the last 3 years).

 

i think it's more of how one plays as opposed to the guitar though. Back in the 70's I was in a band in high school with a guy who would constantly break his b string. Reconnected with him after a lot of years & he sat in with us for a few songs at a recent gig. Lent him one of my guitars & sure enough broke the b string...

[WRGKMC]

Often enough to have a method of managing the situation when it occurs.

 

I have spares within reach and usually have a backup guitar handy.

 

I break the fourth string most often and do so on every guitar that I play so I think it's more about the way I play than it is about the guitars.

 

I think you mentioned the brand of strings you used and you did mention this happens with allot of different guitars.

 

I'm curious to know how many playing hours are you actually getting before they break. I usually change strings after two hard rehearsal sessions or one four hour gig. Two rehearsals may be a solid 8 hours of actual playing but the energy level is rarely as high as a live gig.

 

I'd be leery about trying to get a second gig out of strings for a couple of reasons. First you swat allot more at a gig so that is corrosive to them. When the wraps wear and the strings bend at the frets the added friction slows my playing technique down, so I change strings before they ever get stressed enough to break. It cuts down on fret wear too.

 

I also add quite a few winds on the tuners, at least 4 or 5 complete turns on the thin strings. This adds a little give on that end and if I'm bending the strings allot it has that extra length to tug on instead of the ball end. It may go out of tune a little more but its less likely to break in comparison to having only one or two winds.

 

Are the strings actually breaking or is the ball unwrapping? If I don't glue the ball ends with CA they unwrap on me within a couple of hours or so with all the bending I do. I do some crazy stuff like 1 1/2 semitone bends and it doesn't take much of that for that to happen.

 

I do know several brands that will snap and when I use those strings I go easier on them. It may be your picking techniques Davie suggests but even there I know I'm able to melt a pick playing hard and never break a string.

 

Where it breaks should tell you what's causing the problem though. If its in the center or random then its simply string quality or playing technique. If its at the saddle all the time its telling you something. it may be the break away angle is too sharp. If you have the saddles adjusted far back towards the tail the angle gets sharper. May be the sign of flat frets that require the saddles adjusted back farther or a mis positioned bridge. A Strat with allot of tilt on the neck requires the saddles to be higher then normal and that causes allot more downward pressure on the saddles too.

 

SIT does make some strings that have a small plastic tube near the ball end that helps protect the string from sharp edges of the bridge base. Strings that go through the body or through a whammy bar do have that hole in the bridge plate that can be sharp and cut through strings. Again the exact point of breaking should reveal that. You could probably get some insulated tubing from an electronics parts store if it fixes the problem. The real fix for that place is to use a drill bit and ream the edges of that hole so they aren't 90 degree angles.

[Grant Harding]

 

In 6 months I've been playing the electric guitar, I broke a string once. Doing a bend at the 2nd fret on the high E.

Almost new GHS Boomer 10s. Most people say they never break, so I'll give them another chance.

 

I used to break classical nylon strings back in the day, usually also the high E, but I was poor and didn't change them as often as I should.

I regularly break the D string on my classical. They're high tension and that string just seems to go quickly. Sometimes I go to get it out of the case and it's snapped in the case since the last time I played it.