My guitar strings keep breaking. Help?

Using alternative tunings regularly causes the guitar strings to be stretched / loosened on a regular basis. This on top of the vibrations as you play causes the strings to fail. Think of taking a paperclip and bending it. It will soon snap. The same thing is happening with your strings.

How do you know if you need new guitar strings?

For Acoustic guitars

Couple of questions to answer:

1) Have you had the same strings on for over 2 months?

2) Are your strings rusty?

3) Are your strings rough?

4) Do your strings sound dull?

5) Had a string break recently?

6) Do your fingers smell after playing?

If you answered yes to any of the above, its probably time to replace your strings.

Because of moisture on your fingers and in the atmosphere, strings corrode and rust over time and their ability to vibrate diminishes. This not only causes the sound to dull but even worse, the feel of the strings becomes rough and will hurt or even damage your fingers.

Strings can also become brittle from too much vibration, just think of how a paper clip snaps if you twist it too much, the same happens to strings - especially if you use a lot of different tunings.

If you play a lot, say for 2 hours a day every day, then you should look at changing your guitar strings every month.

If you play less, but still strum most days, the max you should leave them on the guitar would be about 2 months.

Strings are quite cheap, about £5 for a set of 6.

There is an alternative to changing your strings this often. You can buy coated strings. These last longer due to a coating on the strings that prevent dirt build up and corrosion. Coated guitar strings tend to last 3 to 5 times longer than normal strings, so you can leave them on for longer. These still need to be changed though. At least every 6 months these should be changed as they are also prone to breaking because of the vibrations of the string as explained earlier using the paper clip analogy.

Coated strings do cost more, about £12 for a set of 6, but last longer, so can work out more cost effective.

So to summarise:

Change your Acoustic uncoated strings at least every 2 months.

Change your coated Acoustic strings at least every 6 months.

Details of guitar strings can be found at the Guitarbitz Acoustic Guitar Strings page.

http://www.guitarbitz.com/guitar-strings-c42/acous...

I noticed some people saying to get thicker strings...but I would actually suggest the opposite.

I like to use really light strings that are thinner and whatnot, and they actually seem to be able to be tuned a lot easier, almost like they are stretchier in a sense.

So the first thing I would try doing differently is buying lighter strings. And make sure you are getting good quality strings. They have some good ones out there for no more than 10 bucks. My favorite strings ever are like 9 bucks and they are amazing. I would suggest them to you but I have no idea what they are called haha.

Also, when I am putting new strings on and I have to tune or return, I pull on the strings a lot. Like I pull them up and down pretty hard and side to side. It kind of gives them a chance to stretch out a bit.

Then, when I am tuning, I turn the knob super super slowly, and every few seconds I stop and stretch the strings some more.

That's really all I have to suggest for you. If you do that and you are still breaking strings, then you must just be using some cheap *** strings or you are being way too rough.

Lol I've never broken a string.

If you have any questions or anything feel free to email me.

krj098@gmail.com

Changing tunings a lot will reduce the lifespan of your strings, and there's not a lot you can do about it. Changing your string gauge won't help because the tension goes up along with the thickness.

About all I can suggest would be to make sure that you are installing your strings correctly and that there are no places on the nut or saddle that could be stressing them. You might want to consider a second guitar to keep in your most commonly used alternate tuning.

Hello there,

Do the strings break at the same place? Perhaps you have a sharp edge or a burr cutting the strings. If there is a burr, each time you move the string across it (such as retuning), you risk cutting the string. Inspect the tuning pegs. Those are the usual culprits. Feel around the hole for a sharp edge or burr. Use dental floss to run through and around the hole. If the floss frays, you have a burr. Just sand it down smooth and you are back in business.

Later,

I would consider matching what genre you play with the strings you use. Definitely consider using an alternate guitar for different tunings. I think that if you're using light gauge strings, you may need to use higher gauge. Also make sure you're tuning it so you won't lose tension.

Constantly retuning will definitely shorten the life of your strings, and the heavier the strings, the more tension you'll have to deal with.

I'd recommend checking out webstrings.com - they have great prices on strings, and I've been buying them for both my Les Paul and 5 string bass for almost 10 years now. (If you think acoustic strings are expensive, check the price of a set of bass strings... :)

Tallest Man On Earth Tuning

Listen to:

You Can't Play On Broken Strings

Check out this article- http://voices.yahoo.com/guitar-strings-tips-tricks...

i hate it when this happens, i play that kind of stuff too. i just make sure now that i get good quality strings and buy them a little ticker.

Try GHS BOOMER strings!! THEY ARE TOUGH TO BREAK!!!!!!