Why do my guitar strings keep breaking? - The Truth
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ค. 2024
- After you have checked the usual issues associated with breaking strings like sadles, bridges, any sharp objects, string post burrs etc you are left with just two factors.
1. Break angle of the string and forces imposed on that string.
2. Good old sweat.
So the reason why your strings keep breaking is pretty simple (watch Video), the answer to combat this is not so clear but in this video I will tell you the best options and strings to buy to keep you on top of your game in the string breakage arena.
See also strings link video on TH-cam as promised.
• Cheap Guitar Strings, ...
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usually i will keep tuning it and it will just break. for no apparent reason. i don't even feel any tension before it breaks. it's just "i don't want to live anymore" and POP there it goes.
Same
Same
It's just the high e string for me and I can't figure out why
It's never in the same spot too. It's just random. The only given is that it's going to break.
I’ve broken the A string on my guitar 4 times in a row, and now I know why. Thank you 🙏
The "indestructible" Ernie Ball Paradigms lasted me for 12 days before the E string snapped.
Let's see how their warranty works. Those strings should have 5 months warranty from breaking...
ataraxia I used them on my les paul and it lasted about 3 months before I decided to change them, I snapped 2 Earnie ball hybrid slinky strings in one day on my strat and I think it’s because 1. I didn’t let them stretch enough, and 2. The bridge is slightly tilted so when you bend it bends even more then it needs to. 🤷♂️
Fuck me I just got some ernie balls, they better not fucking break
i hate ernie balls, they rust and break so fast.
...Maybe it's the way I use a straight edge razor as a guitar pick...
Nah it's because of my tuners.
In my experience the few times ive broken a string have been due to a burr on the saddle.Caused by the string moving through normal playing. When you change strings always check the saddles for sharp edges and file smooth with a tiny file.
Right on! Great content!
I play guitar every day and I broke a string only once during band rehearsal, I played on really old elixir polywebs. They were great but they break as easily as any other string. I realized lower action helps reducing string tension, and therefore reduces stress and string breakage. It also has to do with the saddle design. I believe that on tune-o-matic style bridge where strings rest on a sharp knife edge they are more likely to break than on hardtail bridge with fender -like individual saddles for each string, that's just my experience. Cheers.
Nicely explained. I've been kind of thinking along these lines myself and always bought the cheapest strings, although I admit that Elixir strings I bought last time took longer to start breaking. I tend to break A and D strings most, probably owing to my heavy rhythm playing. I have MiM Strat, Les Paul Traditional, and Yamaha (80-ies model with tune-o-matic bridge). Strat first breaks a string, LP right after Strat, and Yamaha, although having way more mileage than the other two guitars, lasts longest.
Last two packs of strings I’ve bought the thin e breaks after a day. The last one the ball end broke off??
Check your bridge and any other areas. also if you buy these strings you get a spare e and b strings and they are only £4 each www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/legacy-m26
using to thick of a pick breaks strings more then anything else.. ever sence i went to .46mm picks i never break strings , and i can play any music i want to i dont break them
On my Squier CV Strat, my new high E strings still break immediately after changing them despite sanding down the burr at the bridge saddle. One whole step bend and it breaks.
Is it possible that the tremolo block is causing some kind of impingement? Perhaps maybe I didn’t properly sand down the burrs or the string is just low quality?
Thanks for the great, informative video!
Good video! I eat through strings.
It is due to sweat and diet.
I drink alot of coffee and stopped drinking it for a couple of weeks to see if it would help and it did, my hands where alot dryer and I also start using elixcers polyweb strings. I would get 3 to 4 gigs and a good bit of practice out of them.
I start drinking alot of coffee again lately and I put a new set on before gig last night and the G snapped just at the end of the last song lol.
I have also found this to be the case with me, I stopped drinking coffee and related caffeine drinks (Drink ginger tea instead) and my sweaty hand issue has disappeared, also I believe that the acidity must have dropped which also helps.
Great video bud
Thanks dude :)
Also congrats! Almost 100 subscribers for you! (while I just hit my 10th lmao)
Been here since 9 subscribers!
Thanks dude
Yes a new way of looking at it! Buy cheap strings then chuck em after LOL! I was wondering if I too heavy playing, or pick too heavy? Im thinking maybe up grade to 12 gauge strings?
Well I gave up coffee and the string rot stopped so my strings last a little longer, I can get two gigs out of them now :)
i always break the sixth string, it breaks on the saddle, where you adjust the intonation.( it is a les payl type bridge), i dont know if the bridge is too high, or i need to file the bridge where the e string is, or i need to hit the strings with less power
Do you have another e-guitar? I first thought it was a saddle issue, also filed/smoothed out the slots. Later I discovered that it would also happen on my other guitars. I try to not push at all with my palm and also I noticed playing a more flexible pick helps to prolong string life. I sometimes still wonder how "brutal" other players shred into their strings and they won't break. If I'd do that I'd break them in one session, LOL.
I tend to buy my guitar strings based on how good they feel initially and how long they retain that feel - I don't really break strings ever.
Literally the only time I've ever broken a string was on the cheap starterpack Strat I started out with, which had ridiculously sharp edges on the saddles. Any other guitar I've owned, the strings got too tough and uncomfortable to play but never broke.
What style music do you play?
@@christopherlees1134 It'd be easier to list the things I don't play, or at least try to - including very bend-heavy stuff.
I agree. If I change my strings the night before a gig...I'm good. The gig I will brick one within a couple days...maybe even the next day. I even tried a roller bridge. Only helped a little. Its my constant 16th note funk scratch on the top 3 or 4 strings that just eats strings. If I'm playing an unplugged electric I might break a few strings in a night, practicing at home
I stopped drinking anything with caffeine in it about a year ago and things have got better, I can now do 3 gigs on a set of strings, I also make sure I have a fan pointing my way a bit as this also helps too.
I always break high e i'm using 10-46 i tried ernie ball, D'addario, i send my electric guitar for a fret job because always breaks @ 15,16,17 fret onwards when doing a high bend they only last for 2 days
not good
My first two E strings broke at the saddle while tuning. I didn't even get standard tuning before it broke. The next one, I was tuning standard, I bought a tougher e string. Didn't even reach standard E tuning before it snapped at the saddle... Again. So I ask for advice at the store and they game me a suggestion to wind the wire backwards. So I do it. I start tuning... And... It doesn't break at the saddle. It broke down by the bottom. Not at the ball. I assumed it was sharp so I sanded it down with super fine sandpaper. Hoping that would do the trick. Went and bought the strings I had last time. Winded the strings backwards. Did all that I did before and... Once again snaps before I can get it tuned. Broke at the ball. That's where I'm at now. Im thinking about buying a new drum set. I don't know what to do anymore.
lol, get a good guitar tech to take a look he/she will find the issue and get it fixed in no time. :)
I've snapped two new high E strings recently where the string wraps around the ball at the end. Is this a defect with the string or could something in the bridge be causing this?
dunno without looking.
I wear sweat cuffs on mu wrists when I gig. They help alot.
Doesn’t matter what kind of strings I’m using, the high e strings always snaps. What’s weird is that it’s breaking right under where I bend, and only when I bend. There has to be something wrong with my technique. And ideas?
strange
Have you had any luck with coated strings lasting longer? I just got s set and we’ll see if that helps...
No, using my trusted legacy strings.
They sound like new until they break, some people break them after a few hours, others have them on their guitar for months. They last me one gig then they break so I just use my normal brand which only cost £4
Dave Barlow thanks for the reply, I was hoping the plastic coating would insulate the strings keeping out the sweat giving better corrosion resistance. The weird thing is I wasn’t breaking s lot of strings on this guitar before. Seems like just recently after I made a minor truss rod adjustment and changed the saddle height a bit. I also filed the saddle with a fine little round file and checked it under magnification, and put graphite on it before restringing.
I keep breaking my high e (sometimes tuned to eb) string on my 7. It usually breaks in the middle (prolly sweat) of the string or a smidge away from the tuning peg (mystifying). Looks like I'm just gonna have to buy a crapload of high e-strings (I've been using 10s lately). Perhaps it could be because I aspire to perform intonated vibrato AFTER a whole step bend (semitone down and semitone up).
Interesting!
I fixed my 6th string every week... I don't know wht the hell is going on with my auston guitar....i brought it 1month ago......do have any solution ????????
where is it breaking exactly?
I think you might be right ! Which is changing strings every week for me .....uhhh
I put a towal over the guitar to get the john cash scatch sound not realizing the towel was still moist. Snapped in 2 days from regular tuning. Meh, I know how to restring so.
I'm no scientist either, but I think you're totally fucking right about the acidity/alkaline sweat thing. My sweat just fucks strings, always has. If I change my strings right before a gig, I'm good. But if I play for a couple hours, wait a couple days, and go back to the guitar - everything is rusty. Breaks start then (and usually, as you note, they're at the saddle).
If I play a buddy's guitar, you can almost guarantee he's going to be changing strings that day or the next and complaining about rust. (I've rusted the shit out of all the metal parts on my guitars - the screws, the metal on the pickups, everything that's not stainless or chrome or whatever. The soapbar pickup on my well-used Mexican Tele is 100% shiny like the day I got it, though.)
Maybe I just play too much. Years ago, I used to wipe my guitar down every time I played it and I even put mink oil on my strings to try to stop the oxidation. That messed with the tone and ruined the sustain. But I was a teenager with a Boss Metal Zone so I didn't care. Now that I play clean or only slightly overdriven most of the time, the mink oil just won't cut it any more. So, as you said, the best solution is to get cheap strings. They sound the same to me and they're gonna break anyway.
Only 4th D string on my Tom Anderson (vintage tremolo bridge) keeps breaking 2-3 times a month :(
check the saddle
Ha your lucky, mine is ever 2 weeks
Dave Barlow mine is every 3 weeks or 2
My little e string keeps breaking. Maybe cause of factor 1, any suggestions on how to fix it?
How long does the string last, how many hours of playing?
Mine was an elixir . It lasted me a year From periodic playing. I have a bit high of an action and I play a lil bit aggresive with a Odrive. Had the broken e string served well enough for a year to Break? Is this normal?
I got the same problem and mine breaks like on two days, three damm strings broke
@@DaveBarlowGuitar I keep having to replace my high e string maybe after a week or 2 of playing. Both times were while tuning, but I test the tension of the string carefully while tuning up. It's so frustrating especially during quarantine. It snaps close to the peg everytime, maybe the higher end of the neck, any suggestions?
@@meowtrox1234 over normal
I came here for help because I break strings ALL the time. Last night's gig, Set 1 broke one. Set 2 - broke one on my regular guitar and one on my spare. I keep wondering if it's how I strum (I play rhythm guitar so just strumming and fingerpicking) It drives me crazy. I did change to lighter gauge pick a while ago but that only was a temporary fix. I will try new strings every gig, but that's going to be costly.
do you always break the same string and does it always break in the same place?
@@DaveBarlowGuitar usually different string, but usually at the saddle. I have 3 acoustic guitars I rotate through my gigs. So it's not just one guitar either.
To me that happens also in winter when I don't sweat at all. It's interesting that this happens more on some guitars less on others. On my Schecter Hellraiser it doesn't happen too often, on my Ibanez Darkstone every 2 weeks if I play every day. I buy only china strings for that reason! Orphee, they're good enough and sound really ok. Mechanically I'd like to try a different bridge or string holders on my Ibanez, but I don't really know what replacements are 100% compatible there. Can someone suggest me anything? My bridge: goo.gl/photos/3i2Njmw38mVbN4vNA
Looks like a saddle issue to me.
Ok, will try finer sandpaper, then.
Roller saddles, see my in depth youtube video on the subject or Scott Groves video
I keep breaking the first string, it just breaks when I finish playing, it just seems for no reason, Imagine, three sets of strings, they break every time for no apparent reason.
Its not like I fiddle with the strings, I just tune it up, finish, release the string, and there it is, broken
Check your bridge for burrs etc, this is the most likely issue.
There is one other way around the oxidation problem: coated strings.
But the other factor is present even then
Sounds like we should do a real test, I will buy a set and try them but I have this feeling that at the point where the string bends at on the saddle this may break the coating, plus any playing would surely also wear the coating, will test and report back on video
so far i've tried elixir polyweb for coated strings. you can feel the different texture on those, but the coating is enough such that it takes considerably longer to wear through it
May I ask how much do they cost and how much longer do they last you?
I use those aswell (Well it's nanoweb, not polyweb, Nanoweb just has a thinner coating that you don't really feel), and in the US they go for about 12 Dollars($) a pack.
I'm not gigging yet, so I just leave them on until they break, but they have lasted me about 2 or 3 months longer than the standard Ernie Ball Strings (Still great strings though) before breaking or going "dead"
Not as cheap as maybe a standard 3 Dollar D'addario strings, but still pretty good for me
Poly are even better than nano ive heard.
(ill try nanos next). give poly a try, though you will never find any in stores because once you buy a pack, itll be long before you retuen for another.
So look online for Elixir Polyweb strings.
M breaking g string at the mid of the head stock....Why...??
dont know, anything sharp there?
@@DaveBarlowGuitar can you tell me how much I have to loose the string after playing it...??
@@MrJsinwrld u dont need loose the string
Plzz tell me my string breaks form the tunner pegs plzz help 😭😭
check your pegs for sharp edges and burrs.
Plzz tell me what to do next the edge of the hole is rough and sharp
I broke strings on Floyd Rose. How can i solve it? Im scared to dive. :'(
How often do you change your strings?
string was factory string and guitar was new also
about 3 day old guitar
Factory strings are rubbish, put on a new set. :)
My friend has this guitar and he didnt change the strings but his strings didnt broke his:floyd rose special mine:ltd by floyd rose
High E Strings on my Les paul keeps breakin after hour of playin it what's your tip?
I assume its breaking at the bridge, if so it will need attention.
@@DaveBarlowGuitar what should i do? Replace it??
check for burrs or sharp edges, file them down
@@DaveBarlowGuitar oh i see thank you! I think it's in the bridge because the string breaks at that place.
My strings only ever break when I'm tuning down
weird
So there's nothinv wrong with my playing because i break lot of strings too, its just the guitar, thanks
String gauge also plays a factor the lighter the gauge the more susceptible it is to breaking.
you're a regular god damn genius
Where tf can you buy strings for £3??
You can buy from China but I dont recommend that, at the time of doing this video I was getting strings from strings direct .co.uk Legacy and buying ten packs at a time, you can no longer do this but they are available for £4 each now (they are basically Rotosound strings repacked by the looks of it). www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/legacy-m26
Wow man! That’s great I’m fed up of paying £6.99 for strings. thanks
If your hands are sweaty use finger gloves😂😂😂
PMSL
Use rubber bands
LOL
Bullshit strat saddles...
What do u mean?