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Post subject: Excessive String Breakage?
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:46 pm
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I've had my strat for about 7 months (a custom classic C neck - very nice instrument byu the way). I tend to brake the high e string due to bending etc. at a reasonable rate. The last two weeks, though, I have been working on some BB King stuff, with losts of bending (although nothing more extereme than a whole step bend). I've probably broken 6 strings in that two week period. The string breaks where I'm bending - usually around the 9th to 12th frets. Those frets seem to be smooth with nothing unusual that would cause this. I tried different brands of strings - D'addario and Ernie Ball. I use 10s. Is this normal? Any ideas? Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Excessive String Breakage?
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:48 pm
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Parrow wrote:
I've had my strat for about 7 months (a custom classic C neck - very nice instrument byu the way). I tend to brake the high e string due to bending etc. at a reasonable rate. The last two weeks, though, I have been working on some BB King stuff, with losts of bending (although nothing more extereme than a whole step bend). I've probably broken 6 strings in that two week period. The string breaks where I'm bending - usually around the 9th to 12th frets. Those frets seem to be smooth with nothing unusual that would cause this. I tried different brands of strings - D'addario and Ernie Ball. I use 10s. Is this normal? Any ideas? Thanks.


Try with Bullet strings... :D :D

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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:50 pm
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probably need to smooth out the saddle...
maybe lube it a little
Where does the string break? near the bridge?

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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 12:53 pm
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bss wrote:
probably need to smooth out the saddle...
maybe lube it a little
Where does the string break? near the bridge?


That wouldn't make the string break at the bend point, would it?

Follow up question: Parrow - are you Edward Scissor Hands?


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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:14 pm
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man that is strange. I not much of a gunslinger so I rely heavily on bends and I've never had that much touble with breaks. Are you stretching your strings properly when you restring the guitar? Double check the frets as well I know you said there doesn't seem to be any problems in that area but even the slightest nick can cause major problems and may need some dressing. Or it could be you bend it like Buddy Guy. I swear I think I've seen him bend a High E all the way up to the low E. That man can play. Anyway Good luck

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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:33 pm
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stephenr66 wrote:
man that is strange. I not much of a gunslinger so I rely heavily on bends and I've never had that much touble with breaks. Are you stretching your strings properly when you restring the guitar? Double check the frets as well I know you said there doesn't seem to be any problems in that area but even the slightest nick can cause major problems and may need some dressing. Or it could be you bend it like Buddy Guy. I swear I think I've seen him bend a High E all the way up to the low E. That man can play. Anyway Good luck


+1

If it keeps breaking at the same point in the middle of the neck the only real problem can be the frets. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 1:57 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
stephenr66 wrote:
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
It's Chuck Berry playing a wrong note.


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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:10 pm
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bluesgrass wrote:
bss wrote:
probably need to smooth out the saddle...
maybe lube it a little
Where does the string break? near the bridge?

That wouldn't make the string break at the bend point, would it?

Duhh, sorry...
No, I was thinking of the saddle not smooth catching the string.
That would likely break at the bridge.
Is there a sharp or jagged edge on the frets near the break spot Parrow?


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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 2:21 pm
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cryingstrat wrote:
stephenr66 wrote:
man that is strange. I not much of a gunslinger so I rely heavily on bends and I've never had that much touble with breaks. Are you stretching your strings properly when you restring the guitar? Double check the frets as well I know you said there doesn't seem to be any problems in that area but even the slightest nick can cause major problems and may need some dressing. Or it could be you bend it like Buddy Guy. I swear I think I've seen him bend a High E all the way up to the low E. That man can play. Anyway Good luck


+1

If it keeps breaking at the same point in the middle of the neck the only real problem can be the frets. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
+1 more that does sound like a fret problem to me as well.

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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 4:28 pm
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I'm trying to remember if I've ever had a string break in the middle. And I think the answer is yes, way (way) back when I was starting out and I sometimes sort of snatched at a bend. You need to visualise it a little like bending a stick: if you go at it too abruptly it will just snap, but if you kind of e-e-e-ease it smoothly you can sometimes bend it round a long way.

That doesn't mean you have to play terribly slowly, it just means that even if things are fast your bends need to be smooth rather than abrupt and jagged. Work with the metal of the string, don't punish it.

Course, you may have been playing for decades and don't need to be told any of that - no insult to your experience intended. Just trying to think of other possibilities in case you simply cannot find anything wrong with the frets.

Like the others, a nicked fret would be my bet, though.

Cheers - C


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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 12:13 pm
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Thanks for the responses. I think, as Ceri suggested, I am attacking the bends too violently. I've only been playing a little over one year, so its always a good assumtion that a problem is pilot error rather than equipment failure. Anyway, I'm working on easing the bends up, and this seems to help. Sounds better too. Thanks again.


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Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:08 pm
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Just curious, but how high are you bending the note?
A step & a half?


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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:22 pm
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Not that high. Just a whole step on the high E at the 10 and 12th frets.


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