Hi all, i was just wondering if anybody has a solution for the inevitablity of breaking guitar strings in sessions. As the session continues or the pace lifts i am nearly always left with my middle g and d strings snapping! i play a martin guitar and use martin or d'addarrio strings (medium gauge). Are there other strings which are better? i do not strum to hard either. so if anyone has any thoughts i would be grateful.
Where are they breaking? Do they break in the same place every time? Could be any number of problems -- a high place on the fingerboard, a low place on the fingerboard, a burr on the nut, the interaction of your body chemistry with the chemistry of the strings, a sharp or long fingernail...have you taken the guitar into a good tech to have them check out the problem?
they mainly break on the bridge, i have not got round to getting a good techie to have a look yet, i will do so. Also do any of you suffer from poor volume in larger acoustic sessions? do you find heavy gauge strings offer more volume?
Five years ago I went to a small folk festival in Eastern Finland. I saw a band from just over the border in Russia, Myllärit, performing in a small cafe. They consisted of accordion, fiddle, electric bass, drums, saxophone/bagpipes/flageolets, mandolin, acoustic guitar and vocals, the only amplified instruments being the fiddle and the bass. The guitarist, being quite a vigorous strummer, broke strings at least three times during the gig. Whenever this happened, he would nip out, mid-song, and change his string. Meanwhile, the lead singer would continue to strum away on his mandolin - and the difference was barely perceptible.
Now, most Irish sessions don't have a bass and drumkit to back them up (and a very good thing too), but being a mandolin player myself, this has stuck in my mind and, in the event that the guitarist has to stop to replace a string, if I am not too deeply engrossed in playing the tune, I do my best to take over where the guitarist left off.
Of course, this depends on there being a mandolin in the session.
Not particularly useful advice. Sorry for wasting valuable discussion space.
Image three of us w*nkers from Montana sitting at the edge of a session near Washington D.C., with Brian Conway, Pat Mangan, Cillian Vallely, Tom Doorley, and John Doyle blasting away an hour at a time on sets of jigs and reels. One of the Montanans has his travel guitar, an old beater, in its case. He finally screws up enough courage to get the thing out, and Doyle breaks a string. They're just launching into the Earl's Chair, a tune this Montanan recently learned to backup from Doyle's instructional video. He leaps into the fray and the circle never misses a beat. Doyle gives one look out of the corner of his eye, then sets about replacing his broken string. By fourth and final turn on Earl's Chair, Doyle is up and running again, and the Montanan drops out.
Covcity, do have a good repair person check your bridge for sharp edges or pinching spots. Some players use graphite dust in the bridge and nut grooves to lube the strings. And ask the flute or whistle player next to you at the session for an honest reply about how loud you're playing. Their answer may surprise you. Most lead players love accompaniment that runs unobtrusively under the melody line, adding color but not driving the volume. If nothing's wrong with your guitar but you break strings, it's possible that your session mates would appreciate a softer hand.
I have been playing guitar for 38 years, and I also have a Martin. I can think of no logical reason for those strings to break, especially if you are in regular tuning. Are you using a modified tuning? I would recommend against putting heavy gauge strings on the guitar. I do not think that they will give you much more in the way of volume, and I also think that in the long run, they are not good for the guitar. At any rate, I would certainly have a Martin certified tech look at the guitar before I resorted to heavy gauge strings. You might experiment with a brighter sounding string, the tonal differences may allow you to come through more.
thanks, lots of interesting stuff their i will certainly get the guitar looked at. i play in some open tunings and also dropped d for sessions. as i play some melody myself i do like to be unobtrusive, but i find in quieter sessions where the pub or whatever is not thronged with people i can give a much better accompaniment to the tune than in heaving sessions. may its just one of those things but i will certainly get the guitar looked at and use some of the string advice. Also maybe its the fact that i play with a lot of cavan musicians who are wound up in out doing each other for variation in a good way that i get sucked in! anyway cheers.
If you're using medium strings, and not strumming very hard, and if your guitar tech says it's not in the nut or saddle or tuning machines, then I would suggest you look at your strumming hand technique, specifically loosening up the wrist and the thumb. Your thumb should exert exactly as much tension as you need to hold the pick, and no more - you can tighten up a bit for a slight boost in volume, but leave yourself some head room.
More important, your wrist should never be stiff.
Think of the way the pick hits the strings - you want the pick to be angled opposite the direction of the stroke. That is, the point of the pick should trail behind your hand. It should never strike the strings perpendicular, or it'll go right through them. The way this is done is by keeping the hand loose.
If this isn't clear, I can try to phrase it better.
For years I had the same problem breaking D & G strings at sessions. I got to be notorious for it and lost some work because of it. This was with a variety fo guitars mostly martin D35's, 28's and yamahas. I finally got a Martin D35S with a 12 fret neck and a much brighter sound. This forced me to play further from the bridge. I found to my suprise that I no longer broke strings. I then had a discussion with a luthier who explained that the shear stress from playing near the bridge is much stronger than when playing near the soundhole.
Strings just break. Fact. G and D especially. In Galway, Johnny Mullins and I were playing at the Crane and Johnny's D string broke and he tied it together, put it back on and kept playing. it broke again and he tied it together in a different spot and put it back on and kept playing. By the end of the evening that string was buzzing so loudly that Johnny ended the evening by playing a decidedly drunken version of "Purple Haze". But I digress...
Have you ever seen a solo stage musician change a string without stopping the song? I remember seeing Paul Brady do this many years ago - I believe he was playing "The Creel". A string snapped half way through, and he kept singing without a break (tapping his foot to keep rythm) while he replaced the string, tuned it up to the correct pitch, and then recommenced playing for the last coupe of verses.
What a showman! If you can do this, it might be worth breaking a string on purpose to get the cheer from the audience. Of course, stick to the long ballads...
I was playing cello in an orchestral concert some years ago when the leader's violin A string snapped just two bars into the opening overture. He got up, went off stage with his violin and returned about 20 seconds later with his second violin and continued playing. An example to us all (if you can afford a duplicate second instrument!)
I've also seen a soloist break a string in a concerto, and swap violins with the leader, without missing a bar!
Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Hi all, i was just wondering if anybody has a solution for the inevitablity of breaking guitar strings in sessions. As the session continues or the pace lifts i am nearly always left with my middle g and d strings snapping! i play a martin guitar and use martin or d'addarrio strings (medium gauge). Are there other strings which are better? i do not strum to hard either. so if anyone has any thoughts i would be grateful.
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by covcity
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Where are they breaking? Do they break in the same place every time? Could be any number of problems -- a high place on the fingerboard, a low place on the fingerboard, a burr on the nut, the interaction of your body chemistry with the chemistry of the strings, a sharp or long fingernail...have you taken the guitar into a good tech to have them check out the problem?
Zina
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by Zina Lee
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Too many beers?
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by Stag
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
they mainly break on the bridge, i have not got round to getting a good techie to have a look yet, i will do so. Also do any of you suffer from poor volume in larger acoustic sessions? do you find heavy gauge strings offer more volume?
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by covcity
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Five years ago I went to a small folk festival in Eastern Finland. I saw a band from just over the border in Russia, Myllärit, performing in a small cafe. They consisted of accordion, fiddle, electric bass, drums, saxophone/bagpipes/flageolets, mandolin, acoustic guitar and vocals, the only amplified instruments being the fiddle and the bass. The guitarist, being quite a vigorous strummer, broke strings at least three times during the gig. Whenever this happened, he would nip out, mid-song, and change his string. Meanwhile, the lead singer would continue to strum away on his mandolin - and the difference was barely perceptible.
Now, most Irish sessions don't have a bass and drumkit to back them up (and a very good thing too), but being a mandolin player myself, this has stuck in my mind and, in the event that the guitarist has to stop to replace a string, if I am not too deeply engrossed in playing the tune, I do my best to take over where the guitarist left off.
Of course, this depends on there being a mandolin in the session.
Not particularly useful advice. Sorry for wasting valuable discussion space.
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by granama
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
My guitarist would wonder what went wrong if she didn't break at least one string and a couple of picks during a show. I thought it was just life.
Why would a fiddler post this anyway?
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by Mark Cordova
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Image three of us w*nkers from Montana sitting at the edge of a session near Washington D.C., with Brian Conway, Pat Mangan, Cillian Vallely, Tom Doorley, and John Doyle blasting away an hour at a time on sets of jigs and reels. One of the Montanans has his travel guitar, an old beater, in its case. He finally screws up enough courage to get the thing out, and Doyle breaks a string. They're just launching into the Earl's Chair, a tune this Montanan recently learned to backup from Doyle's instructional video. He leaps into the fray and the circle never misses a beat. Doyle gives one look out of the corner of his eye, then sets about replacing his broken string. By fourth and final turn on Earl's Chair, Doyle is up and running again, and the Montanan drops out.
Covcity, do have a good repair person check your bridge for sharp edges or pinching spots. Some players use graphite dust in the bridge and nut grooves to lube the strings. And ask the flute or whistle player next to you at the session for an honest reply about how loud you're playing. Their answer may surprise you. Most lead players love accompaniment that runs unobtrusively under the melody line, adding color but not driving the volume. If nothing's wrong with your guitar but you break strings, it's possible that your session mates would appreciate a softer hand.
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by Will CPT
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
I have been playing guitar for 38 years, and I also have a Martin. I can think of no logical reason for those strings to break, especially if you are in regular tuning. Are you using a modified tuning? I would recommend against putting heavy gauge strings on the guitar. I do not think that they will give you much more in the way of volume, and I also think that in the long run, they are not good for the guitar. At any rate, I would certainly have a Martin certified tech look at the guitar before I resorted to heavy gauge strings. You might experiment with a brighter sounding string, the tonal differences may allow you to come through more.
# Posted on August 12th 2002 by pearse
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
thanks, lots of interesting stuff their i will certainly get the guitar looked at. i play in some open tunings and also dropped d for sessions. as i play some melody myself i do like to be unobtrusive, but i find in quieter sessions where the pub or whatever is not thronged with people i can give a much better accompaniment to the tune than in heaving sessions. may its just one of those things but i will certainly get the guitar looked at and use some of the string advice. Also maybe its the fact that i play with a lot of cavan musicians who are wound up in out doing each other for variation in a good way that i get sucked in! anyway cheers.
# Posted on August 13th 2002 by covcity
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
If you're using medium strings, and not strumming very hard, and if your guitar tech says it's not in the nut or saddle or tuning machines, then I would suggest you look at your strumming hand technique, specifically loosening up the wrist and the thumb. Your thumb should exert exactly as much tension as you need to hold the pick, and no more - you can tighten up a bit for a slight boost in volume, but leave yourself some head room.
More important, your wrist should never be stiff.
Think of the way the pick hits the strings - you want the pick to be angled opposite the direction of the stroke. That is, the point of the pick should trail behind your hand. It should never strike the strings perpendicular, or it'll go right through them. The way this is done is by keeping the hand loose.
If this isn't clear, I can try to phrase it better.
# Posted on August 13th 2002 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
I think the guitar sounds a lot better if you keep your wrist stiff,
much crisper sould, more percussive, less of that prrrriiiiiiiiing sound.
But keep the pick trailing by all means.
Also,
get a string winder
and learn to change a string in under 30 secs
# Posted on August 19th 2002 by llig leahcim
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Try using a classical guitar, good luck breaking a string or playing too loud
# Posted on August 23rd 2002 by Daffydd ap Llewellyn
or you could keep a backup guitar on hand for those situations
# Posted on August 23rd 2002 by Daffydd ap Llewellyn
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
For years I had the same problem breaking D & G strings at sessions. I got to be notorious for it and lost some work because of it. This was with a variety fo guitars mostly martin D35's, 28's and yamahas. I finally got a Martin D35S with a 12 fret neck and a much brighter sound. This forced me to play further from the bridge. I found to my suprise that I no longer broke strings. I then had a discussion with a luthier who explained that the shear stress from playing near the bridge is much stronger than when playing near the soundhole.
Bob
# Posted on September 3rd 2002 by boblusk
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Strings just break. Fact. G and D especially. In Galway, Johnny Mullins and I were playing at the Crane and Johnny's D string broke and he tied it together, put it back on and kept playing. it broke again and he tied it together in a different spot and put it back on and kept playing. By the end of the evening that string was buzzing so loudly that Johnny ended the evening by playing a decidedly drunken version of "Purple Haze". But I digress...
# Posted on September 13th 2002 by lbullock
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
Have you ever seen a solo stage musician change a string without stopping the song? I remember seeing Paul Brady do this many years ago - I believe he was playing "The Creel". A string snapped half way through, and he kept singing without a break (tapping his foot to keep rythm) while he replaced the string, tuned it up to the correct pitch, and then recommenced playing for the last coupe of verses.
What a showman! If you can do this, it might be worth breaking a string on purpose to get the cheer from the audience. Of course, stick to the long ballads...
# Posted on September 16th 2002 by grego
Re: Guitar Strings Breaking in Sessions
I was playing cello in an orchestral concert some years ago when the leader's violin A string snapped just two bars into the opening overture. He got up, went off stage with his violin and returned about 20 seconds later with his second violin and continued playing. An example to us all (if you can afford a duplicate second instrument!)
I've also seen a soloist break a string in a concerto, and swap violins with the leader, without missing a bar!
m
# Posted on October 25th 2002 by lazyhound