Breaking a strings way too often...

[TNT]

Which mando does this happen on? or does it happen on different mandos?.

[John M. Riley]

It happens on the same mandolin, which is the one i have been playing exclusively for about the past 6 months. i dont want to blame it on my mandolin, cause its my favorite one. my playing style could have changed also.. who knows

[pops1]

Strings seldom break because of bad bridge slots, but it is possible. Bridges are usually ebony, and though ebony is a very hard wood is is wood, and wood deforms from the string pressure.

Even bone will have air pockets and soft spots in that will cause it to form a harder spot that can be very thin and help cut a string, especially if it is played hard. Grain lines in the wood can do the same thing and are much harder than the rest of the wood. pinching in the wood slot will also help break the string right where it stops vibrating. Thats why cords have strain relief to help keep them from breaking so soon and they don't vibrate nearly as much as a string played even soft. have some one file the slots in your bridge and i will be surprised if it doesn't help. Now to contradict myself, are you breaking strings on both of the mandolins you bring and both are (a) strings it may be your attack. you may be putting the most of your force on the a strings as opposed to spreading it across all the strings.

[John M. Riley]

ok. i broke another a string playing last night. i noticed that it broke directly at the bridge and not at my picking area..... i ordered me another bridge top from steve smith. mayeb that will help the problem

[mandroid]

That makes some sense. the bridge being the fixed end nearest where you pick the strings ,
where it can no longer freely vibrate ..

[mandolirius]

It happens on the same mandolin, which is the one i have been playing exclusively for about the past 6 months. i dont want to blame it on my mandolin, cause its my favorite one. my playing style could have changed also.. who knows

Just curious...which one's your favourite?

[EdHanrahan]

...it broke directly at the bridge and not at my picking area.

Just a shot (and a cheap one!): Have you tried lubricating the bridge slot? I'd use something that won't absorb into the wood, like maybe wax or hard soap. At worst, it's certainly cheaper & faster than waiting a new bridge top (saddle?).

[Paul Kotapish]

John,

A few suggestions for your consideration:

Take your mando to a respected luthier with a lot of experience with mandolins and get a full set up done--with particular attention to the bridge and saddle. That might not be the issue, but at least you can rule out a problem with the instrument itself.

I used to break a lot of strings, too, and it really put a damper on the pleasure of playing. After hearing Norman Blake talk about how he taught himself to play a lot lighter than he used to, I decided to retrain myself to do the same. Blake argued that there was a point at which added power in the attack did not purchase any appreciable increase in volume, and the secret was to find the happy spot where you got maximum volume with your right-hand and not play a bit harder than that optimum. It's taken some work, but I rarely break strings any more and I haven't noticed any decrease in volume.

One thing to remember with an archtop mandolin is that it is almost always a lot louder out front than it is under the ear. It could be that your bandmates are getting blasted by the volume of your instrument and are playing harder than necessary to compensate. Try a different configuration when practicing or jamming and see if that makes any difference.

You could also try to rethink the way you are listening to yourself in the acoustic "mix" and try to learn to hear your instrument from a different perspective. You will never be as loud and full sounding in a room--or stage--full of musicians as you are playing solo in the kitchen at home, and you need a different set of ears to compensate for that. A lot of folks try to make up the difference on stage with monitors, but that is usually a losing proposition. It takes a lot of discipline to learn to hear your own instrument in the context of a big ensemble, but the best players are often listening more to their bandmates than they are to the sound of their own instrument, and are able to back off a few degrees from the full attack that is inevitable when everyone is trying to hear themselves on top of the mix.

And--as mentioned above--it might be useful to try a few different string-and-pick combos. I broke far more strings using a lighter pick on medium/light strings than I do with a heavier pick on medium/heavy strings. Your experience might be different, but you should experiment until you find the right combo.

Good luck.

[pops1]

I wouldn't buy a new bridge, just file the slots.

[Paul Statman]

Have you tried playing the banjo? I hear they're pretty loud without much pounding!
Just kidding. I feel your pain, brother. I've had to deal with worn (mostly nut) slots, and now only file my own string slots and use .012" and .016" in the top. Although as your problem is not this, as the J75's are already up there, I would concur on the slots diagnosis already mentioned.

[John M. Riley]

Mandopixie.. Playing a banjer, lol??!

my brother already plays an archtop stanleytone made by frank neat... we dont need another banjer, lol

thats probly why im breaking strings, its probly just trying to stay in with the archtop! anyways i did put a new bridge top on the mandolin. i played 2 shows this past weekend. only 1 broke string and it was an old one, so we cant count that. i think things are looking up... well see

[Paul Statman]

New strings don't break because they've not been stretched to their elasticity limit yet. Most pro's I know (and I follow their example) put on a fresh set before every gig. This practice avoids breakages, and they're even easier to play on, too, as the tension is a little lower.

[mando-tech]

i find myself breaking an a string on my mandolin almost every time i play a show or at a jam. yes i play with a heavy right hand. i use j75 strings. and a dunlop nylon 1mm pick. at this point i get a lot of drive with my right hand in my playing... i would hate to have to change my style of playing at this point. is there any set of strings that may hold out a little better? thanks!

....If yo are using j75s thats as heavy as you want to get, -.016 on the A, I 'm not familiar with the John Pearse, however I don't think the A would be any larger ?? The 1mm pick is too thick, try an .88mm. Normally when strings are being broken continually, its not the string's fault ,...-its the person behind the pick ! One other possibility, if they are breaking at the saddle, and your slots are too deep, -that's the reason. Remember, slots for wound strings should be half the dia. of string deep, unwound strings should be as deep as the string dia.

[mandobassman]

I'm sure you have a favorite mandolin to play at gigs, but have you considered playing a different mandolin for an entire gig to see if you have string breakage on a different mando. That might tell you if the problem is the mandolin or the playing style. Mandolins and strings are designed to take a certain amount of punishment. Few players have beat the snot out of a mandolin harder than Bill Monroe, but you didn't see Bill breaking strings every show. Take notice of where the strings are breaking. If it's in the same place each time (like at the bridge slots) there may well be a bridge problem.

[Mandoplumb]

Didn't know Jr. Blankenship was still playing haven't heard anything from him in years. Next to George Shuffler he was my favorite, had real felling in his picking like Shuffler.

[Eric C.]

Lets hope he fixed the string breakage problem in the past 6 years since his last post on this thread. That would be A LOT of broken strings!