My D String Keeps Breaking!

[Walt-Dogg]

It's the little things you never think about that seem to have the biggest impact.

So true.

Trying the sanding via broken string, looks like it's working.

On another note, the core of my D string is the same width as my B String.

 

[Walt-Dogg]

Broke again...

This is getting O L D - OLD!

I filed it down more, lowered the string and brought the saddle back a bit. If that doesn't do it, I dont know what will!

 

[slowmotion]

Broke again...

This is getting O L D - OLD!

I filed it down more, lowered the string and brought the saddle back a bit. If that doesn't do it, I dont know what will!

What are you filing it with?

If you don't have the "right" tools - try folding some wet & dry sandpaper under the string, so that the abrasive side is facing out. Fold it together so the string is on the inside, forming a makeshift file - of sorts - and file your saddle(s) with that (you'll need to detune the string a bit so the sandpaper gets between the string and the saddle). Use 1200 grit, 1500 grit then 2000 grit and then buff with a dremel. Check with a magnifying glass. You want it pretty much mirror smooth.

Or, if you're really really sick of it, replace all the saddles with graphtec ones!

 

[Walt-Dogg]

What are you filing it with?

If you don't have the "right" tools - try folding some wet & dry sandpaper under the string, so that the abrasive side is facing out. Fold it together so the string is on the inside, forming a makeshift file - of sorts - and file your saddle(s) with that (you'll need to detune the string a bit so the sandpaper gets between the string and the saddle). Use 1200 grit, 1500 grit then 2000 grit and then buff with a dremel. Check with a magnifying glass. You want it pretty much mirror smooth.

Or, if you're really really sick of it, replace all the saddles with graphtec ones!

The busted string itself.
I'm hoping what I've done will make what you've stated unnecessary, not that I'm unwilling to do it. I'm just lazy, and I'd like to not possibly fuck up my guitar any more than I have.

 

[grimtraveller]

I went thru a period of about 5 years where I kept breaking the G string on my cheapo Ozark electro-acoustic. It became a source of great amusement to people who weighed in with all kinds of stupid, unthought out advice. It was well meaning, though. One good thing was that I learned how to repair broken strings {I was poor}.
The best advice was when my friend gave me a whole load of money and said "Go buy yourself a new guitar". So I bought a Yamaha 12 string and got a pick up fitted ! 11 years on I still have both guitars and the G string on the Ozark doesn't break much. I never did fathom why it kept doing that. I'm a heavy handed player {and kind of rubbish}.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

I'll give this a shot, what you're saying though sounds like you do it with a Tune-O-Matic, I'm using a Strat with a non-hardtail.

Actually, on a Floyd Rose. I'm a strat guy too though, and while I haven't had to do it on mine, I see no reason why it shouldn't work.

Moving the saddle shouldn't make a difference.

One question that I don't believe has been asked yet - where EXACTLY is the string breaking? Where the string crosses the saddle, inside the trem, near the ball end? "The core snapping, the winding coming undone" sort of makes me thing that it's the later, and that it's happening right at the very end, inside the trem block.

If so, the saddle isn't your problem (though, polishing it certainly didn't hurt things). One of two things could be happening -

1.) there's something funky with the trem block, or you're not seating the ball end correctly into the cavity. Take a look in the back with a flashlight and see if anything looks funny on that string.

2.) You could have just gotten a bad batch of strings, too.

I was super-excited and all Fender fanboi when I bought my Strat, a bit over a decade ago at the ripe old age of 15. I forgot what strings I was using at the time, but I immediately switched to Fender, because, well, Fender suggested it and I owned a Fender so it only seemed right.

I quickly realized Fender strings pretty much blew. They were really bright and present at first, but almost immediately died and sounded like rubber bands. I ended up experimenting a bit and switching to Ernie Balls because they sounded more balanced on that guitar, and held up a little better, but these days I swear by Elixir Nanowebs. They're pricy, so I wouldn't try them until you get your breakage issues sorted out, but certainly trying a new brand seems like a good idea right about now.

BTW, is this a vintage style "bent metal" saddle bridge, or a more modern "cast saddle" type?

bent metal:

cast metal:

EDIT - and what a shitty intonation job.

 

[Walt-Dogg]

The string is snapping right on top of the saddle, the core breaks right where the string bends over the top and then it comes undone.

I think I'm gonna switch back to Ernie Balls, I like how the Fenders sound but they always break. I've never had a breaking problem with Ernie Balls.

I put a .032 on in place of the D (.024) just so I could play til I get a new pack of strings. The bridge looks like it's gonna ripped right out of my guitar's body.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

The string is snapping right on top of the saddle, the core breaks right where the string bends over the top and then it comes undone.

I think I'm gonna switch back to Ernie Balls, I like how the Fenders sound but they always break. I've never had a breaking problem with Ernie Balls.

I put a .032 on in place of the D (.024) just so I could play til I get a new pack of strings. The bridge looks like it's gonna ripped right out of my guitar's body.

Yeah, that's a saddle issue.

The other thing you could always try is just replacing the saddles - I know Graph-tech makes graphite saddles that would be compatable with both styles. I used them for a bit - they weren't bad at all, but I ended up swapping my Strat's American Standard bridge for a Gotoh Wilkinson VS-100, which is one of the better bridges I've ever played. I know this isn't the advice you're looking for ("keep breaking strings? What an excuse to buy a new bridge!!!) but it might be worth a look.

 

[ggunn]

One good thing was that I learned how to repair broken strings {I was poor}.

I used to not trim my strings when I put them on my acoustic; I wound the extra string in a little coil next to the peg. That way, when a string broke at the bridge (where they nearly always break), I could loop the broken end through the rivet, twist it up, pull some slack from the coil through the peg, push the rivet back in the hole, and push it back in with the bridge pin. Sometimes when I at last changed strings, some of the rivets would have three or four tag ends hanging from them. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

 

[muttley600]

I used to not trim my strings when I put them on my acoustic; I wound the extra string in a little coil next to the peg. That way, when a string broke at the bridge (where they nearly always break), I could loop the broken end through the rivet, twist it up, pull some slack from the coil through the peg, push the rivet back in the hole, and push it back in with the bridge pin. Sometimes when I at last changed strings, some of the rivets would have three or four tag ends hanging from them. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

One of the repair jobs I hate the most is replacing bridge plates. They need replacing earlier with that sort of abuse.

 

[grimtraveller]

I used to not trim my strings when I put them on my acoustic; I wound the extra string in a little coil next to the peg. That way, when a string broke at the bridge (where they nearly always break), I could loop the broken end through the rivet, twist it up, pull some slack from the coil through the peg, push the rivet back in the hole, and push it back in with the bridge pin. Sometimes when I at last changed strings, some of the rivets would have three or four tag ends hanging from them. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

That's exactly how I'd do it except that I'd tie a couple of knots at the bottom of the string. I'd end up with so many bits of string inside the guitar, it was like a percussion instrument ! It was always a drag if the string broke at the top !

 

[muttley600]

That's exactly how I'd do it except that I'd tie a couple of knots at the bottom of the string. I'd end up with so many bits of string inside the guitar, it was like a percussion instrument ! It was always a drag if the string broke at the top !

 

[slowmotion]

The string is snapping right on top of the saddle, the core breaks right where the string bends over the top and then it comes undone.

I think I'm gonna switch back to Ernie Balls, I like how the Fenders sound but they always break. I've never had a breaking problem with Ernie Balls.

I put a .032 on in place of the D (.024) just so I could play til I get a new pack of strings. The bridge looks like it's gonna ripped right out of my guitar's body.

Dude. Just fix it. You could shell out for a new bridge, for new saddles, or continually try and use different strings in the (false) hope that one brand breaks less; or you could spend under $5 on some fine grade sandpapers (1000+) and a magnifying glass and spend 10 mins fixing it forever. Take the saddle OFF the guitar and make it perfectly smooth where it touches the string. End of problem. The only thing you'll "fuck up" is your action and intonation and you can learn to fix that in another 10 mins.

 

[CoolCat]

Dude. Just fix it. You could shell out for a new bridge, for new saddles, or continually try and use different strings in the (false) hope that one brand breaks less; or you could spend under $5 on some fine grade sandpapers (1000+) and a magnifying glass and spend 10 mins fixing it forever. Take the saddle OFF the guitar and make it perfectly smooth where it touches the string. End of problem. The only thing you'll "fuck up" is your action and intonation and you can learn to fix that in another 10 mins.

interesting repair and common. the magnifying glass might even show up the burr. hopefully its visible and you can smooth it out.

i agree just fix it. each time you do this, you gain something good.
just file/sand a little, smooth, gentle and keeping monitoring with the magnifying lens as you go.

the other option is buying a new saddle anyway, so you have nothing to worry.

learn how to do the action and intonation too.


WALT DOG "The bridge looks like it's gonna ripped right out of my guitar's body."

You aren't referring to the whammy-bridge being tilted up due to the different gauged strings are you?
My son did this, he thought his bridge was about to pop-out! He went from 9's to 10's and the increased tension from heavier gauge strings did this. He went back to 9's and the bridge seated back down. Springs can be loosened and tightened for this if you want to mess with it.
(total novice here...maybe messed with this 3 times in my life)

Daaang Walt Dog whats next the neck starts bowing?


also on the Ernie Balls someone mentioned hexagonal core versus round core, is there anything to this?

 

[TheChikenMaster]

It's awfully tough to file/sand/polish whatever the groove of the saddle. One thing I've done in the past that works relatively well is, well, since your string just broke, you've now got this thin metal ribbed wire almost exactly the size of the groove of the saddle - I've had fair success by taking the string, pulling it tight across the saddle holding it on one side from the back of the guitar and through the bridge, and on the other from the front, pulling it tight down across towards the headstock, and working it back and forth to rub the saddle groove. Worth a shot.

almost like a g string but its in d

 

[grimtraveller]

I'd never give it as advice !
(But it did work ! Still does !)

 

[muttley600]

I'd never give it as advice !
(But it did work ! Still does !)

I'm sure it does. Just be aware you can significantly damage the bridge plate by doing that. OK bridge plates get worn over time but you really don't want to speed up the process. Your choice though.

 

[Walt-Dogg]

I put a Ernie Ball 24w in place for my D string I just wanna see how long it lasts. If it's a couple of weeks or longer than I think I had a bad batch of strings, or after comparing my busted D strings with the new Ernie Ball, I think the Ernie Ball is a tiny bit wider than the Fender Super 250.

 

[muttley600]

I put a Ernie Ball 24w in place for my D string I just wanna see how long it lasts. If it's a couple of weeks or longer than I think I had a bad batch of strings, or after comparing my busted D strings with the new Ernie Ball, I think the Ernie Ball is a tiny bit wider than the Fender Super 250.

If you have done the clean the saddle slot thing properly then any other reasons for breaking are to do with technique or the string isn't breaking on the saddle.

Different strings aren't really going to help you much with that. A string has a certain tension and a certain breaking strain. There isn't a lot of difference relatively between gauges and brands.