Mando String Breaking

[meskalito]

I almost never break guitar strings. I've broken two mandolin strings in the first two weeks of playing. The smallest mando string seems to be a similar gauge as the smallest guitar string. Yet, the mando E is an octave above the guitar high E.

Are mandolin strings more delicate than guitar strings? I've seen Sam Bush playing as aggressively as Jimi Hendrix. How concerned about picking strength and breaking strings are you veteran pickers?

Thanks, as always, ya'll.

[craig]

i've never broken a string! and, i'm anything but delicate with the thing. where are they breaking? maybe there's a sharp spot on your tailpiece or tuner peg? or, maybe it has something to with the way you string it?

[John Flynn]

Q: Are mandolin strings more delicate than guitar strings?
A: For a given brand, gauge and type of string, they are probably exactly the same wire. However, the tensions would be different. For instance, for a D'Addario plain steel .011 "E" string, the tension on a mando is 23.1, wheras on a guitar it is only 19.6. That might make a difference. FWIW also, the .011 E on a mando is considered a "medium gauge" string, where on a guitar, that is a "light guage."

Comment: I have seen Sam Bush playing as aggressively as Jimi Hendrix. #
Response: I think that can be misleading. A player may appear to be really attacking the instrument from what you can see as an audience member, but what you can't see is how hard they actually hitting the strings. This has to do with how deep they are "digging" with the pick and how stiffly they are holding the pick. One of the "tricks" Mike Compton taught at his worshop is holding the pick very loosely and letting it pivot in the fingers. When you do that, the impact on the strings is much less with a given arm/wrist movement. You get better tone and more speed that way and the pick does not "dig" at all.

Q: How concerned about picking strength and breaking strings are you veteran pickers?
A: I try for a light touch as described above, even when I am playing "aggressively." I think when I have broken strings, it is because I have lost concentration and deviated from that intention. Also, I think breaking strings has a lot to do with the type of strings, the pick you use and the set-up of the instrument.

If you continually break strings, it seems useful to do some diagnosis: Are you always breaking the same string? Does it always break in the same place? Does it always break when you are playing hard? This can lead to possible answers to what the problem is.

[glauber]

For me, if the string survives installation, it will probably survive the 4 weeks i get out of it, that is, if i don't break it when i'm stringing it up, i usually don't break it at all.

Be careful with the tuning. If you only tune by ear without having a reference (or an electronic tuner), the tuning tends to drift up (at least in my case).

[Flowerpot]

There must be something going on with your setup, or else you have the strength of a gorilla. I broke quite a few strings on guitar over the years, but almost never (like once in ten years) do I break a mandolin string.

I'd take Craig's advice and look for a sharp spot on the bridge or nut. Or, if the string slots are too narrow at the nut, it can put extra tension between the nut and the tuner. Look at where it's breaking. If it's breaking at the tuner itself, a string overlapping itself on the tuner post can cause that.

Guitar is pretty hard on strings because at the bridge, it takes almost a 90 degrees bend over the saddle. That's the weak point. Mandolin, there's no sudden angles like that.

[Dale Ludewig]

I, too, have never broken a mandolin string while playing. I can hit it pretty hard, but on the other hand hitting too hard can "overdrive" the top and cause loss of tone. I've broken strings when doing setup work because I'm constantly loosening and tightening strings.

I concur that you have a physical problem with the setup on your mando. There must be an "edge" somewhere that is too sharp. It would help if you'd say where the string is breaking- at the tuners, nut, bridge (unlikely unless you're using a metal saddle <g>, or tailpiece. These will be clues as to where to hunt down the 'wascally 'wabbit.

Well you certainly dont need to play easy. I go all out when im pickin and ive never broked a string by playing. I have buy tuning though. Maybe your used to heavy strings and you just go to hard with the mando.

[mandodebbie]

When I bought my first mando last April, I must have popped three E strings and an A within the first month of playing. I was continally buy new strings and had a bunch of incomplete sets in the end. I asked the man at the music shop what I was doing wrong and he advised me to "stretch" the strings. In other words, tune the mando gently and frequently. Take your time and the strings will eventually "temper" a bit. Don't make changing your strings a rush job, either. In fact, I just changed all my mando's strings on Sunday without any of them popping or poking me in the fingers or face, etc. for a change. I'm actually quite proud of myself. Patience is a virtue.

[duuuude]

"...without any of them popping or poking me in the fingers"

Hmmmm, you musta been doin' something wrong then, no blood-letting is bad juju for new strings I hear.

[amowry]

Another possibility is that some of the nut slots are a little too narrow for the strings that you are using, so they are pinching the strings and causing the tension between the nut and the tuners to be higher than the tension between the nut and the tailpiece. #If this is the case, you might hear the string catching in the slot as you tune up.

[bmac]

Yes it would help to tell us where the string is breaking.

Before I had it down to a system I broke two strings while restringing. I learned that I was stringing it wrong and had "kinked" or weakened the string causing it to break very near the tuner both times. If your string is breaking there (or in the same place) you are probably stringing it wrong.