My strings wont stop breaking!!!!

bumblebeemouth

I've had a Gibson SG for a couple of years now and everything has been going great until a few months ago when I noticed that my strings were breaking a hell of a lot more than usual. I took it to a guitar shop and they said the bridge probably just needed to be filed down, so they did that but still no improvement. Anybody else have a similar problem?? It's driving me crazy

fitz

A few questions:

What make and gauge strings are you using?
What size plec are you using?
Are you using weird tunings?
Are you hammering the shit outta the strings, why kinda stuff are you playing?
Is it an Epiphone or Gibson?
Is it the guitar you took the neck off, and is this happening since you did that?

Doctor J

Might be how you put the strings on. Read this. Basically, the part about not wrapping the string over the post by hand is the important bit, it creates twists in the strings which cause extra stress on the string core and help in the breaking process.

Do they break in the same place every time?

bumblebeemouth

What make and gauge strings are you using?
D'Addario gauge 10

What size plec are you using?
Jim Dunlop Nylon 1mm

Are you using weird tunings?
No, occasionally drop D but thats all

Are you hammering the shit outta the strings, why kinda stuff are you playing?
Wouldnt say I'd be goin that hard on the strings, mostly play heavy stuff

Is it an Epiphone or Gibson?
Gibson

Is it the guitar you took the neck off, and is this happening since you did that?
No - that guitar has never given me any problems!!!!

And yes the strings break at the same place on the bridge every time

Doctor J

Did you read the bit about stringing your guitar?

P.S. D'Addario suck monkey balls IMO, try a set of Ernie Balls.

bumblebeemouth

Yeah I read it, theres some stuff in there i'd never even think about, thanks!!!

fitz

Tens with a 1mm plec?
The Ernies will give you the same problem I'd imagine.
Try using a .68mm plec or something like that.
Which strings usually break?

Doctor J

Been using a .88 with EB 10's for years, haven't broke a string in over 3 years. 10's should be well able to handle heavy plecs.

Giblet

I use a 1.1mm plec on 10's aswell. Breaking in the same place everytime points to either the string not seating right, causing stress on the string or bad playing habits. He should change string type just to see (although D'Addario have always lasted longer than my Ernie Ball ones, but they're very dull) a change won't do much harm.

Is it the G string by any chance. I've noticed the saddle it always slightly higher on this string. Also try changing the direction of the saddle, from /| to |\ and vice versa.

Paladin

I had a set of DR strings. Dont know if you heard of them. Didnt like the feel but they sell on the basis that they are stronger than most strings of the same guage.
Just out of curiousity which strings break the most?

I find that my low strings, E, A and D break when Im going mad hammering the guitar whereas the higher strings always always break while bending (and usually the start of a solo during a gig!).

Still though, most of my breaking is probably cause I dont change strings regularly enough and I occasionally hammer them

bumblebeemouth

Yeah it's always the lower strings that are breaking, in particular the E. Don't have as many problems with G and B but I find the high E breaking regularly too - 4/6 ain't too good!!!

fitz

Sounds like some bridge adjustment'd sort it out so...
If you paid somewhere to fix it and it still ain't fixed, bring it back in and get them to try again, they shouldn't charge cause they didn't fix it the first time.

Doctor J

Man your low E shouldn't break. Do you hand wrap the strings around the tuner when you put new strings on?

The string will break consistently at the point of most stress, but if your bridge saddles have been filed then the saddles shouldn't be an issue. It just suggests your strings are under above average pressure at that point, so twisted strings seem the most plausible to me.

Does your SG have a tune-o-matic bridge, ie - there's a bridge with the string saddles and a separate bar behind it which you thread the strings through first? Make sure the tailpiece bar is sufficiently low so that a good angle is created when the strings go over the bridge. It might be they don't sit securely enough in the saddle and move when played.

fitz

Sounds like it's the high E string Doc.
But yeah, could be the bottom side of the tun-o-matic may need to be lowered a bit.
Good thinkin Doc.

bumblebeemouth

I'll try adjusting the bridge at the back and see how that works out, thanks a lot guys!

Oeneus

I've never tried this before but it might work in terms of releasing pressure off the strings.

When changing your strings, feed the strings through the tailpiece the opposite way.

In otherwords, feed them in from the inner side of the tailpiece, and then fold them over the tailpiece, then over the bridge.

This will narraow the angle of the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece so that there's less pressure on the strings and saddles.

Or if that's going too far, lower the bridge, or raise the tailpiece.

String winders?

DrJ what do you mean about winding the strng around the tuners. Also i Have been bought several guitar accesseriods* for my birthday, a string winder among them. What the Fucj is this for and how do i use it, Ther is n way you can figure it out by yourself anyway

Doctor J

Some folk when putting on new strings, thread the string through the tuning post and then loop the string around the post a couple of times manually (ie - without twisting the tuner) to take up the slack and save them some time winding. This will twist the core of the string, which will make it easier to break. Don't do it. Always let the tuner tighten the string completely.

At a guess I'd say your string winder sits over the tuner and with the other end you rotate, it brings the string up to pitch with less strain on your wrists.

It wasn't me!

Much faster too. It works on the same principle as an old hand drill. You put the end with the little hollow on the machine head and turn the other end, the one with the handle. It'll tighten the strings quicker and take a lot of strain off your wrists.

By the way Doc, as regards my other thread, I was thinking maybe a mex fat strat with a Duncan/Fender (It's in the 03 Fender catalogue but doesn't specify which company) Enforcer in the bridge and Vintage Noiseless or Lace-Sensors in the middle and bridge. Any opinions on these?

The strat is cheap enough to allow me these modifications and the ones on my RG without going too mental pricewise. Sorry to hijack your thread by the way Bumblebeemouth, just looking for one opinion.

Dave

Doctor J

Ain't heard them. Once I heard the JB I was done with humbuckers. Search over

I think they have sound samples on SD's website and, in truth, it's hard to buy a bad pickup from the likes of Seymour Duncan or EMG if you do a little homework.

Start
here and let us know what it says.

It wasn't me!

Isn't the JB for heavier work though? I was looking for a lighter king of tone that still has just a hint of growl in it. I think the Enforcer must be a Fender pickup. It's not on the SD site. The charts are confusing me though.I haven't a clue what they mean. :dunno: Thanks for all the help so far anyway. I might even go for something like the SD Pearly Gates Plus. I really have no idea what to get and right now I have no time to go to town and try these out so that'll have to wait until summer after the bloody junior cert. At the moment I'm relying a bit on all the advice I can get to narrow things down somewhat. And do I have to order the sound samples off the SD website. Everytime I click "hear" on a pickup it starts giving me an advertisement. I like the idea of the SD JB and the 59 combo for the RG as well by the way. I saw it featured on a high range ESP the other day and it seemed right. What are the prices like for them on Thomann? Any opinions on the Fender single coils for the Fat Strat? Thanks again for the help so far.

Dave

Doctor J

You're welcome. I have a JB and a 59 in my Eggle. They do clean very well and distorted very well. The JB is hot, but not too hot, if you know what I mean. I love it. It'll do a nice clean sound but it'll give you growl when you need it. The two work together well. They're about €80-90 each on Thomann. As for strats, I have an American strat with stock American strat pickups, no plan on changing them, they do the strat tone delightfully well, which is what I bought it for.

It wasn't me!

I was thinking of it in terms of combining it with the single coil in the middle though. The most important setting for me would be the sixty-cycle hum in the second position if you know what I mean. That was why I was thinking of the Fender Vintage Noiseless single coils, to cut out any unwanted hum. I might just get the guiatr first and see then what needs to be done as regards pickups. I apprecate all the help and avice though. Thanks Doc. Don't suppose there's any chance of under-18's going to the boards showcase?

Doctor J

Don't worry about hum. Most of the good albums you have heard are full of it. It'll never be loud enough to make your day cloudy unless you're doing a gig in a televion showroom. If hum was an issue nobody would ever have bought a Fender strat or tele but I've seen one or two of them around in my time.

Besides, in position two and four (if you've wired it correctly) it'll cancel hum anyway.

Noise can be a good thing.

It wasn't me!

I'm 14. I'm going to wire and solder everything myself. I have an insanely short attention span. Correct isn't a word anyone in their right mind would use to describe how this is going to turn out! Interesting is probably closer to the mark.:rolleyes:

Doctor J

That's rock n roll man. Let rip!

It wasn't me!

I'll let you know how it goes and I'll post pics (Maybe) if I have any fingers left afterwards to type with.