LewisK1975 Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1477915434' post='3165176'] Twice now. 2nd time about a month ago. Dunlop Nickel 0.40. It was new too...hadn't been on the bass more than an hour; I was at a rehearsal and wasn't even playing at the time (the bass was propped up against my amp). The damn thing broke at the ball-end too. I was so pissed at the time that I took the photo below and emailed it to Dunlop. Guess what happened next? Yep, they sent me a new set of strings. Not really. Not even an acknowledgement. I don't hawk around trying to get free stuff, but this really annoyed me. Grrr. Bad Dunlop. Bad Dunlop. [/quote] Most recently was after re-stringing a bass on Saturday with Dunlop super bright steels. Bloody 0.40 broke at the ball end when I was stretching it. Never had that happen before! Been using the Nickels for a while and haven't had any such issues with those.....hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamWoodBass Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 A few times in about 18 years of playing. Mostly when I've used a heavy pick on cheap strings, also when I was learning how to slap I snapped a couple of G's. Learned the art of subtlety after that, you don't actually have to hammer the cr*p out of your bass to get an aggressive tone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1471608065' post='3114405'] I've managed to break every string on a 5-string bass at some point including the 130 low B. The low B was back in the 90s when I was struggling to find a string manufacturer capable of making a 36" scale one consistently good, consequently it used to stay on the bass longer than the others while the latest one went back to Rotosound to be replaced by one that didn't sound completely dead straight out of the packet. [/quote] Damn it, I thought I was going to be the first to say they'd broken a low B! First ever band, last song of the night always descended into noisey chaos and I thought it was a good idea to jump onto a speaker stack and slam my bass into the roof rafters. That's the only one I've ever broken, I'm not strong enough to break them through normal playing and I don't sweat too much so they tend to last for ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 Ahem! Back in the day I used to break strings with monotonous regularity. Usually one per gig, but on one occasion I brok the G,D and E strings in one night. This was playing with pick and fingers, mostly on a rickenbacker and a Travis Bean, both well set up and using quality strings - alembic mostly but also D`Addario.. So now you know the real story behind my nickname "hammy". It is not short for Hamilton. And of course now I am old and frail I no longer break strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Unless the string was not strung properly, poor quality string or just plain abuse how can you break a bass guitar string? I've been actively playing for 50 years and never broken a string. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 never felt the need to keep track. i have broken them all, even a couple of B's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Playing for around 36 years..... NEVER broken a string That's tempted fate hasn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 [quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1477916676' post='3165195'] Most recently was after re-stringing a bass on Saturday with Dunlop super bright steels. Bloody 0.40 broke at the ball end when I was stretching it. Never had that happen before! Been using the Nickels for a while and haven't had any such issues with those.....hmmm. [/quote] Just a quick note that might explain this one. All Dunlop strings are pre-stretched so that you can put them straight on and have minimal issues with tuning stability etc. They did this after feedback from guitar/bass techs who suggested that stretching in strings was the most time consuming part of fixing a snapped string mid-gig. Maybe the additional stretching you were attempting was too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 (edited) Pre-stretched? Good-f*cking-grief! Seriously? Honestly, what a bunch of nonsense. [Edit] What sort of regimin are these mysterious 'techs' going through? Stretching takes a couple of seconds. World gone crazy. Sigh. Edited November 3, 2016 by NancyJohnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Loads in my youth when I was slapping the sh*t out of my bass in a metal band, boiling my strings before every rehearsal / gig as I was too poor to buy new ones... ... None since taking up the bass again a few years ago Not much experience of the influence of a pick on string breakage as I was a life long finger style snob until I recently discovered Bobby Vega...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Firefly Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Broken dozens of strings haha !!! With a pick can get maybe 10 hours from a set before they start to break but with fingers, never broken one !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1478108665' post='3166825'] Unless the string was not strung properly, poor quality string or just plain abuse how can you break a bass guitar string? I've been actively playing for 50 years and never broken a string. Blue [/quote] I've broken quite a few well strung, high quality bass strings when playing hard with my fingers. Sometimes you just get really into the music, start to "feel it" and play harder. If you've never "felt it" you wouldn't know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqueslemac Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Once in ten years and I only play with my fingers. It was the E-string. Must have been faulty, although it had been on the bass for a few, err, years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 [quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1478174733' post='3167256'] I've broken quite a few well strung, high quality bass strings when playing hard with my fingers. Sometimes you just get really into the music, start to "feel it" and play harder. If you've never "felt it" you wouldn't know [/quote] I get that feeling all the time, but it's never caused a string to break. I'm calling nonsense on this one. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 (edited) It's probably been over 20 years since I've broken a strong while playing, but I used to get through them when I first started. I think it was a combination of an overly enthusiastic/aggressive pick style and hitting the strings really hard to try to increase the volume to make myself heard in a band situation through a 30 watt amp. Not broken one since I switched to fingers and started letting a decent amp take the strain. Edited November 3, 2016 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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