Worst string breakage stories?

[TheBigKevDogg]

What are you guys' best (worst) string breakage stories? I don't have anything too crazy, just that the first time I played lead for Intervarsity at USC I broke my D in the last song (broke but stayed on, so I had to stop and yank it off and out of my way), but at least it was the last song and everyone else was playing so it wasn't as noticable

Anyways I was sitting in church today and during the first song the acoustic player broke his A sting (didn't break off completely) and had to stop to take it off while singing (he was the main vocalist). All of the other strings also went out of tune and someone from the crowd had to come up and grab the guitar to take it out of the sanctuary for a new string. The electric player did a good job of keeping things going and the guy who's in charge of the worship teams went up and started playing piano. It was pretty distracting (for me at least, but I pay more attention to the guitars than most), but it worked out.

[Teleguy]

Broke one once during a "performance," then broke the replacement while stretching it out after installation.

I remember that one as a "long afternoon."

I imagine so did the audience. :banghead

[Barry]

Amazingly, I've only experienced one broken string in my 35+ years of playing guitar. A bass string that just went "phhf" then went limp during a practice.

Had a friend in the early days who broke one and the end stuck in his hand. Looked really odd. He was okay. It didn't go in very far.

[jazzrat]

I must just have a light touch but in all my years of playing I have never broken a string in performance or during a service.
I did break some when I used to do a lot of open tunings but just at home.
Sorry no trauma here :-)

[wishus]

I broke a string on the PRS when we were auditioning a drummer for the first time. It's got a floating bridge, so everything went out of tune immediately. Since I had just bought the guitar, I hadn't had time to buy any backup strings. :oops:

I ended up putting one of the acoustic player's B strings on for my D string (I was worried about putting too much tension on the neck). It worked well, and it was actually pretty cool playing with 4 non-wound strings.

[stephen]

I've only broken strings cause they were soooo old, and brittle.

I had a buddy that went through a rough spot: He kept breakin the high E string on his Strat. I kept telling him he had to get the trem set up right, cause he kept yankin up on it, and it would break. After about the 6th string change in 2 days (three of which were during Sunday Service: one right after the other!! :banghead ) , he finally gave in and took it to the shop. Never broke a string again!

[Crunchyriff]

A bass string that just went "phhf" then went limp during a practice.

I know others that suddenly go "phhf"..and they get escorted out of the room, too.. :dunno :biggrin:

[JackG]

Last summer two guitarists broke strings on the first song of the morning worship service. We thought maybe the high humidity outside had something to do with it, but that guess is uncontaminated by empirical research. Fortunately, I had one extra set of strings in my case and we were able to find another guitar in the church's music room.

Jack

[Barry]

A bass string that just went "phhf" then went limp during a practice.

I know others that suddenly go "phhf"..and they get escorted out of the room, too.. :dunno :biggrin:

:-s :nevem: It might've been more like "pff". A "pop" followed by a bit of wrap unwinding. Very fast. It's hard to recreate the sound in a message. :roll: :dunno

[Crunchyriff]

I KNOW that sound you're talking about...(it's never welcome, either)

I was just having fun... 8-[ :mrgreen:

[Barry]

[-( :-k

...or maybe a :lol: "pfthszish" :roll: :rofl:

[Crunchyriff]

THAT'S IT!! =D>

[TheBigKevDogg]

On a semi-related note...do you guys usually bring a backup when you play in church? I have two nice electrics that I could bring (one as a backup) but I'm just wondering if it's overkill! :-)

[Crunchyriff]

When I am VERY lazy (and/or have a freshly-strung guitar), I sometimes cave in and bring one guitar...very rarely. I'm not saying anybody is lazy by doing so, don't get me wrong, but about 95% of the time I will bring two, sometimes three electrics. Usually it's my Gibby stuff on primary and my TomAnderson for more ethereal stuff, although I can get some FANTASTIC "both p'ups on" ethereal stuff out of my Gibsons, too; but if I need some real spank and twang I'll bring my Tele clone too.

It's amazing how much ground I can cover with just my '58 RI LesPaul, so I usually just bring that and ONE backup. Depends on the roster of songs, actually; but I pretty much treat it like a gig (prepared-ness factor) where I'll bring my gig tool box: stocked with strings, tubes, tools, etc; but I won't bring any extra "standby" amps.

[Barry]

I haven't seen anybody, in 30+ years of playing in churches and whether they play electric, acoustic, or anything else, bring a standby or backup instrument to service. It's just never been talked about.

Of course, I've never been involved with a church that had an electric taking solos during a main service, either. Well, there was the youth service band and also the outreach band in Florida but nobody had more than one instrument, anyway. We just made do with what we had.

Overkill? It probably wouldn't hurt if you're playing a part that simply has to be in certain songs during the service. Most guys (and gals) I've known wouldn't worry about it, though. I never did, but then not much can go wrong with a bass if you take care of it. The Holy Spirit will have the final say in what gets played, anyway.

[Crunchyriff]

I've been caught twice where I broke a string in P&W, and it doesn't have to happen in a solo- I've had 'em break while chording.

Last few times of P&W I didn't take a backup at all (which was pretty much a first for me), and I got thru just fine; that being said, I much prefer to have a backup.

YMMV. :mrgreen:

[Ascension]

I haven't seen anybody, in 30+ years of playing in churches and whether they play electric, acoustic, or anything else, bring a standby or backup instrument to service. It's just never been talked about.
Well I NEVER just bring one guitar !! I haven't broken a string in a LONG time in a performance or worship setting but I ALLWAYS have a back up guitar on stage just in case . On the nightmares I have a BUNCH of guitars with Floyds and any time you break a string during a set on one of those :roll: it's a tuning nightmare :banghead .

[Barry]

I haven't seen anybody, in 30+ years of playing in churches and whether they play electric, acoustic, or anything else, bring a standby or backup instrument to service. It's just never been talked about.
Well I NEVER just bring one guitar !! I haven't broken a string in a LONG time in a performance or worship setting but I ALLWAYS have a back up guitar on stage just in case . On the nightmares I have a BUNCH of guitars with Floyds and any time you break a string during a set on one of those :roll: it's a tuning nightmare :banghead .

I didn't say it wasn't a good idea. :roll: Most of my involvement has been in very small church settings in small towns where nobody had the resources to have more than one guitar and there was no space for it, anyway. Not that there weren't times when the WISH for a backup wasn't there! :hissyfit Like I said, we just made do with what we had, had fun and didn't worry about it. ;)

But getting back to string breakage...

I did have a 12er acoustic back in the 1970's that kept popping the high G. It was a cheap guitar, but sounded okay. :-k I think I sold it to somebody after a few months. :mrgreen:

[Kitty]

I'm addicted to new strings... I change them after leading worship twice (I buy them in bulk) so I don't get much breakage and don't bother with a backup guitar.

I used to be on a team with a worship leader who had problems on her particular guitar with the D string, so we tried to always have a stand-by on the stage. If there was no backup and she popped a string, I would just hand her mine since I was mostly noodling anyway. (Two acoustics in one band — whole different topic.)

Kitty

[jony]

My teams worship leader always seems to break them. Even the lowest he has snapped it in the middle of practice. My string winder saved him. Put it on just as the dors opened. :mrgreen:

I have not had any of those breakages yet. Thankfully. My band mates floyd equipped guitar string snapped off also.

yuckyuck.

[seagullplayer]

I'm a backup guitar kind of guy. Almost never without one. Been very blessed so far, never really HAD to use it...
At the first sound of dull, I change strings, I don't know that I have broken a string in the last three years.

[UncleMarker]

My worst was a valve string on my French Horn (OK, not a guitar thing, but that's just one of the things I do :cool: ). I was playing in a brass quintet as part of a concert series in a small town in central Kansas. I had spare string and my tools, but had to ad-lib program notes about the music we were playing for about five minutes while I changed the broken string. Not sure why none of the other four guys tried to pick up the slack - too busy laughing at the poor horn player, I guess :dunno

[Brian]

My worst was a valve string on my French Horn...Ouch!!!! Playing French Horn is hard enough as it is!

[Brian]

I used to break a strings somewhat frequently on my Telecaster after installing the Shaller bridge (and probably with the stock bridge; that was a LONG time ago). I mentioned it to the tech who works on my guitars and he polished the saddles. Haven't broken any since. Similar deal with my Taylor. Never broken a string on my Zion. I usually have both electric and acoustic (use an A/B into my Sedona) on the platform with me so I can switch pretty rapidly if I have to. I usually change strings after ~40 hrs.

...Two acoustics in one band — whole different topic.One of the main reasons I will use a capo.

[oxtone]

My worst was when we ("3 Soul Cry") were opening for Kenny Loggins at an outdoor concert in St. Paul, MN. One of our singers told the audience that "our guitarist uses Elixir Strings, with the poly - whatever coating". (She was tongue-in-cheek, as she wasn't a gear head like me).

On the next song, my D string popped on my acoustic! So, I had my guitar tech hand me the Strat, and I finished the song on electric.

The next business day I called Elixir, and told them about it. They Fedex'd a new set overnight that day. I wasn't even an endorser, and I no longer use Elixir.

Another story: I broke a string during worship at a church I played at, two weekends in a row! They no longer hire me...oh well, I didn't like playing there anyway - too "performance" oriented.

[Crossroadsguitar]

I had an old Washburn Accoustic that I played in church for years. I never seemed to go more than a week without breaking either a G or a D string. Part of the problem was all I could afford for amplification was a Dean Markley Promag Grand and a DI Box. It had bad tone and was never loud enough.

I guess that experiance has left me scared of being underpowered b/c now I use active pickups and have a preamp AND a Clean boost on my pedal board. (But it's been six months since I broke a string.)