Guitar String Tension after restringing

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4tracker

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Very weird as I have changed strings hundreds of times, but tonight I changed from my normal medium gauge to light strings, and I cannot tune up to pitch without the string wanting to snap.

Does anyone have an idea why this would happen?
 
You may have to adjust your truss rod a little. It may be too stiff to give the lighter gauge strings the relief they need. I've never used light gauge strings but know several people who do and they had to make neck adjustments. BB King and Billy Gibbons are both users of light gauge strings.
 
4tracker said:
Very weird as I have changed strings hundreds of times, but tonight I changed from my normal medium gauge to light strings, and I cannot tune up to pitch without the string wanting to snap.

Does anyone have an idea why this would happen?
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Thanks, I will try that. I bought them by accident. I usually use medium without any issues like this.
 
The extra bend to the neck from a truss rod in need of adjustment doesn't give relief, they don't flex as they're in tension. If you break a string your neck changes shape a little, but the tension just balances the string tension. With new strings of a different gauge you will probably have to readjust to get the right action, but the truss rod doesn't snap the strings. Too much on the pegs stretches them past breaking point. Look for angles and sharp edge that the thicker ones had no problem with. How close do you get to pitch before they snap? Assuming you haven't gone silly on the gauge, something odd is going on. Just re-read the first post. What does wanting to snap actually mean? Have they snapped or are they just very taut? What sizes have you stuck on, and is the bass short or long scale?
 
4tracker said:
Thanks, I will try that. I bought them by accident. I usually use medium without any issues like this.
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I would return them and get the right gauge....because IMO, that's a lot easier than resetting your neck, action and intonation...plus, you'll be using the gauge you normally prefer.
 
Drop another $6 on the right set if strings. By the time you adjust the guitar to that gauge, you will get new strings again and have to adjust it back for the gauge you prefer.

Does the string actually break, or are you assuming its going to? Are you tuned normally?

The truss rod will not have anything to do with the string breaking. It will simply put tye neck back straight with the slightly less tension you have because of the lighter strings.
 
I didn't mean to imply that by not adjusting the truss rod that the strings would literally snap into! LOL! :cool:
 
Yeah I just ordered new strings.

They were about 6 semi-tones flat and felt like they were going to break. One string actually ripped a peg out of the saddle at one point. I thought they might not be seated right in the saddle, but it looks fine.

They are guage .12-.53. I normally use .13-.56. Would that make such a difference?

I should clarify this is an acoustic guitar not a bass.
 
I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but on an acoustic guitar there would definitely be a difference in the amount of tension felt. Enough to literally snap the strings into? No, but enough to make one think they might! LOL! Do you know what strings are recommended for that particular guitar by the manufacturer?
 
I use 10's on my acoustic and don't have any trouble whatsoever. Lighter strings will have less tension, not more, and they sure as hell won't snap when tuned normally.
 
If you had been using, say .12's, and then went to .10's it would indeed feel like there was more tension on the .10's. because the neck relief had been set-up for the tension of 12's., not .10's. There would indeed be more tension felt on the .10's..
 
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Farview said:
I use 10's on my acoustic and don't have any trouble whatsoever. Lighter strings will have less tension, not more, and they sure as hell won't snap when tuned normally.
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It actually pulled the pegs out of the saddle. So the string did not break, but there was clearly a tension issue. The guitar is like 20 years old and I have used .13 that entire time.
Would moving to a .12 make such a difference? Apparently, unless I am missing something obvious.

The E string actually tunes to pitch perfectly. The other 5 strings will not come close. They're all ~6 semi-tones flat. When I try to tune up the pins come out of the saddle. It is nuts! For a moment I thought maybe I was being an idiot and tuning an octave high, but that isn't the case.
 
The peg is probably loose because the string is smaller and not taking up as much room in the hole. You have made the peg holes bigger by using the big strings, take the big strings away...

The bigger the string, the slower it wants to vibrate. The smaller the string is the faster it wants to vibrate. In order to tune a big string and a small string to the same pitch, the big string will need more tension on it than the small string.

Think about it, if you try to tune your low E string to a G, do you add tension? If you tune your A string to the same G, don't you loosen it? Tune both strings to a G, I'll bet the heavier string has more tension on it.

Your issue is with your bridge pegs, not a problem with too much string tension.
 
Gotcha. Thanks, guys.

Well I finally did get it tuned to pitch. The strings seemed like they were going to break, but so far haven't. What I did is tighten it as much as I could before they felt they'd break, then left it like that overnight, figuring they might stretch. Seems it worked.

ps. Light strings sound like shit! I went from sounding bad ass to sounding like Jack Johnson. Horrible.
 
Geesh I leave you lot alone for a few days and you all come up with this....:D

Truss rod counteracts the tension of the strings. Moving one gauge will need adjustment of probably a quarter turn. Not hard.

A string will not break at the correct tension. If it's pulling the bridge pins out then you have an issue with the bridge plate not the strings. Thats quite common.

A bigger string doesn't "want" to vibrate slower. Any string will vibrate at the frequency that it is tuned to and that is dependent on the mass per unit length and the tension you put on it... and of course it's sounding length.

You can hold the bridge pins in while you bring it up to pitch. If they come out after that then you need to get the bridge plate looked at as it is probably worn. The pins need to be reamed to the correct taper for the string. Eventually it will need sorting whatever gauge you use.
 
Muttley, you read my mind! LOL! I was just thinking to myself yesterday,"I wish Muttley was around so he could settle this argument once and for all!" And magically you appear! LOL! One can't argue with superior experience and knowledge. Unless one is dumbass! LOL! Was starting to wonder where you'd disappeared to.
 
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