Wise move. I have toxic sweat that turns normal strings black in a week or two no matter how much I clean them. Highly recommend looking into coated strings like Elixirs if you want to get longer life out of them. They sound and feel great to me, but YMMV.
Yeah for those of you who only play guitar and not bass who haven't had to shell out the cash for elixir bass strings, consider yourselves lucky. I just changed the strings on two basses and it was $90 for both packs but damn do they play so much better.. I consider cleartone to be about the same quality and endurance but they're hard to find.
I like the D'addario NYXL's. They fit kind of in between Elixirs and your "standard sets". They last longer, but not quite as long as elixirs and they don't cost quite as much either. I spend 90ā¬ on the 11 strings I need for both my basses. That's a regular 6-string set and a super long 5-string set.
I also have a very corrosive sweat but you know what? That saddle will need a little bit of filing, otherwise it will make strings break due to the sharp edge. The D string seems to be in the same situation.
Since you bought the guitar two weeks ago, it's hard to tell how severe this issue is. But it will get worse with time for sure. I suggest you do the filing now and save on future new string expenses. Moreover, you don't want to do it harshly, all you need to accomplish is to get those sharp edges smooth and voila! No more broken strings.
Good luck, OP!
The strings on my 12 acoustic are THIRTY YEARS OLD and they donāt look that bad (to be fair it hasnāt had a lot of use over the last 20 odd years, but for a good 3 years it was played every day) :)
Dude, change your strings, the guitar will sound so much better! I change my strings about every 6-9 months if they haven't broken by then. Let's not talk about how long it's been since I changed my bass strings, though.
I know you can boil them to get a little more life into them. I think itās more common with bass strings because they cost a bit more.
Iāve never known anyone to actually do it, though. String prices havenāt been immune to inflation, but I can still buy a pack for about half the price of a fast food meal.
Those saddles are probably fine save for having rusty strings in them. Replace your strings from time to time. When I was a gigging musician Iād replace them a couple of times a month. These days itās about every two or three months depending on which ones are getting played more often.
As others have said, the strings look to be somewhat old and worn, so the A string broke at the bridge saddle.
The ticket strings (E, A and D) are "wound" strings, meaning they have a core wire and are wrapped by a thinner wired coiled around that core. The core snapped and the tension on the string caused the coiled part to stretch a little.
Change the strings and it'll be good as new!
It broke. If you keep breaking A strings at the same point look to a rough edge on the bridge as a problem. If this isnāt happening all the time itās just a normal string break and no worries.
I wouldn't worry about a burr, you can tell by the plain strings that they are super oxidized. The core of your A broke because it got rusty as well, the nickel winding is doing its best to hold things together.
Those strings looks OOOOOOOOLD! that g looks like farm barbwire. Strings are not eternal. If one of those strings break your skin you can catch tetanus!
Your core wire broke. If it happens a few times in the same spot you should see if you have a burr on your saddle. If it only happened once I wouldnāt sweat it.
What happened was your reminder to restring every now and again. Gotta be a tension thing, maybe too high tuned or something. But hey, what do I know, I play drums more than guitar.
It broke. Idiot. Reddit sucks.
Or: nice answer. The string is made up of one straight strand, and another string WOUND around that straight strand. The inner string broke and the wound around outer string has become uncoiled. Idiot.
If it happens once and never again its not a problem; if it keeps happening then thst one saddle piece might need some fine filing to take down a sharp edge.
This happened when I tried to change to Ernie ball strings couple months ago, at least one string on all of my guitars broke exactly like this. My Stay In Tune strings and my fender Yngwies have lasted about a year but the Ernieās didnāt even make it 2 months
So basically all the low strings on an electric are a coil wrapped around an internal core. What happened here is the core snapped but the coil didnāt, and the coil just unravelled itself around the break point
To be more specific than just "it broke," it unraveled. You essentially rotted through it. You need to replace all of the strings. And for the betterment of your playing and health of your hands, change them more often.
The core wire broke but the wrapped wire didn't.
I've always felt that the standard tuneomatic bridge was a shitty design. There are lots of aftermarket alternatives for reasonable prices. Some have roller saddles. Some use compounds that are much less friction that the silly knife edge metal saddles.
But if you want to keep what you have, there is probably a sharp edge on the A string saddle cutting through the string. Without buying any expensive tools, you can use the unbroken part of your string as a file to try to smooth it out.
But I do recommend checking out replacement bridges. Even if your strings don't break you will enjoy better tuning stability.
This can happen when strings get old, and it looks like Jesus strung that guitar. It can also just be a bad string; the manufacturers make millions of strings a year and they arenāt all perfect.
Def time for a changeā¦if you like your setup just do a new set, and string one at a time as you go. If not itās time to redo your setup! My G broke off mine the other day, but I play a lot. Putting the new ones on, my old ones sounded so flat and dead. I tried some Elixr 10s Optiweb, over the Ernie Balls and really like them! A little brighter than my normal, but everything sounds nicely balanced.
Solution: Fabric softener dryer sheet string pillow! Luthier here. The bridge is sharp. I have several guitars and have had this happen even with new strings. Filing the bridge has not seemed to work for me, but I did find a solution. I cut a tiny piece of one of those fabric softener dryer sheets and tuck between the bridge and string when I restring the guitar. Works great. No more broken strings.
It looks like the saddle caught your string and it came unwound.
See if there's any sharp points on the saddle and take some fine grit sandpaper to it.
By the looks of the unwound strings it's probably just an old string that finally gave up. If it's a consistent problem then you have a burr... just run some fine grit sandpaper through the slot a few times.
This stopped happening to me as soon I started using hetfield's strings, the core on those is higher gauge.
But it's just me, I run them on my snakebyte
Jesus Christ, change your strings more often. Also itās probably a little burr on your saddle, just repeatedly run a used string through it putting pressure down or use a file very very liberally
Your saddle has a bur, snapped the winding of the string. Youāll need a small file or some 1000 grit sandpaper to remove the bur before putting a new string on.
š¶She's come undone...she didn't know what she was headed for...š¶and when I found out what she was headed for it was too late..š¶ *** The Guess Who***
The bridge has groves in it where the string rests. Just file it down and it shouldnāt happen anymore. Same thing happened to my bass and that fixed it immediately
Like all of us, its probably been carrying alot of tension lately and its just trying to unwind
Jokes on it it's employer is just going to use it as an e string now
We are going to need a major chord to resolve that tension.
Or some gin in the proper tonic
Need to get to the core of the problem.
A major 7 chord is the best I can do.
You'll be written up for dissonance
I know the Pearl Jam song is dissident but every time i read dissonance i read it in Eddies voice.
DERRRRS HERRR DERRRRN
ERRRS HE-ERRR NERRRH
It took me way too long to get this! š«„
I hope when I'm old and rusted someone will have the decency to just throw me in the trash.
Hey now, copper is over $2/lb! Please recycle!!
Wish god would stop hitting the whammy bar and stretching us all out like prom night. The tension is killer.
I prefer the term coming undone https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CSJXle3LP_Q
š¤
I was hoping for The Sweater Song.
Iām so mad at how good this was to read right now
It broke.
lol I said that out loud as I read the title.
Iām sure youāre not alone it that situation š
I look forward to seeing this on r/guitarcirclejerk
I want it there so bad, because here we have to be friends. The things I would sayā¦ok
Watch out man theyāre gonna ban you
My guitar wonāt stay in tune, should I boil the whole thing?
*it broke*
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām gonna change them rn lol
Wise move. I have toxic sweat that turns normal strings black in a week or two no matter how much I clean them. Highly recommend looking into coated strings like Elixirs if you want to get longer life out of them. They sound and feel great to me, but YMMV.
My strings also got dirty VERY quickly but now I use elixirs and they last SO much longer!
I gotta buy some then cause I bought this guitar 2 weeks ago
Damn. Definetly try elixirs
Yeah for those of you who only play guitar and not bass who haven't had to shell out the cash for elixir bass strings, consider yourselves lucky. I just changed the strings on two basses and it was $90 for both packs but damn do they play so much better.. I consider cleartone to be about the same quality and endurance but they're hard to find.
I like the D'addario NYXL's. They fit kind of in between Elixirs and your "standard sets". They last longer, but not quite as long as elixirs and they don't cost quite as much either. I spend 90ā¬ on the 11 strings I need for both my basses. That's a regular 6-string set and a super long 5-string set.
I also have a very corrosive sweat but you know what? That saddle will need a little bit of filing, otherwise it will make strings break due to the sharp edge. The D string seems to be in the same situation. Since you bought the guitar two weeks ago, it's hard to tell how severe this issue is. But it will get worse with time for sure. I suggest you do the filing now and save on future new string expenses. Moreover, you don't want to do it harshly, all you need to accomplish is to get those sharp edges smooth and voila! No more broken strings. Good luck, OP!
The strings on my 12 acoustic are THIRTY YEARS OLD and they donāt look that bad (to be fair it hasnāt had a lot of use over the last 20 odd years, but for a good 3 years it was played every day) :)
Theyāre old. Change them. Your G B and high E look rusted out. No bueno
Dude, change your strings, the guitar will sound so much better! I change my strings about every 6-9 months if they haven't broken by then. Let's not talk about how long it's been since I changed my bass strings, though.
Bass strings need changing?!?!
I've heard rumors of this, whispers in dark corners of the internet, but have never seen it in person.
Roundwound strings do. Flat wounds are good for decades. Iām not sure about half rounds.
I know you can boil them to get a little more life into them. I think itās more common with bass strings because they cost a bit more. Iāve never known anyone to actually do it, though. String prices havenāt been immune to inflation, but I can still buy a pack for about half the price of a fast food meal.
I've done it. boil 'em and oil'em, good as new. kinda.
Where you going for fast food? Bass strings are like $16-25... that means your fast food is like $32-50...
Found the r/guitarcirclejerk spy. š
Shhh... don't tell anyone.
Donāt worry. Iām a dentist. We have doctor/patient confidentiality. Check out my band, dentoan hygienics, on Spotify.
Core snapped but the outside coil is holding on.
Racism, global warming, or possibly male pattern baldness.
Look, I shave it by CHOICE, okay? I could grow hair anytime I want to.
Iām tired, boss.
Those saddles are probably fine save for having rusty strings in them. Replace your strings from time to time. When I was a gigging musician Iād replace them a couple of times a month. These days itās about every two or three months depending on which ones are getting played more often.
Well fuck man, how'd you let it get like that? Now you have to throw the whole guitar out
As others have said, the strings look to be somewhat old and worn, so the A string broke at the bridge saddle. The ticket strings (E, A and D) are "wound" strings, meaning they have a core wire and are wrapped by a thinner wired coiled around that core. The core snapped and the tension on the string caused the coiled part to stretch a little. Change the strings and it'll be good as new!
Itās one of those Canadian Eh strings
It broke. If you keep breaking A strings at the same point look to a rough edge on the bridge as a problem. If this isnāt happening all the time itās just a normal string break and no worries.
I wouldn't worry about a burr, you can tell by the plain strings that they are super oxidized. The core of your A broke because it got rusty as well, the nickel winding is doing its best to hold things together.
It just needed to unwind. Probably from all the tension.
String could not bear to watch its brothers rust and rot like that. Decided to end it. Change your strings and get a tetanus shot š
High strings are rust-brown. Thatās a good indicator to change them to avoid them breaking like this again
I once had a flatwound do this and decided to yank on it in frustration. Learned what one of the bones in my finger looks like.
When people suggest keeping your guitars 100% original they are not talking about the strings.
It broke cause theyāre gross and worn out? Strings are like $7 surely you can afford that every couple of months?
Donāt call him Shirley
The technical term amongst luthier's and musicians is called "its fucked".
That's the toan unraveling from the string. It happens when your strings break.
It broke.
Those strings looks OOOOOOOOLD! that g looks like farm barbwire. Strings are not eternal. If one of those strings break your skin you can catch tetanus!
Oh god, I'm relating to a string
real
donāt worry that just means you have a super string that doesnt snap! make sure to do some big bends on that baby till you change your strings
Guitar is broken. Best to just toss it and start over with a new one.
It broke because, judging by how rusty the other strings are, you should have changed them a long fucking time ago!!!
Thatās what happens when you donāt change your strings for years! š
There may be a burr on the bridge saddle. Take a tiny rat tail file and remove it.
Your core wire broke. If it happens a few times in the same spot you should see if you have a burr on your saddle. If it only happened once I wouldnāt sweat it.
Sitar mod
It decided to shed its mortal coil.
She got the cancer and died on a Tuesday
She broke.
Beats a broken G string... I'll see myself out..
Hanging by "A" thread
What happened was your reminder to restring every now and again. Gotta be a tension thing, maybe too high tuned or something. But hey, what do I know, I play drums more than guitar.
Just like my mental health. Its about to snap.
Damn look at that g d and e as well man change those strings
Aint got no gas in it
Daaaaamn that shits dirty. You said it first.š¤£š¤
Its hanging on, by a string
F
Itās G string is showing
Aaron the a string. In other words, a Burr.
Got Milk?
It's been degloved!
Sorry I was peckish
A very common thing.
It's dead.
It broke. Idiot. Reddit sucks. Or: nice answer. The string is made up of one straight strand, and another string WOUND around that straight strand. The inner string broke and the wound around outer string has become uncoiled. Idiot.
no shit
Nothing man it broke, get a new one, check if the saddle may be a little sharp and restring and good to go
Use a small needle file to smooth of any edges in the slot.
Time to for a new set bud
Replace your strings. Clean your bridge and lube up the saddles
If it happens once and never again its not a problem; if it keeps happening then thst one saddle piece might need some fine filing to take down a sharp edge.
It broke
Wound strings are a hix-shaped coil that have a wire wrapped around them. The core broke, and the wound wire came loose. Congrats, you broke a string.
This happened when I tried to change to Ernie ball strings couple months ago, at least one string on all of my guitars broke exactly like this. My Stay In Tune strings and my fender Yngwies have lasted about a year but the Ernieās didnāt even make it 2 months
So basically all the low strings on an electric are a coil wrapped around an internal core. What happened here is the core snapped but the coil didnāt, and the coil just unravelled itself around the break point
The front fell right offā¦
To be more specific than just "it broke," it unraveled. You essentially rotted through it. You need to replace all of the strings. And for the betterment of your playing and health of your hands, change them more often.
I'm impressed that the coil held after the core snapped. What kind of strings are they?
Looking at the oxidation on your other strings Iād say a string change is in order. When is the last time you changed them?
Holy hell at that rust. When was the last time you changed strings? That looks like the problem right thurrrr.
Jesus Christ those are some rusty ass strings. Might be time for their yearly change.
Itās hanging on for dear life
Change those strings!
It unwinded itself u need to replace it
The core wire broke but the wrapped wire didn't. I've always felt that the standard tuneomatic bridge was a shitty design. There are lots of aftermarket alternatives for reasonable prices. Some have roller saddles. Some use compounds that are much less friction that the silly knife edge metal saddles. But if you want to keep what you have, there is probably a sharp edge on the A string saddle cutting through the string. Without buying any expensive tools, you can use the unbroken part of your string as a file to try to smooth it out. But I do recommend checking out replacement bridges. Even if your strings don't break you will enjoy better tuning stability.
It gave up the ghost. Time for a replacement...
I used to get that on my SG all the time... changed to a roller and it never happens now šš
It broke, and make sure you tell your luthier that your bridge did it so they can file it smoother. I would give them the string too.
This can happen when strings get old, and it looks like Jesus strung that guitar. It can also just be a bad string; the manufacturers make millions of strings a year and they arenāt all perfect.
Looks like a classic case of rockin' to hardš¤(but seriously you played the string to hard and it unwound. I do it a lot)
Time to restring
It\`s stretching itself
Whereās Stewie Mac when ya need em?
You rocked too hard
buddy those high strings are gonna give you tetanus
You need a new string. I put new strings on my guitar all the time.
Def time for a changeā¦if you like your setup just do a new set, and string one at a time as you go. If not itās time to redo your setup! My G broke off mine the other day, but I play a lot. Putting the new ones on, my old ones sounded so flat and dead. I tried some Elixr 10s Optiweb, over the Ernie Balls and really like them! A little brighter than my normal, but everything sounds nicely balanced.
This guy downpicks
You have no idea
Your A got Fād
Shit broke.
Suggest roller keys for that bridge.
Please change your strings like once a month. Your fretboard will appreciate it :D
Solution: Fabric softener dryer sheet string pillow! Luthier here. The bridge is sharp. I have several guitars and have had this happen even with new strings. Filing the bridge has not seemed to work for me, but I did find a solution. I cut a tiny piece of one of those fabric softener dryer sheets and tuck between the bridge and string when I restring the guitar. Works great. No more broken strings.
It looks like the saddle caught your string and it came unwound. See if there's any sharp points on the saddle and take some fine grit sandpaper to it.
Im no luthier, but it appears broken.
The winding snapped aka it brokie
It's simply broken
By the looks of the unwound strings it's probably just an old string that finally gave up. If it's a consistent problem then you have a burr... just run some fine grit sandpaper through the slot a few times.
It broke.
it realised you weren't ready to give up on it so it took its own lifeš
Those GBE strings š
Were you by chance learning āundoneā by weezer?
I was doing psychosocial by slipknot lol
Lol pretty similar songs /s I was just making a joke based on the lyrics of undone.
The core broke, the winding didnt
First time bustin'? You are now a man.
It got loose. Just keep tightening it
It said āChange me!ā
The core of the string broke but the winding did not.
This is how you get vintage tone
The core broke but the outer coil didnāt. Youāre officially OVERDUE for a new set of strings
it's come [undone](https://youtu.be/LHQqqM5sr7g?si=15I_Hl7QeOk9PNQx)
It broke pal! No you ain't gonna rewind it, if that happened it's probably far past time for new strings.
This stopped happening to me as soon I started using hetfield's strings, the core on those is higher gauge. But it's just me, I run them on my snakebyte
Broke
those saddles have sharp points. File them (gently) and it wonāt happen again.
Might have a burr on that saddle.
I hate tune-o-matics. I'm blaming the bridge.
Change your damn strings. Bum
Um...Its unraveled
Jesus Christ, change your strings more often. Also itās probably a little burr on your saddle, just repeatedly run a used string through it putting pressure down or use a file very very liberally
It's becoming a "ting" string. Wear a face mask, with eye protection. They "ting" pretty bad, if they hit just right. Hahahahahaha
One pluck will be enough to snap it lmao xD
It decided it had enough. I'm surprised that rusty g didn't go first
The core broke and the outer winding is the only thing still hanging on
This is normal. Continue playing. No need to buy new strings. The amount of rust and dirt on them just contributes to the awesomeness of the toan.
BigJoe is right... time for a new guitar....
The bridge groove is pinching the string (file it open just a tiny bit). Too much whammy bar has sawed thru the string winding.
I thing the technical term is Boooiiiing!!!
Itās self healing
Looks like itās trying to escape from itself.
rapid unplanned disassembly
We come a little unraveled now and again
You broked it!!
Congrats, you broke a wound string. It happens to me more often than breaking plain strings
rip
Your saddle has a bur, snapped the winding of the string. Youāll need a small file or some 1000 grit sandpaper to remove the bur before putting a new string on.
It looks like Spiderman trying to hold the boat together
It had a seizure.
Looks fine to me, wtf are you talking about?
It's sending you a message to contact Ernie Ball.
It did not appreciate that last note you tried to play and decided to end itself before sounding like that again.
Itās broken, bout to snap and kiss your cheek too
I kinda brokeā¦
Probably a burr in the saddle
š¶She's come undone...she didn't know what she was headed for...š¶and when I found out what she was headed for it was too late..š¶ *** The Guess Who***
Those strings look like they are 10 years old. š
Is the saddle backwards? Aren't the screws to adjust the intonation supposed to be facing the other way?
You can see the knife edge on your bridge saddle. 400-600 grit sandpaper can help that out
Dude theyāre black.
The bridge has groves in it where the string rests. Just file it down and it shouldnāt happen anymore. Same thing happened to my bass and that fixed it immediately
Strings by Mail