.020 wound A-strings

[steve V. johnson]

I've used .020 wound A-strings as long as I've been playing zouks/OMs, and in the last week I've broken -four- of them...

This is unusual to say the least... Maybe I just got a bad batch of them. The ones I use now on my Crump B-II are Ernie Ball 82/20 bronze. I've been buying them in 5-packs from my (beloved) local shop, Roadworthy Guitar & Amp.

At one time I had a little burr on a newly-made bone nut, and it cut two, not the pair, but the bass-side one, about a day apart, and instrument tech Keith Skoglund hunted down the rough spot and smoothied it quickly and well.

These late breaks are happening at around the 2nd - to - 5th fret. It doesn't appear to be a cut in the string (nor the winding), but they -part- and the bronze unravels on both ends. It happens on either course and not in the same spot on the neck twice... so far...

I've never seen anything like it...

Last night, at a St. Pat's gig, one (the treble-side one of the pair) broke in the first set, and I got ir replaced quickly (while Min sang "May Morning Dew"), and then about an hour later, the other one of the pair broke! Aaaack!! And it broke at a different spot...

I wouldn't mind changing brands, tho it would mean buying elsewhere, since the Ernie B's are the only ones the local carries,

Local guitar players (accustomed to lighter gauges than I use) have commented that I'm asking a string normally used as a G to bear the tension of a whole pitch higher, but I don't think that one step should make that much difference... And, these have done well for long enough to go completely thumpin' -dead- before. And for years, in fact...

Thanks for any insights/experiences/recommendations/comments, etc., that y'all have to offer! I hope it's just a passing issue of quality control at Ernie Ball..

Thanks,

stv

[Ted Eschliman]

Ernie Ball has recently moved their sales, warehouse, and office facilities. This has slowed down some of the distribution recently, but I wouldn't necessary blame this (or them) for this problem.

I've been retailing strings for 26 years, and I think ALL of my major brands have had little glitches, rare, random, nontheless, none have escaped the occasional "bad batch." It's part of the nature of precision manufacturing, and despite the best efforts of Quality Control departments, it's certain to happen once in a great while. (Yeah, stinks when it happens at a gig...)

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater; most reputable manufacturers and music stores will replace these strings free (especially if you have a long term relationship with them) if there is an obvious defect. A few net cents worth of replacement strings is worth far less than product reputation. You might experiment with other brands, but ultimately it will happen with them, too.

[Bill Van Liere]

Steve

Ted is probabaly much closer to the facts (2nd to 5th fret break=bad string) than I ever will be, but you asked for insight. I also experienced odd string braking last week. One day without playing hard I a broke a .040 G string on a mando. Wierd, I cant' remember ever breaking a G. Next day the same thing, I broke the other G string. Replaced it, played a bit and broke an E string. As I recall I am straight north of you by a few hundered miles Steve. Must be atmospheric conditions?

FWIW I play a .022 wound GHS on my Stephen Owsley Smith octave mandolin.

[acousticphd]

The smallest phosphor bronze wound string I have been able to (easily) in quantity - eg, a dozen at a time - is usually 0.023. I would really like to find and use smaller diameter wound string for my tenor guitars and OM octave strings. Other than your local shop, do you know where 0.020-0.022 phosphor bronze wound are generally available?
Thanks,

[Steve Baker]

I regularly buy wound PB strings in .018 (and above) from JustStrings.com.Hope this helps.

Steve Baker

[Bill Van Liere]

Wow, a thread where everyone signed their name.

[zoukboy]

Steve, I think that you got a few strings that had flawed core wires - either that or you just bent that A string a bit far during your band's cover of SRV's "Lovestruck Baby." :-)

I use .021 and .022 phosphor bronze strings from D'Addario and am really happy with them. One thing a few friends have tried is to use a nickel wound for that A. Sort of provides more of a transition from the unwound to bronze wound. Nice thing about nickel wound strings is that for a given gauge they are lower tension than bronze wound so you can often go up a .001 or so and maintain the same tension. I have some instruments that I actually prefer the sound of nickel wound strings on, and they're cheaper, too.