My first string break

[0.1 watts]

I've never broken a string live.. Last night we were headlining a venue, there were about 80 people (50 we didnt know). Halfway through our first song, my B string just broke, and I wasnt bending it or anything. I then thought (omg what am i gonna do!!!) and tried to play but having a floyd bridge and locking nut it was all completely out of tune. I pelted it backstage and dug out the spare guitar my drummer brought! While I ran out, thunder_bird saved the day by playing a cool bass solo! When I got back, we were all clueless as to what part of the song it was, and we all played different parts until we just decided to stop! The others handled it really well, they didnt stop playing, and used their stagemanship to improvise while I was getting the spare. (Thanks steve and t_bird!)

The spare was a gibson SG, so suddenly I found myself confronted with a guitar that used gauge 11 strings that were floating 4mm from the fretboard, as opposed to gauge 9 strings 1.5mm off the board (the one with the broken string). Anyway I wrestled with it for the rest of the set and it went down really well! Anyone else had a string break? If so, how have you handled it?

[PhantomLord]

yeah i've had my thin e string break on me in the middle of a gig, bout 3rd song in. it was a hard rock piece and had a fast solo, but i just improvised on my b and g strings for the solo. luckily i wasn't using my esp at the time so it only had a normal tremolo on it.

[clem snide]

iv broken about 5 or 6 strings in my life none of them live thogh.I imagine it would be pretty embarasing.has anyone here had an experience when the crowd acted negativly to a string break or other guitar problem?

[Puddlegum66]

Yet another reason to stay away from floyds when playing live.

[crusty]

I used to break a string at just about every gig. I was a heavy wammy user in those days. No big deal though, I'd always have a backup guitar waiting for me.

[t_shirtsnjeans]

Aww, T-Bird, you saint!

The only time I broke a string was at the end of a set and we were firing away at a heavy driven song that I usually carried, and I broke my A string! Man talk about everything going sharp! And I really needed the A too! So I faked it, the crowd was into me messing with the chords and I was laughing and the audience was laughing and we ended on such an up note that we were invited back for every event these guys had, and also for a schedule where we'd be playing for the next year!

So it ain't all bad when that happens. I usually keep another guitar handy right next to me just in case....................

[socialmisfit]

I've never broken a string on my own guitar in my whole life... but i have a bad habit of breaking them on other people's guitars... i went to the drummer's house one time and the guitarist from his band left his epi there and we started playing it... i started strumming some improv and wasnt even playing half as hard as i do on my own guitar and i broke both the high E and the one above too... the high E smacked me in the face and left a nice cut. i felt worse because i broke his strings. Luckily, i had done my own string change the night before and had a whole bunch of strings all tangled and bent up, shoved in the garbage can so i went home, grabbed em, and put them on his guitar and he never even knew. haha sneaky eh? :D

[unclebobscircus]

Yet another reason to stay away from floyds when playing live.
That goes for any floating trem.

I'll take tuning stability over being able to pull up on the whammy bar anyday :p

Heh, I remember the first time I broke a string - it was on my friend's bass. It was a D string that I was trying to tune up, and it was only around C when it snapped and hit me in the face. I had this big red mark for a week.

[thunder_bird]

Aww, T-Bird, you saint!

he he, cheers man

[E-boy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=47070&item=7310226892

String protectors that keep the string from wearing out in it's typical "wear" points. :toohappy:

[ModestCargo]

11 gage all the way!!

[0.1 watts]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=47070&item=7310226892

String protectors that keep the string from wearing out in it's typical "wear" points. :toohappy:

Thanks for that link, they look tempting, but $13 including shipping is just too expensive!

[Slipstream]

I don't even remember the last time I broke a string, more than 20 years though. Eric Clapton used to break strings onstage all the time. He would sit down and change the string while the audience waited. This is from Eric Clapton FAQ (http://www.ericclaptonfaq.com/questions/When_and_how_did_Eric_Clapton_earn_his_nickname_Sl owhand.htm)

According to Yardbirds rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja, whenever Clapton broke a guitar string during a concert, Clapton would stay on stage and replace it. The English audiences would wait out the delay by doing what is called a "slow handclap". The Yardbirds' manager, Giorgio Gomelsky, turned the phrase "slow handclap" into a nickname for the album notes of Five Live Yardbirds. The record was released in December 1964. Clapton recalled, "He [Gomelsky] coined it as a good pun — he kept saying I was a fast player, so he put together the slow handclap phrase into 'Slowhand' as a play on words." In a June 1999 on-line chat, Clapton gave a slightly different version of how his nickname came about: "I think it might have been a play on words from the "Clap" part of my name. In England, in sport, if the crowd is getting anxious, we have a slow handclap, which indicates boredom or frustration. But it wasn't my idea, it was someone else's comment."

[BASSMAN]

I broke my first one about 4 months into my venture to learn guitar. It was nothing very eventful, just strumming chords and singing and boing. I felt kinda good, like your first kiss. I went along just fine until a bout a week ago ( I am at the 9 month mark now.). I broke 2 strings on the same day. I took some sandpaper to my saddle, because I think it was a sharp spot that caused it.

[Rocko Polo]

I never broke a string at a gig.
I broke picks on the strings.
However, our bass player was famous for breaking strings.
Not when playing though, only when tuning to the lead guitarist's specifications.

The sad thing about it was that he could not afford the frequent string replacements.
He was usually very low on cash. So his tuning of the guitar was always accompanied by a prayer requesting heavenly assistance for the string not to pop. Anyone offering to tune the guitar for him had to promise to pay for any string that popped while they were tuning.

This devil-may-care kid who always amazed everyone by tuning his guitar to unbelievable pitches once offered to do the job. After promising to pay for the string, he proceeded to swivel the tuning peg in his usual confident manner.

Actually, he had this smirk on his face as if saying: "You are a wimp for not being able to tune this thing man!" That's when the familiar POP! happened. Whereupon the bass player said "Now you gotta pay!"

[mmchoppers]

I cant say I have broken a string either

[eNDOR]

Solution: 0.12mm

[b3n]

Solution: 0.12mm

New problem: broken fingers.

[Martyr's Prayer]

The others handled it really well, they didnt stop playing, and used their stagemanship to improvise while I was getting the spare. (Thanks steve and t_bird!)

Sounds like you got some quality musicians there watts. I envy you.

[_TorN_]

I have broken strings at gigs before, but I did like most and just improvised. If your like me though, you can hear that it is slightly out of tune and you are hoping the audience doesn't notice. It has always gone well though. You definitly should take several guitars to the gig with you if you are a heavy string bender or tremelo nut.

[genereaux]

I'm not sure there are even words to describe how funny the initial post is to me. Nothing personal, mind you. Just that I can NOT for the life of me remember the first time I broke a string. In fact I think fairly hard as to the LAST time I broke a string (on stage, at least).

I have been a professional guitar tech and have a sizeable pile of guitars, so i've become pretty quick at swapping strings- even under the gun. If it's on my guitar, I can typically swap it before the song is done (on a non floyd bridge). But that usually winds up being a rather Derek Smalls vs. The Pod kind of thing. If it's a fixed bridge, and not the A string, I'll probably play through as is and swap guitars or strings after the song is done. If someone else breaks a string and i'm not IN that band, I can swap it before the next song.


Here's some tips-
Always bring a spare guitar. (I know it's not always practical/possible, but I have to say it)

Always have spare strings, and have em easily accessable during a gig

Always have a tuner in line with your rig (though not in the signal chain if you can help it) If you can't have one in line, buy one of those tuner 'clip mics' so you don't have to unplug the guitar on stage and plug into the tuner. And turn your volume down- the crowd doesn't want to hear that.

Know the fretboard well enough so you can at least limp through a song w/out any given string

For a Floyd Rose, make yourself a little 'dead block'. Get a piece of wood you can fit either between the bridge/body or between the spring block/body. It has to be able to hold the bridge at 'string tension'. Meaning- at the height & level that the bridge sits when the guitar is strung and in tune. Once you've made that, throw it your gig bag and take it with you to your gigs and keep it on/near your amp. Next time a string breaks, grab the 'dead block' and stick it in there. That'll compensate for the lost tension of the broken string thereby keeping the rest of the strings in tune to play through the song.

Play every guitar you have an oppurtunity to. This'll get you used playing guitars with different feels or playability. Next time a complete stranger of a guitar has to help you through a song, your learning curve will be a lot quicker.


Hope that helps,

sean

[Emixolydian]

I've never broken a string during a gig, but it's one of my biggest fears.

I do a lot of heavy bending, so if the strings aren't new there's a high change they'll snap. I go through a pack usually once every 3 weeks at least.

[Etingi]

I've never broken a string period. I bend a lot, and I mean a LOT. Maybe I'm just lucky. If I did break one, I don't even have extras.

[genereaux]

I go through a pack usually once every 3 weeks at least.

On the road, the big dogs change strings for EVERY gig. Rather, the big dogs tech does. (A quiet moment of sympathy for Rik Neilsens gtr tech...........)

Most all players, anyway. There are some exceptions.

There's a myriad of reasoning behind it (among which; they $CAN$), but new strings themselves are no guarantee against a break. Bridge/nut issues, aggressive playing style, hardcore whammy-ing,dumb luck or merely a bad string.

It'll happen at some point, be prepared


sean

[Emixolydian]

Yeah, don't you hate it when you get some new strings, string up, and then one ******* snaps while you're tuning?

I HATE THAT.

[GTblair]

I bought a new explorer and threw some heavy guage ernie balls on it. Our first practice I broke 4 (yes 4!!) strings in 2 hours. I wasnt even playing hard. I went out and bought 2 sets of $2 strings and the next practice I played hard and didnt break any...... ????

[ferrariman74]

Ive got a floyd and yep, theyre a rite pain in the *** wen a string breaks. Sends it completely out of tune.

Ferrariman

[suiroc]

At our band's first gig we opened for a Battle of the Bands contest. One of the participating bands lead vocalist/guitarist snapped a string...
WITH HIS FINGERS! :eek:

[ACDCseanACDC]

lol i have never broke one during a show,but sitting inside our little studio we would be in the middle of recording and we would have to stop cause i broke my high e again.3 in one day.lol

[gamma_function]

never broken a string during a gig, but at one of my first live shows, our guitarist, after having soundchecked his gutar, got the bright idea to start fiddling with the knobs on his pedalboard while our vocalist was soundchecking. the drums and my bass swell up into one of those big crashing power chord things and he goes to click his od/boost for effect and the guitar was gone. lost in a sea of bad tone, he apparently had tweaked the volume knob of the pedal to zero. after about 15 seconds of loud drums and bass sans guitar, the drummer gets ansy and our guitarist is in a panic. he checks the plug, checks the amp, checks the guitar, and finally checks the pedal. with a quick flick of the wrist, there is a resounding power chord. unfortunately, the quick shot of addrenaline had gotten to our poor guitarist for he was rushing the tempos for the first half of the set and then he was lagging like a sloth on valium.

but at least he didnt break a string.

oh, another good thing i learned at that gig. for you singers, be sure you have plenty of cable to walk around with offstage BEFORE you actually jump offstage in the middle of a song so that the mic does not rocket backwards out of your hand toward your fellow bandmates.

[LedZeppelin2990]

once my friend dropped my music stand on my guitar while i was playing it and it broke my e string lol,

[Puddlegum66]

hehe, Gamma that is too funny. I actually saw that one once...except the bassist didn't. Do you know what kind of mark a Shure SM58 leaves on somebodies forhead? HEHE, I do.

[Freyr]

I've never broken a string (I play really light on my high strings, I find they have a better sound that way) but at my first gig I was playing Metallica's fade to black and I was so nervious I was sweating like mad and I dropped my pick, luckily I was messing around with my friends bass for a week before that, so I played my guitar ala bass and then fingerstyled the acoustic parts. Our other guitarist walked over held a chord and picked up my pick but gave me his because he had to switch chords again and didn't have time. So we played the rest of the song with each others picks :P

It was weird going from .88 to 2. :)

[Ranger]

oh, another good thing i learned at that gig. for you singers, be sure you have plenty of cable to walk around with offstage BEFORE you actually jump offstage in the middle of a song so that the mic does not rocket backwards out of your hand toward your fellow bandmates.

Hahahaha, oh my gawd I'm crying... I can picture that taking out the bassist..

*crack*
*bassist hits the ground*

People get scared, drummer hides behind his set, guitarist drops everything and hits the dirt... People in the crowd dive for cover.

[S_C_L-1]

Agh! strings! as much as i love the sound of my b and high e strings, they are so damn fragile! ( i play Blue Steel 11-42's)....... The only way i found of compensating, is to use a .38 pick ... ive snapped my high e playing a false harmonic FFS! (crappy guitar, no tremollo bar)

[Munga]

I have never broken a string during a gig, but once I broke the high E and it whiplashed me in the face. It was like half an inch from taking out my eye.


Alec

[S_C_L-1]

I have never broken a string during a gig, but once I broke the high E and it whiplashed me in the face. It was like half an inch from taking out my eye.


Alec

Yeah... i think strings want payback for the punishment we give them daily... i know that if i was 1 of my strings, id want to seriously hurt me lol

[guitarpl]

I've been playing rock guitar from about 15 years and
I tried everything with strings. I wish I discovered
Fusco Strings sooner. They are very high quality,
don't break easily, and the price is much better than
most well-known brands.

I usually by them from
thestringstore.com (http://www.thestringstore.com)

Also, a good luthier will suggest you not to change
your current gauge set. If you do that, you should
have your instrument aciton adjusted by a luthier
because the new tension applied by the different
strings will affect the way the neck bends and other things.

[darragh666]

Damn spam

[Fenace777]

My band has a really agressive show and we play really hard, so unfortunately I go through a lot of strings... I usually always break 2 or 3 at each practice, and when I play live I try to tone it down a bit but it doesn't always work.
If a string breaks live, I try to get through the song by playing the chords in different positions, and I usually have a backup with me so I can switch at the end of the song...
If we're playing a house party, not a big deal, if we are playing a larger show it is embarassing but I've been learning to deal with it.