Breaking Strings: A Regular Occurrence?

**Jeff Budz** · Jul-05-2012, 4:00pm

I seem to be breaking strings fairly regularly, both at rehersal and on gigs. The breaks always occur at the bridge, have been different makes and gauges, recently changed. This only seems to have started within the last 3 months, I've been playing musical instruments for 20 years and never broke strings.

I'm thinking it's because:

1: It's been hot & humid
2: I'm picking harder & faster than I have before
3: Mandolin has a lot of string tension
4: I use it like a snare drum

So for those of you that perform (I play bluegrass-ish) and jam, is it common to break a string during a session?

**JeffD** · Jul-05-2012, 4:04pm

I play heavily, and a lot, and I haven't broken a string in almost a year, and it seemed a bad lot of J74s, and before that I hadn't broken a string since I played on a mandolin I had been neglected for twenty years.

Normal healthy strings on a normal healthy mandolin, with normal healthy weather changes, played under normal healthy technique, do not break. Regularly or otherwise.

**Astro** · Jul-05-2012, 4:06pm

Could you have a burr in your notch ? (speaking literally, not figuratively)

**rockies** · Jul-05-2012, 4:15pm

Jeff, for what it's worth here is my experience. When I first started playing mandolin I broke strings very regularily. I had some instruction from John Reischman and he suggested I go to a heavy pick. I was using very flexible light picks and putting energy into the pick would bend the pick causing the pick to go deeper into the strings. Then the strings would invariably break at the bridge. Once I started using a heavy pick (stiffer) and got my technique better I never break strings anymore (and I play loud when necessary). Just a thought.
Dave

**Folkmusician.com** · Jul-05-2012, 4:18pm

The bridge could be kinking your string if it is the same string breaking each time. This is not normal, since ebony is usually somewhat soft. If it is various strings, it is highly unlikely that more than one saddle slot developed a problem at the same time. Setting up mandolins, I break strings nearly everyday. Mostly E strings. There is an abnormal amount of tuning going on with new instruments. This doesn't necessarily apply to instrument that are just being fine tuned or played.

I would suspect:
2: I'm picking harder & faster than I have before

**Willie** · Jul-05-2012, 4:39pm

Have you tried a different brand of strings? Are you tuning to a standard electronic tuner? If not maybe you are trying to tune too high....There was some talk on here about pirate strings having a US brand name on the label and the strings were inferior to the ones made in the US....

Willie

**multidon** · Jul-05-2012, 4:45pm

Normal healthy strings on a normal healthy mandolin, with normal healthy weather changes, played under normal healthy technique, do not break. Regularly or otherwise.

Can't say I agree with this. Strings are under constant stress just from the tension. Added stress from playing, the string is constantly moving. Metal fatigue has to set in at some point, bend a paper clip back and forth a bunch of times to see what I mean. All metal under stress is subject to fatigue at a molecular level. Given enough time, I think all strings would eventually break. Of course, most of us change them before this much fatigue sets in because they start sounding bad, start buzzing, start not staying in tune, etc. (all of which can be at least partially caused by metal fatigue).

**Ray(T)** · Jul-05-2012, 4:48pm

I've not broken a string for at least ten years and I don't treat them lightly.

If they're consistently breaking at the same place - the bridge - I'd suspect the bridge rather than the strings. Duff strings would never be duff in the same place.

**Jeff Budz** · Jul-05-2012, 5:26pm

Good suggestions all around, I'm using a heavy pick, j74s and GHS Silk and Bronze from Elderly, and tuning to standard pitch with an electronic tuner.

I'm definately playing much harder and for more prolonged periods than I have in the past. It would be nice to be able to dig in with confidence. Sam Bush plays really hard, I wonder if he breaks strings every show?

**Folkmusician.com** · Jul-05-2012, 5:55pm

If you notice, Sam Bush has a second mandolin on stage for that exact reason.

It is extremely common for professional players to break strings during shows. Maybe not every show, but it happens enough that most large acts have back-up instruments to switch out when it happens. I can see the silk and bronze strings being less durable.

Approximately how many hours are you getting out the strings before they break?

**Randi Gormley** · Jul-06-2012, 7:55am

I just had a stray thought that may not be at all relevant, but, hey, I thought I'd toss it in the heap. The only time I had (relatively new) strings break on me was when I was detuning and retuning a lot -- not the little adjustments to correct a bit of a humidity bump, but tune way down and then way up a couple of times. Don't know how you tune, but if you do the extreme thing a lot, that might also have an affect on the life of the strings.

**Andy Alexander** · Jul-06-2012, 8:44am

Run some fine emery cloth over the saddle next string change. As someone suggested you may have a burr or sharp corner in a groove.

**Bertram Henze** · Jul-06-2012, 8:50am

Originally Posted by Randi Gormley

I just had a stray thought that may not be at all relevant, but, hey, I thought I'd toss it in the heap. The only time I had (relatively new) strings break on me was when I was detuning and retuning a lot -- not the little adjustments to correct a bit of a humidity bump, but tune way down and then way up a couple of times.

Torturing metal until it breaks is typically done by repetitive cold reshaping. This applies to a string in two ways:

- stretching/releasing (that's the procedure described above)
- bending in both directions near a fixed point, such as the bridge - this is done by the vibrations of the string, depending on the amplitude; funny enough, the amplitude is the smaller the higher the string tension is, so heavier strings may survive longer than light strings, guitar strings break more often than mandolin strings.

**JeffD** · Jul-06-2012, 8:59am

Originally Posted by multidon

Given enough time, I think all strings would eventually break. Of course, most of us change them before this much fatigue sets in because they start sounding bad, start buzzing, start not staying in tune, etc. .

Absolutley. I should clarify - old strings that have been on the instrument too long are not healthy.

What I mean is that ever time a string breaks its because something is wrong. It might be nut slots grabbing, it might be old strings, it might be bad strings, it might be twisting the wrong tuner - but its always something wrong.

If its a regular occurance, there is a regular occurance of something wrong.

**Justus True Waldron** · Jul-06-2012, 1:24pm

When I first started playing I used j74s and I broke strings a lot... however I don't believe it was due to the strings, but rather that I was too cheap to change them (I was 13) and I played really heavy. Fast forward to now, and I can't remember the last time I've broken a string, and I play bluegrass and I play quite loud. I also use exp75s now, so thicker, but even when I was using other strings I didn't break them any more. I think technique and age of strings makes a big difference... and again if it happens repeatedly at your bridge it might be a burr... If all else fails, go thicker, try j75s, definitely made a difference in volume and tone for me.

**GTison** · Jul-06-2012, 2:47pm

I used to break strings ALOT. almost every performance. So, before a performance I changed strings. This helped some. I too played loud and hard. I also discovered that using the hard pick as above helped in perhaps a different way. Hard picks don't wear down and get sharp edges as much.
These sharp jagged edges can grab the string and pull it harder. If I have a rough pick I discard it or smooth it with a fingernail buffing tool.
I don't play as hard anymore or as much. I always thought it was the bridge that was cutting them. But I don't know. I did have it worked on a few times. But that did not solve the breakage problem.

**Henry Eagle** · Jul-06-2012, 4:19pm

Different formulars of sweat seem to have different effects on metal. My brother makes strings sound dull within 30 minutes, myself, I can play weeks before they sound dead, although my fingers aren't less sweaty than his. Why is that so? I'm not quite sure, but I believe, aside from possible genetic disposition, diet has to do with it. Do you tend to rest your wrist on the bridge and maybe changed your diet lately? No kidding, I wonder if anybody else has observed this.

**GTison** · Jul-06-2012, 4:28pm

Henry
I have seen many people with the "acid sweat" as I call it. That can also lead to string breaking I think. (My daughter has it. Her hands ate away the brass and finish on her trombone)

**bmac** · Jul-06-2012, 5:53pm

I only break E strings. and very few recently... But when doing a lot of futzing with my mandos most of my string breaks are on the tuners or the tailpiece. While tuning and detuning for bridge adjustments etc I broke plenty of E strings. Once the bridge and nut are correctly adjusted I break very few. as mentioned above, metal fatigue will do the trick. I rarely play furiously so playing doesn't seem to matter much.

**Bertram Henze** · Jul-07-2012, 3:18am

Originally Posted by Justus True Waldron

When I first started playing I used j74s and I broke strings a lot... however I don't believe it was due to the strings, but rather that I was too cheap to change them (I was 13) and I played really heavy.

Old strings sound dull and not as loud. I think a player then subconsciously plays harder trying to get the same sound out of his instrument and thereby rushes the time until restringing.