Frustrated with Elixir's breaking

[guitarplayer]

I just strung with new Nano's 2 nights ago, light to at the most medium strumming and #%#$#%$#$# the d string breaks at the bridge on my 12 series Taylor. Last week the g string broke. At $13 a set, this is getting irritating. No issues at the bridge either.

 

Is their quality dropping? I like the bright sound of the Nano's and the ability to last a long time. Any recomendations for me?

[GN-Nick]

I've never had one break now that I think of it.

 

I've broken plenty of other brands.

[RainsongDR1000]

Originally posted by GN-Nick I've never had one break now that I think of it. I've broken plenty of other brands.

 

Me neither...

[solitaire]

Me neither. Perhaps quality in fact has improved and the string has got too hard for its purpose. This is usually a common problem with cryo hardened strings.

 

Next time you string it, make sure the ball is all the way up to the top through out the tuning up. Sharp saddles and strings that are gradualy pulled over a sharp nut could cause weakness to strings.

[eyeball987]

I have never had a problem on my Taylor. It has to either be something simple like a saddle burr or something not so simple like a technique issue. Maybe your local store just has a bad batch or something?

[nylon rock]

From my Mechanics of Materials book, I've figured out the following:

 

When you tune up a string, you stretch it so that it will never return to its original length if you could measure its length before and after. If you were to over-tune, and thereby perform "excessive strain hardening" on a string, and then detune it, this ends up compromising the toughness of a string.

 

Toughness is a measure of the capability of a string to undergo large, permanent deformations prior to fracture.

 

Are you going nuts on your tuners? Or trying different tunings? This would make strings break prematurely.

 

Go easy on your strings and they'll go easy on your wallet.