In the span of 2 days, I've managed to break the E string on two of main jam guitars. Bad luck, or bad technique? I'm betting on the latter lol
Sorry about your e strings. But those are beautiful guitars.
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
66 points (98.5% liked)
guitars
3901 readers
1 users here now
Welcome to /c/guitars! Let's show off our new guitar pics, ask questions about playing, theory, luthier-ship, and more!
Please bring all positive vibes to the community and leave the toxic stuff elsewhere.
Rules:
-
Treat others with respect. ALL others.
-
No spam
-
No self promotion
-
No NSFW
-
No circle jerk posts, there are other places for that silliness, and they are wonderful. Not here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Thanks!
It's an "Escape" string, it simply wants to run free!
If you love something, let it go apparently.
Clip your fingernails dude
In both of these cases, it broke at the saddle. If my fingernail got it at the saddle, my technique is a lot worse than I thought.
Gotta get those extremely high notes
Time to switch to bass?
Davie504 gang is here
SLAP!
OMG
I'd be checking for notches, scratches or burrs at the saddles and making sure you seat the string properly when stringing it. What gauge are they? I haven't broken a string in 20 years despite doing 2 stop bends regularly.
Yeah, I haven't broken a string in about that time as well, then all of a sudden two in a row lol. These are elixir nanoweb 10 gauge
Did you restring these guitars at a similar time?
If you bought these strings on eBay or Amazon there are a lot of fakes around and they break very easily.
Yeah I did. These are elixir nano web, it's entirely possible I got a bad batch.
Do you import/export guitars?
Exclusively for vandalay industries
No information on what brand strings you use or how often you change them
Elixir nanoweb 10 gauge, and not very often.
I'd chalk it up to not changing them very often. Especially if you play a lot
Phish phan here from all. Are those Languedocs?
The left is a Woodford Elite custom order/design from PJD guitars in the UK. The right is a Ernie Ball MusicMan JP15
Give the frets a gentle polish if it breaks over a set range of frets. Could be friction wear on the thinnest string. If it breaks up by the nut or any other part then check for burrs. Very light sanding, or (preferably if its gold hardware or expensive) some old, clean cotton rag rubbed over the area should fix that.
Solder the string ends around the winds. I have to do that on my jazzmaster or else I break e strings all the time with them coming unwound.
Buddy of mine from way back in the day was a bend master. If he didn't break the high E string on at least one guitar at a show, he wasn't playing his best.
I only ever had this issue with light gauge strings, mediums are what I use now
There is a ton of variables and while the problem may be related to where you see a string break, it might also be something completely different.
Have you tried different string brands? One thing that might matter is how you string the guitars. Are you creating twists or kinks and how evenly you stretch the string. Might be worth watching some videos about it. We all forget things even if we've learned them once and there are worse and better methods.
Just two breaks is still mostly just coincidence. Especially on two different guitars. And strings break. Especially top e.
I had three A strings break while jamming with my band over the course of a month, one from a set of brand new strings. I too would love to know what the hell I'm doing to the A string that makes it give up and die.