ecstacy and string break!!!

[vtpcnk]

ah i got my assembled warmoth jazzmaster on saturday morning - my guitar tech in nyc assembled it for me (at a price way lower than the "nominal price" quoted here on this list). he also installed a buzz stop for better string tension/break angle.

i brought it home and played it and was in ecstasy.

the lollar p90s sound spectacular.

the guitar was so resonant (now i'm thinking of swapping my mij strat body with texas specials with a warmoth strat body with fralin blues specials).

till sunday morning ... i strapped it on and was playing the solo for clapton's cover of otis rush's "all you love" and the first string snapped.

this has never ever happened to me on a electric guitar before.

what's happening?

is this the norm with jazzmasters while bending (i'm not even a heavy bender), due to the distance between the bridge and tremolo (even with a buzzstop)?

am i to keep a stock of a set of daardio first strings?

tonepro's string breaker saddles?

stumped and disappointed.

 

[GoDrex]

You never broke a string on an electric before? Lucky you, until now, I guess.

Could have been a bum string (it happens) or maybe the bridge saddle is a little to sharp or rough or something.

But the fact of the matter is, guitar strings break occasionally - especially if you bend them.

 

[riverbluff]

I had an 80's model Kramer with OFR that had strings break all the time (without using the wammy).  I don't break near as many on my LP but it still happens from time to time.

 

[dbw]

No use crying over broken strings!  If one strings keeps breaking repeatedly there might be something wonky with the bridge or nut, but if it just happened once I'd say relax.

 

[nathan a]

You know what, I almost never break strings either! I break them more on acoustics than electrics, actually. The only time i break a string on an electric is if I am playing and it's just not working out, I can't stay in tune, etc etc. So then I get mad and play hard and beat the guitar around and then just rip up on one of the strings and call it a night.

 

[blue313]

I agree with all of these guys, it happens.  But the double jeopardy question is.......where did the string break? Bridge, nut, tuner, ball end, or in the middle somewhere?

 

[vtpcnk]

>I agree with all of these guys, it happens.  But the double jeopardy question is.......where did the string break? Bridge, nut, tuner, ball end, or >in the middle somewhere

yea i guess that's the question - i'm not sure. i think somewhere in the middle.

i'll check in the evening when i get back home.

 

[DanDeTora]

LOL... if breaking a string is all it takes to get you disappointed and stumped, it seems you have bigger fish to fry... :laughing7:

But anyways, if the string broke at the saddle, the obvious fix is new saddles. I dig the Graphtech string savers personally. If above the pickups, try using a thinner pick or a more controlled attack. At the nut... well, you get the idea.

Personally, I never break strings anymore mainly because I don't gig or play as much as I did as a teenager. But it's foolish NOT to have extra sets of strings on hand.

 

[Graffiti62]

I wouldn't get too frazzled. Every once in a while, I have my strings break, no matter what I'm playing. Normally, when I've had a guitar set up and assembled for a period of time, I would change the strings out once a month, or when they broke, whichever came first. The monthly changeover was always the time I would dablle with a different string gauge, or simply replace the strings.

Strings are pieces of steel. They get hot, they get cold, they expand, they contract, their molecular structure changes. Its just the nature of the beast that when you have a steel wire of a smaller gauge, like a guitar string, that they will have a wearing out point. Also, the environment has a LOT to do with string strength. If its warmer, your strings will be more pliable. If its colder, your strings will be more brittle. You said you hopped on it right away and started doing a solo, plus from what you said in your post, it sounds like you live in a part of the country that sees some cold weather--that tells me you had a cold string that found a weak point. To remedy this, before you start bending any notes, play a few gentle chords that allow your fingers to run up and down the fretboard along the strings to warm them a little.

I saw that lesson happen firsthand at a New Years Eve gig. The first song they were going to do was "Magic Man" by Heart, and that always starts with a big bend. The guitarist had me play through the sound check so I could tune the amp, and I then tuned the guitar. This was at two in the afternoon at a big drafty old dance hall. We decided to catnap and hit the bar, so we left the equipment on stage for close to seven hours. He was the last one to hop on stage, and he never ran a quick riff though his gear to warm things up. I was flipping the switches on his amps just as they were putting the lights on the band. All he did was pick his low e string to let him know that the tubes were warm enough to work. Once he heard that, he made his bend for the opening and SNAP!--broken string. The good news was that we had a second guitar. The bad news was that it was set up for slide, so the action was really, really high. We got through the first song, and I re-strung his guitar and the gig went on.

If you play through a few chord progressions before bending, you'll greatly reduce the chance of busting a string straight out of the chute.

 

[stratplayer1]

I went about eight months without breaking a string yay, then i broke three in a week on a new set of strings, shit happens

 

[Nick Ellingworth]

I used to break strings quite regularly (about one every couple of months) however a couple of years ago I moved from 9s to 10s and in those 2 years I have never broken a string, in the case of my Steinberger due to the high cost of stings I've on occasions been leaving a set on there for about 6 months and even with heavy use the strings don't snap. If you find you're regularly breaking stings it might be worth moving up a gauge.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

You never broke a string on an electric before?

I've never broke one from playing.  Tuning with a locking nut locked however....  And that's even with experimenting with every gauge from .008s to .013s.

 

[blue313]

i think somewhere in the middle.

If it's in the middle, then short of a sharp fret.....it falls into the category of "stuff happens"  :dontknow:

 

[vtpcnk]

hey i'm not concerned about the string or replacing it - just wondering how it could happen with my new guitar - that's all.

the string broke at the 7th fret.

i use .10 gauge strings.

but yes the weather has been constantly changing where i live - north new jersey - very close to new york city.

 

[GoDrex]

Seems odd to me for a string to break in the middle. Usually it breaks at the bridge. You probably had a bum string.

 

[vtpcnk]

broke the first string again today - again on the 7th fret. when i did a slightly big bend on the same fret.

does not happen with my les paul or strat.

is this an issue with the jazzmaster string break angle?

i have the warmoth modified mustang bridge, a buzzstop and the warmoth jazzmaster trem.

 

[riverbluff]

If it is breaking at the fret, my guess is that it has nothing to do with the string break angle.  Sound more like you may have a bur or something else wrong with the fret.

 

[blue313]

If it is breaking at the fret, my guess is that it has nothing to do with the string break angle.  Sound more like you may have a bur or something else wrong with the fret.

I tend to agree.  Once is a fluke string, twice in the same point is a symptom.

 

[Graffiti62]

hey i'm not concerned about the string or replacing it - just wondering how it could happen with my new guitar - that's all.

the string broke at the 7th fret.

i use .10 gauge strings.

but yes the weather has been constantly changing where i live - north new jersey - very close to new york city.

Do what we've been doing in Green Bay for the past couple of months--blame it on Brett Favre.

 

[vtpcnk]

>If it is breaking at the fret, my guess is that it has nothing to do with the string break angle.  Sound more like you may have a bur or something >else wrong with the fret.

so what is the cure?