breaking "D" string blues

[Dennis Russell]

I need help with this one: This isnt Mandolin content, I have a small shop in a small one horse town, and I get a lot of instruments for advice on and repair. This music teacher just bought a brand new 3/4 size Bass Violin and the "D" string has broke twice at just before the turnstyle or capstain in the peg box. I asked her to return it to the manufacturer, but she replied that it is as is when shipped, no warranties on the strings as they told her. I said I will see what I can do, they brought a new "D" string for me to replace,, So I am apprehensive about changing this string. the other strings are wrapped type like a fine wrap of metal of some sort, I am not up to strings on these instruments. The wrap was unraveled almost like it just desintigrated or something. I am now in the process of taking the capstain out to give it a close examination to see if there is a metal burr on it to cause the breaking, or mabey it is a bad run of strings,, any help on this would be appreciated,,,,,,,DEnnis in Yuma Arizona

[buddyellis]

Check and burnish the nut crossing, add graphite to make sure its not binding. Check the post to make sure it isn't cutting into the string. Don't cut the strings short when you put them on, roll the whole bunch on there (yes it will take a while, get your drill and make a key turner)

What kind of strings? Could just be cr*ppy strings. Most of the strings on 'new' lower end (and even mid level)basses are basically placeholders if the bass wasn't setup by someone. Most 'new' basses need a good bit of setup, even on the high end. Get a set of obligatos or spirocores. PM me if you need more in depth info, as URB is my primary instrument.

-b

[Paul Hostetter]

Strings that break under the thread wrap inside the pegbox are usually defective strings. Some brands are way better than others. D'Addario Helicore Hybrid mediums are one excellent choice in bass string. Pirastro Chrom-Core is another, and then there's the old standby, now somewhat eclipsed by these first two but still good, Thomastik Spirocores. These are unproblematic strings.

The core wire inside the string is high carbon piano-type wire. It's too brittle for winding around the peg, so mfrs usually use a lower carbon core wire that's loop-locked to the main core and then covered by that thread wrap. That's usually where it breaks. The real answer is to get better strings.

A bass is a viol, not a violin.

Graphite will do nothing to mitigate a badly cut nut slot, and a well-cut nut slot needs no graphite. But this doesn't appear to be the problem.

Unfortunately there are a couple of very expensive string brands that break easily. Both are made in Denmark : Larsen and Jargar.

[Dennis Russell]

Hello again: i was very careful to measure everything, I put on one new "D" string, but before I did that I measured the bridge to make sure it was OK, I got accurate measurements from a book I got a while back,, "Useful measurements for violins" but it has some Bass Viol info in it. The bridge was way too tall and I dont know if it had a contributing factor to the strings tension down by the nut. I trimmed the bridge as close as possible according to the book and restrung the strings,,so far so good, I put some pencil lead in the bridge slots and checked the nut for any sharp edges and smoothed the slots with crocus cloth, then checked the capstains for any burrs , none could be found. When I put in the new "D" string I used all of it and slowly wound it till almost to pitch. The string that is the replacement is a "Savarez" made in France ,, the label on front of package is Corelli it says Contrebasse/ Double Bass RE-D-2 382 M medium wound on rope core, so I am ready to bring to pitch on this instrument using this Peterson strobe tuner I just bough last year, I never used it but once whebn I was trying to learn how to tap tune a Mandolin sound plate. anyways I will tell you when finished what happens , thankyou for your help,,, Dennis in Arizona