I keep breaking my G-strings

[Jesse_Dylan]

Two nights in a row, I've broken a G-string while tuning. I would suspect the guitar (nut, saddle, tuning peg), but it was on two different guitars! I would suspect my stringing ability, and still do kind of, but wouldn't the other treble strings be as likely or more likely to break? Or is the G the most susceptible?

 

I have definitely been tuning and detuning a lot, so maybe that's the reason. Still, I hadn't broken strings for years, and now, two nights in a row, same string, different guitars... We'll see if I bust another tomorrow!

[duluthdan]

Elixirs by any chance?

[haystack]

Elixirs by any chance?

Ha.... Same thought. I switched from elixirs for that reason

[SC_Wannabe]

G and B strings are the two most common that I break, and it happens much more frequently if I'm tuning/detuning a lot (like when I'm sanding down a saddle and repeatedly test fitting it). I don't use Elixers, and the breaking seems to happen equally to other string Brands (Martin, D'Addario, John Pearse).

[blindboygrunt]

Am I right on thinking that the G is the thinnest string?

Under the wound part obviously

 

 

I used to break G's constantly years ago. But it was when I was gigging in sessions unplugged. And just playing way too hard

[Jesse_Dylan]

Nope, not Elixirs! I think one set was Gibson 80/20 lights, and the other was D'Addario PB lights. Although I heard D'Add makes the Gibson strings as well...

 

That makes sense, that the G would actually be the thinnest string of all under the wrap. I used to use a heavy pick and strum with abandon, and it was always the G I'd break. Haven't had that problem for years and years (and use an even heavier pick now! but have developed some nuance), but I guess it must be all the different tunings I'm using now.

 

Again, does get me to change my strings more frequently...

 

Back before I put strings on properly, my high E would break at the peg a lot. I sort of learned to live without a high E because of that and played full gigs without one. I can't do without a G, though! (I wrote one song on a guitar with no G-string, but I can't remember that song.... because I normally have a G-string.)

 

These days, I'm pretty attached to all 6 strings...

[EuroAussie]

You meed to go easier with your girlfriend Jesse

[Salfromchatham]

Paul Simon didn't play The Boxer with a G String. Warren Hanes also does not play with a G String. I think Europeans play with them, though. Except the Brits. Brexit for that very reason too.

[kidblast]

for me it used to be the D string, if I do a lot of alternate tunings, POINK!

Always at the machine head..

 

my setup dude worked some of his magic and it's never done it again.

 

Something I guess with the nut and some smoothing of the post on the MH.

[drathbun]

Where on the string does the G break Jesse?

[Jesse_Dylan]

Where on the string does the G break Jesse?

I'm pretty sure it's always up at the tuning post! I make sure to do a lot of wraps, though. Maybe I do too many.

[kidblast]

yea me too.. you may have a burr on that.. some 0000 steel wool maybe?

[Jesse_Dylan]

yea me too.. you may have a burr on that.. some 0000 steel wool maybe?

Seems odd that it would happen on two separate guitars. I'll see if it keeps happening! Maybe they both have burrs, or maybe they have multiple burrs and it's just the G string that can't take it.

[mike m]

Hey Jesse,

Why not try a unwound g, I know the arrows will fly on this suggestion. But try it anyway. And tell me what you think is missing in your sound.

Put a .020 - .024 plain string and play for a while. Now it is no longer the thinnest string.

 

m

[E-minor7]

I rarely break strings - when it happens it's almost always the G.

Not due to alternative tunings, which aren't used that often. It typically happens during intense saddle fine-sanding where the bone goes up and down again and again and the steel is loosened under a capo.

Logic is logic.

Yes, I wind the string around the post, but might begin to take an extra turn. At the other hand the prob ain't that big.

Still I think there were knot-tied G's over the headstock on 3 guitars not so long ago. An old still well working trick.

[Jesse_Dylan]

Maybe I should try an unwound G. Once I started wrapping a lot more, I've never broken an unwound string anymore, even with all my weird tunings.

[dhanners623]

Can't remember the last time I broke a string, and I play with about the heaviest pick possible, a Golden Gate. And I can strum hard. I string my guitars with D'Addario EJ-17s, which are mediums.

 

I've always had my guitars set up properly, and had the nuts and saddles checked to make sure nothing is awry. Maybe some people's body chemistry attacks the strings more aggressively than others, but I've always found that people who break strings frequently have an issue at their nut or saddle.

[djw171]

Worth checking the nut and saddle for any sharp bits. Two different guitars though, could be how you've strung it in the first place. I had a G string break on me for the first time in a very long time recently. It was on the bridge saddle end though. I put it down to it was a long gig (half way through 4th 50min set), outside and hot. Its was 33deg C when I started early evening so a lot of sweat on the strings and guitar. The strings were new when I started the gig but by end of third set the low E and A were sounding duller. I should have swapped them out I guess for the final set.

 

Try a different brand maybe or gauge after you've checked the nut and saddle. You should be able to use a wound 3rd though without fear of breaking.

 

I know what you mean its a hard string to play without.

[drathbun]

All good suggestion here. It could be as simple as you have a heavy attack with your pick. You might also want to tune down a 1/2 step.

[capmaster]

I'm pretty sure it's always up at the tuning post! I make sure to do a lot of wraps, though. Maybe I do too many.

yea me too.. you may have a burr on that.. some 0000 steel wool maybe?

Seems odd that it would happen on two separate guitars. I'll see if it keeps happening! Maybe they both have burrs, or maybe they have multiple burrs and it's just the G string that can't take it.

Grover tuners with chrome-plated capstans tend to eat strings. I have to deal with three sets of locking and four sets of non-locking Grovers that came stock on Gibson electrics made in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Besides the obvious misdesign of the locking ones, they are eating .010" and .011" E1st strings from the palm of my hand. Winding lots of turns around the capstan until past the center hole is best. This makes the locking function virtually useless, but I prefer strings lasting.

 

Burrs at the center holes of machine heads may cut in between the wrap windings of a wound G3rd and thus get in direct contact with its thin core wire. So wound G strings are possibly as sensitive as E1st strings.

 

None of my tuners branded other than Grover has similar problems, not even those that also feature chrome plating of the capstans.

[the other side]

Two nights in a row, I've broken a G-string while tuning. I would suspect the guitar (nut, saddle, tuning peg), but it was on two different guitars! I would suspect my stringing ability, and still do kind of, but wouldn't the other treble strings be as likely or more likely to break? Or is the G the most susceptible?

 

I have definitely been tuning and detuning a lot, so maybe that's the reason. Still, I hadn't broken strings for years, and now, two nights in a row, same string, different guitars... We'll see if I bust another tomorrow!

Are they breaking on your bird ? Same brand strings on each guitar ? I have heard of wraps over wraps breaking ( too many wraps ). I have broken new strings putting them on ( the g or b ) tuning an octave higher by accident many years ago. I have experienced bad batches of strings as well. My buddy's j50 was doing the same years ago, on the same g or b. Back then it was Martin Marquis ( putting them on new ! ). I gave him a set of mine, and low and behold, it ceased. That's when I attributed it to a bad batch.

[Jesse_Dylan]

Are they breaking on your bird ? Same brand strings on each guitar ? I have heard of wraps over wraps breaking ( too many wraps ). I have broken new strings putting them on ( the g or b ) tuning an octave higher by accident many years ago. I have experienced bad batches of strings as well. My buddy's j50 was doing the same years ago, on the same g or b. Back then it was Martin Marquis ( putting them on new ! ). I gave him a set of mine, and low and behold, it ceased. That's when I attributed it to a bad batch.

No breaks on the Bird at all yet, actually! The breaks were on my SJ-200 and on my Guild D-20, Gibson 80/20 and D'Add PB respectively (although I hear the Gibson strings are made by D'Add as well).

 

I also broke a fairly new D'Addario Nickel Bronze medium string on my J-15, can't remember which string (probably G, but it could have been B or even D... really don't remember)--I attributed this one to user error at the time though.

 

If it keeps happening on a specific guitar, I'll know something is fishy.

[Don Dawson]

No breaks on the Bird at all yet, actually! The breaks were on my SJ-200 and on my Guild D-20, Gibson 80/20 and D'Add PB respectively (although I hear the Gibson strings are made by D'Add as well).

 

I also broke a fairly new D'Addario Nickel Bronze medium string on my J-15, can't remember which string (probably G, but it could have been B or even D... really don't remember)--I attributed this one to user error at the time though.

 

If it keeps happening on a specific guitar, I'll know something is fishy.

 

Don from D'Addario here - shoot me an email and at the very least, let us get you a replacement or two to help you figure this out. Breaking strings is never fun. don.dawson2@daddario.com

 

Don Dawson

D'Addario

[Mickthemiller]

I have noticed that G strings break quite often on many guitars. My theory is that it is tensioned more, for its thickness, than other strings. Is there any data on the relative tension on each string when tuned to concert pitch. I suspect they all have individual breaking points. By the way mine break at the tuning post.

[Jesse_Dylan]

Don from D'Addario here - shoot me an email and at the very least, let us get you a replacement or two to help you figure this out. Breaking strings is never fun. don.dawson2@daddario.com

 

Don Dawson

D'Addario

Don, thanks, I will do that!

 

I also want to say (and came back to say) that it has happened again on the SJ-200 with a fairly new string. Important to note, though, that this time it was a Dunlop string, not D'Addario. I did not mean to indicate that this was a D'Addario problem, because it's not. It's something on my end over here. I've been using D'Addario strings for 15+ years and find them of the utmost quality.