bass strings keep breaking,

[mitchseek]

hey guys,my band plays in c,everything half a step up for me as i play a 5 string..
b-c
e-f
a-bflat
d-eflat
g-g#

i have been useing daddario pro steel 45-130 reg light gauge,but have broken like 3bstrings and a few others in the last 3 months.....
starting to get expensive!
does anyone have any advice?
should i be useing a lighter gauge?
thanks 4 any help
peace!

[Specialsauce]

hey guys,my band plays in c,everything half a step up for me as i play a 5 string..
b-c
e-f
a-bflat
d-eflat
g-g#

i have been useing daddario pro steel 45-130 reg light gauge,but have broken like 3bstrings and a few others in the last 3 months.....
starting to get expensive!
does anyone have any advice?
should i be useing a lighter gauge?
thanks 4 any help
peace!
you really HAVE to tune up when you play in C?

[katana_manatee]

If it is snapping at the bridge it isn't a tension problem, it will be the fact that the bridge saddle could be jagged and is cutting into the string. If it is breaking near the bridge then get a little file and smooth those saddles out.

[mitchseek]

its snaping on the bridge,(well close to it)my bridge seems fine tho,there seems to be no dents or jaggerd points on it,so u dont think it would be a tension problem????the only thing i did notice was that the saddle of the b string is on a little bit of an angle and all the others seem to be straight?could this be a problem???????

[mitchseek]

yes tuneing up to c gives it a total kick arse punchy sound.its only a half step but it makes a hella lota diffrence,i am just hopeing its not the cause of my broken strings.....

[maco]

Tune it normal . Use a capo. Problem solved.

[mitchseek]

now thats not very metal is it!but good point,will look at geting a capo,would i just put it on the 1st freet and play from the second down?

[YO_bass]

tuning up isn't very metal either.

I wanna get a second opinion on whether tuning up actually gives a significantly different tone from just playing everything a fret up.

[catboy]

1) practice your scales, don't get discouraged; 2) if I saw a bass player w/ a capo, I'd laugh my *** off;3) check your action; 4) deal w/ it

[Misanthropic]

1) practice your scales, don't get discouraged; 2) if I saw a bass player w/ a capo, I'd laugh my *** off;3) check your action; 4) deal w/ it

What has practicing scales and checking your action got to do with strings breaking?

Martin Mendez from Opeth uses a capo on the Lamentations dvd. He's metal. _\m/

[darrell]

You should just play. There's no need for capos or alternate tunings. Just play.

[pitchfork]

now thats not very metal is it!but good point,will look at geting a capo,would i just put it on the 1st freet and play from the second down?
Why do you want to conform to what metal suposedly is, who defines what metal is anyway. I advise you to string your fiver eadgc and then downtune.

[mikethecoug]

If it is snapping at the bridge it isn't a tension problem, it will be the fact that the bridge saddle could be jagged and is cutting into the string. If it is breaking near the bridge then get a little file and smooth those saddles out.
This guy knows his stuff.

this happened to me a while back.

[Samick]

you could use a capo on the first fret

[sinister]

If your b string is snapping that often it (probably) must be the bridge.

[katana_manatee]

its snaping on the bridge,(well close to it)my bridge seems fine tho,there seems to be no dents or jaggerd points on it,so u dont think it would be a tension problem????the only thing i did notice was that the saddle of the b string is on a little bit of an angle and all the others seem to be straight?could this be a problem???????

It could well be a problem, after all it is the string snapping the most. Since you are using light strings it really shouldnt be a problem. Shavo from SOAD used a 130 on his lowest string which is a C and he does fine. Try and straighten that bridge saddle, something about it is causing the string to snap. If it was a tension issue the breakages would more or less be random but since the majority of breaks are at the bridge, there is yer problem.

[mitchseek]

thanks guys.
i filed down the saddle and straghtend it up last night,just put a new set of strings on today,will let u know how long they last,
god new strings sound primo

[vashts80]

It's most likely the bridge. I've tuned a normal five string set up to tenor 5 with no problems whatsoever except it was obviously tighter than a normal 5 set in BEADG.

[Akira]

Tuning any string but the top one up is really stupid. I don't care if you get a punchy sound. EQ different. It's not worth it if your strings snap.

[darrell]

Tuning any string but the top one up is really stupid. I don't care if you get a punchy sound. EQ different. It's not worth it if your strings snap.

Troof.