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Post subject: String breaks please help
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:07 am
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Dear Fender forum members,

I just purchased a Deluxe Standard Strat over the weekend and in a period of three days I have broken 3 E1 strings. I am beginner (playing for 1 yr) but never had problems with strings breaking like this. The breaks always happen at the 10th fret. The only thing I am doing different now is that I am learning how to play BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone” and there is some serious amount of bending in the 10th fret on E1 that I haven’t done before. The E-1 string I am using is a 9 and I have tried 3 different brands (Fender which came with the guitar, DR and Ernie Ball). No noticeable roughness on the fret but I’ll check carefully to see if there are any minor scratches tonight.

My questions are: Is it possible to damage the fret due to poor bending technique (too much pressure over fret) so that this problem would surface on a 3 day old guitar? Is the 9 string too small for what I am trying to play and hence why I am breaking the strings? How bad does the fret have to be to require redressing? There are no discernible rough spots on the fret but I haven’t checked with a magnifying glass. If I go up on string gage, how much bigger can I go on an off the shelf guitar before requiring nut slot resizing?

Thanks for the help since, as it is obvious in this message, I am concerned about the status of my beautiful (and expensive) new guitar :(

Chris


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:31 am
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That sounds odd to me. In forty years of playing I don't remember ever breaking a string somewhere in the middle. My strings always break at the bridge. The only thing I can think of is there must be something on the fret that is sawing through the string. You would think it would be pretty obvious though, if that was the case.

The .009 string is definitely not too small. I use a .010 but lots of people use .009 strings.


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:35 am
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Welcome to the Forum.

Take the guitar to a Tech and have it checked out. Sounds to me like a burr on a fret.

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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:36 am
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gadabout wrote:
... In forty years of playing I don't remember ever breaking a string somewhere in the middle ...

+ 1 -- I thought the same exact thing. Even with a killer bend at the 10th fret, the string almost always breaks near the saddle.

Also, are you tuned correctly? If you are tuned to high, you can easily be breaking strings like crazy. Just a thought ...

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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 10:51 am
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Welcome to the Forum.

I've given this suggestion before and it seemed to hit the mark, so we'll try it again...

Strings breaking in the middle is very likely a question of technique rather than a fault with the hardware. Normally, strings break at the saddle.

I have no idea of your playing experience and I don't want to insult you, so please don't be offended if I'm telling you what you know. However, when strings break repeatedly on bending, it suggests you are going too rough with that movement. Bending string steel is a little like bending a stick. If you go at it abruptly the stick will snap, but if you kind of e-e-ease into it you can bend the stick round quite a long way.

The result is that you need to develop a smoother action with your bending. That doesn't mean you have to go slow, but even at speed make sure you don't snatch at it, but coax that string with even movement.

I'm remembering back to my early days. I broke stacks of top e strings. Gradually I started to notice the sort of motion that would do it: if I rushed into a bend I realised just before it happened that I was going to break that string. Now I couldn't do it if I tried. You will certainly grow out of it, but if you are conscious of the issue that time will hopefully come quicker. In the meantime: Rotosound sets come with an extra e string!

NB If you cannot feel a nick on the fret with your finger it is very unlikely there is anything there doing harm. Fingers are pretty sensitive!

Hope that helps.

Good luck - C


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:12 am
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Ceri and the other members who replied,

No offense taken since I am a beginner and I need all the help I can get. Tonight I am going to closely examine the fret for nicks to discard that possibility and I will watch how I bend the string and follow your advise. I know there is not some noticeable nick in the fret that I can feel with my finger since I checked for that this morning. The other thing I was concerned about was placing too much pressure in the fret as I was bending, possibly weakening the string. Anyway, is it easy to damage a fret by doing this in only a few days?

Also, thanks for all the prompt replies. Great support group. Regarding the inquire about whether the guitar is tuned I use an electronic tuner. Yes, I am one of those noobs that can't tune by ear :)

Chris


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:18 am
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Hi again, Chris. Nothing noobie about electronic tuners, we all use them even if we can tune well by ear.

No, you are not going to hurt your frets by pressing on the string. Over years you will indeed wear grooves into it and eventually it will need replacing but, again, that happens to us all. The lighter a touch you develop the longer your frets will last. Anyway, nothing to worry about for a year or few to come.

Good luck with your playing, and stick around the Forum, why not? Now, back to your BB...

Cheers - C


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:07 pm
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I think Ceri's advice is good. In fact, a few months ago I posted exactly the same problem - I mean exactly the same. Excessive high E string breaks at the 10th fret while playing "The Thrill Is Gone". Ceri's advice helped.


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:36 pm
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Parrow wrote:
I think Ceri's advice is good. In fact, a few months ago I posted exactly the same problem - I mean exactly the same. Excessive high E string breaks at the 10th fret while playing "The Thrill Is Gone". Ceri's advice helped.


Hahaha! Hi Parrow: if we wait around on the Forum long enough everything comes around again! We had exactly the same conversation, didn't we?

How's it going? Still enjoying the playing?

Nice to hear from you - all the best to you

- C


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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 6:33 pm
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gadabout wrote:
That sounds odd to me. In forty years of playing I don't remember ever breaking a string somewhere in the middle. My strings always break at the bridge.


It's happened to me a couple of times (in a little short of 40 years).

But I tend to keep strings on forever (I don't like the sound of brand new strings). Often I can see the fret marks on the undersides of the strings, I suppose they can get thin and with a good bend, ping!

It's fun having your finger fretting one piece of string while the rest of it is flapping around.

Of course, I believe the original poster's problem is a "sharp" fret edge.

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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:46 pm
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I always noticed that the E strings that broke when I bent was always with the Fender Bullets more that with another brand. As a matter of fact when I had Fender Super Bullets E strings would break like hell only in a matter of a couple days. I switched to Ernie Balls and noticed that the problem wouldn't happen anymore and maybe just broke a couple in a year. I don't know it just seems the Super Bullets just weren't for me. Not even barely had a chance to play 'em an in a couple of days the E string would break. After I changed brands it never broke anymore. Maybe once, twice a year with another brand. I had bad luck with the Super Bullets.

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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:05 am
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gadabout wrote:
That sounds odd to me. In forty years of playing I don't remember ever breaking a string somewhere in the middle. My strings always break at the bridge. The only thing I can think of is there must be something on the fret that is sawing through the string. You would think it would be pretty obvious though, if that was the case.

The .009 string is definitely not too small. I use a .010 but lots of people use .009 strings.


I already broke one in the middle too

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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:06 am
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01GT eibach wrote:
gadabout wrote:
... In forty years of playing I don't remember ever breaking a string somewhere in the middle ...


Also, are you tuned correctly? If you are tuned to high, you can easily be breaking strings like crazy. Just a thought ...


+1

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