So I just got my American Special Strat, and I am trying to tune and intonate, but everytime I try and tune my high E string, I put so much tension on the string to get it to go to E, it snaps, or at least the first one did, all of my other strings a re fine, I tried moving the bridge saddle all the way forward, and someways back behind the B saddle, but it doesn't help, then I detune it to E, but it is way too loose, so it needs to be the higher E I am trying to tune to. Help??

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ

Hmmm... maybe it's binding at the nut. Or on a string tree. I would check that stuff and make sure all the contact points are lubricated. I use carmex mixed with powdered graphite.

Tuning an octave high, no doubt.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Are you using an accurate tuner? Have you checked for burrs on the saddle? Where exactly is the string breaking? What gauge strings are you using? Has it happened more than once? If not, it could just be a bad string

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Bill

The one time it snapped, I just pulled it out from the shipping box, the guitar was in tune except for being somewhat flat, I turned the tuner about half a turn and it snapped at the tuning post. It is a .010 guage string. Its weird because it is tuned to E and it is super slinky, it reminds me of open C tuning, or I can get it to D and it has really high tension.

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ

I agree with Shimmilou, you may be trying to tune it an octive too high.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

Sounds to me like it was a bad string. Did you replace it and were you able to tune it properly?

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Bill

I did get it up to E with some trepidation. I am not sure what guage fender puts on at the factory, all Ihad were 10's so thats what the E is, it might be that the original strings are 9's, but the E is noticably more hard to bend.. I guess I'll find out when I put the rest of the 10 guages on..

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ

Yes, the stock strings are 9s and yes, a 10 is harder to bend than a 9. Don't understand why tuning causes you trepidation. At this point I would highly recommend taking the guitar to a pro for a full string change and setup.

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Bill

^I was afraid I was going to break another perfectly good string! I think the tuning gear is screwed too tight, causing me to feel like alot of tension was already on the string before it came all the way to E.... has anyone else ever experienced this?

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ

Then all you have to do is slightly loosen the screw that holds the tuning knob to the shaft. They are there to adjust tightness of the tuner.

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Bill

Tuning gear too tight. No, that's not it.

It has already been suggested to you that perhaps you're tuning an octave too high. It's nice when people try to help you, but not so nice if you ignore them.

I seriously doubt it. Read the OP's first post again. Take a look at his list of guitars. I seriously doubt that the OP is a person that is so green as to not be able to tell, either by the tuner or aurally, that he is tuned an octive higher than he should be. You'd have to be deaf, stupid, or both not to recognize the difference. I don't think the OP falls in any of those catagories.

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Bill

Right, after 15 years of playing, I would think I would know if I was tuning an octave high.... I didn't answer that aspect because that was so obviously not the answer... I guess if the string can reach the volume knob on the Strat, that is normal tension?? Thanks bluesky for the help, I think the tuning peg was too tight!

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ

String can reach the volume knob? Huh?

I'm not assuming the OP is an expert, or he'd have figured this out by now.

Hopefully, during the course of this thread, someone will explain why the tuning peg being "too tight" would cause extra tension on the string.

And if two well-meaning people make a reasonable suggestion, why ignore them? They took time to help you. If they're wrong, all it takes is a sentence or less to explain that you checked, and it's not an octave too high.