Dear Ilene North,

You definitely have a problem there. The low E string should always break when tuned to the same pitch as the high E string. I suspect an inferior brand of string with a hexagonal steel core of too high a tensile strength. Try Adamas strings as they use a lower gauge core for any given string. Your breakeage should then always happen as you reach pitch. Also, if right handed, you should attach your Intellitouch tuner to your left ear so that the right ear is free to listen for cracking noises within the guitar. If left-handed, just reverse the procedure.

These cracking noises are not really serious at all and are caused by the innate structural variability of tonewoods and other materials used in the construction of your instrument. For a reasonable fee, can be attended to sucessfully by a specialist like myself.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Guitar