Fear of breaking strings

My obsession started with a fear of snapping hi e strings. I used to be scared of tuning that string. Are you afraid of breaking strings or it’s no big deal?

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It’s definitely not such a big deal that you make it a center of your universe. Which seems it to be right now. Man, the fact that I was certain that it was you who has created this thread tells quite a lot.

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Man, breaking a string is no big deal. It rarely happens. But if it does, you put a new one on. No big deal. Time is much better spent practicing than obsessing about not much.

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Is this a bot?

:robot::robot::robot::robot:

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Figuratively or literally?

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I guess I need to play more bass. Less worry about breaking strings. You really have to try at it for them to break unlike violin.

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Bass is waaaay unlike violin. :joy:

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It has been a bit strange seeing all of this string-breaking stuff come all of a sudden and with such regularity, @Stringmastro33 - but if you’re coming from the world of violin, it makes a LOT more sense.

The high E string on a violin is just a wire. That’s it. No wind, no core. So when that thing snaps, it’s scary as hell because you have a high-velocity garotte coming right at your eyeball (because of how you’re supposed to hold the damned things).

Bass strings are nothing like that.

They have a core that is, on it’s own, much more sturdy and reliable than a violin high E.
Around the core, they have the string wind (much like the lower strings of a violin, but way bigger, stronger, and more flexible).

When the strings break, if you break the core, the wind continues to hold the string together, so there is no shrapnel.

If you break the wind, the core holds together.

I hope this can bring you peace and relaxation as you struggle with bass strings.
They are robust, they are reliable, and even when they break, it is nothing, I repeat, nothing at all like a high E string of a violin.

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Oh man, those strings are STRONG. Pound away and don’t worry about it.

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It’s a bit counter-intuitive, but events that happen rarely are not spread out evenly over time. They happen in clumps, which we know due to the mathematician Simeon Poisson. This applies to anything in life with randomness.

It’s why people hit the lottery twice, or get hit by lightning twice.

Fear not, it will move on and strings will stop breaking. It’s in the math.

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I’ve broken lots of guitar strings. I used to have a fear of tuning the hi e. That’s what started the string tension fixation.I’ve broken one bass string the low E.

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how did u break the e string? tuning it or by playing?

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I’ve never broken a bass string.

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I wish I could say the same. Then again I have a little larger sample size than most people :joy:

Like you @MikeC I’ve never broken a new strings only from used basses and only at tuner end.

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When I was a noob changing strings the first time I broke one, it’s hard to do and it doesn’t break as much as let loose near the ball end. And it was the E. Just a learning experience

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In over 50 years through hundreds of gigs, jams, rehearsals, and probably 20 plus different basses I have never broken a single bass string let alone the E string. How on earth did you manage that? Was it a new string?

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I’ve been playing bass 4 years, never broken a string.

I’ve played guitar on/off for about 7 years, only string that broke was a high E on my SG that I left at a friend’s house for 3 years and when I got it back, the string was broken. I don’t know how old the strings were, they were on the guitar when I bought it but at least 4 years :laughing:

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I posted this in another thread but I’ll share it here too.

The first time I replaced my own strings was on a 5 string with flats and I got the B up to A before the core popped. I thought the first B that I hit was too floppy so I kept going. Oops.
That’s the only bass string I’ve ever broken. I’ve broken several E strings on the mandolin though.

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I broke one… in a very weird way… was trying to learn how to play near the bridge and A broke exactly at the saddle level.

Was happy because it came loose only, not a clean cut. :smiley:

I will for sure eventually break more… :smiley:

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Sounds to me like you got a string with a manufacturing defect ? That’s a truly strange place to break a string-especially an A string, as they are typically .080. That’s not really a string, that’s a steel cable.
If you don’t mind, Could i ask what brand they are?

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