Dear Dr. Folkenmusik

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 11:00 AM

Does it do anything to the guitar if you change them (a) one at a time; (b) all at once; (c) change the bass strings/change the treble strings? I have an acoustic guitar, and busted a string recently (bass A string) and couldn't decide if that meant it would be a good thing to replace all the strings so the new and the old would be the same (the old are a couple of years old, and so on. I am a novice, so know nothing about these secrets. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: GUEST,Skivee, guesting from afar
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 12:30 PM

Peter, the answer to your question is to change those strings... all of them . When you put on a new set, they will have a well balanced tone betwixt the strings. Put on one new in the midst of old ones and you will notice the new one has a brighter, more crisp sound that will stand out fron the codgers. Change them all time, but one at a time... fully install each one before going on to the next. If you are playing a nylon string, expect considerable stretching over the following week. In any case, you will sound better with newer strings. But enough about you little problems. My girlfriend read my post about taking home groupies. She says she know how to make a garotte out of a broken D string and pieces fo a smashed guitar. Why would she want to build a little French attic, and where is would she find a smashed guitar? Puzzeled.

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 12:34 PM

Here's what I do: take off the lowest string, put on the new low string, bring it up to pitch. (It will soon go flat again, but oh well.) Then take off the A string, repeat the process.

I find that it helps immensely to have a piano or other keyboard around when changing strings. I use nylon strings, and when they go on, they are so low that my guitar tuner can't make any sense out of what it hears. The needle merely swings wildly back and forth, telling me nothing.

But if I go to the piano, I can match the string's note to the piano's notes. "Ah," I say, the E string is playing a B flat." Then, as I turn the peg, the note gets higher and higher until it's finally an E.

The strings will stretch and go flat, so when changing strings I leave my guitar on the dining room table for a couple of days. Every time I walk past, I tune it again until the strings have done all their stretching and begin to stay in tune.

If you don't have a keyboard, find someone that does, and you will be saved much misery.

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Mark Clark
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 01:48 PM

Changing strings has been a subject of interest here for a while. It seems to me the one-at-a-time vs. all-at-once debate was finally settled in favor of all-at-once somewhere in a thread. I looked for it but couldn't locate the debate I have in mind. I have done it both ways at various times but for the last twenty-five years or so have stuck to the one-at-a-time strategy. Note that the one-at-a-time method probably adds from 60 to 90 seconds to the optimistic time quoted by Dr. Foksnmusik above.

I was able to find the old thread titled The Best Way to String A Guitar?. It has lots of good information on the techniques many of us use.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Mbo
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 01:55 PM

When I take strings off a guitar, I go: Low E, high E, A, B, D, G. I put new ones on in that order too. I just restrung my Classical guitar a few weeks ago. It's much more fun than stringing a steel string! How bout a thread "How do YOU tie your classical guitar strings?"

--Matt

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 02:03 PM

I have never understood why some people seem to be natural string breakers. I have played very strongly in very loud environments and I use a heavy pick but rarley snap a string and yet I know people who play lightly and use a light pick who are constanly breaking strings for no apparrent reason.

Having said that, if you are consistenly snapping the same string in the same place, have a look at your instrument and take note of where it is failing. I have know a small chip in a bridge, a bad nut and bad tuning pegs cause these failures.

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 02:50 PM

Dear Dr Thundermunchken,

I used to be a singer of traditional Scandinavian tunes, but recently,in an effort to achieve more groupies,have switched to Heavy Metal.These are now the problems I am fraught with- I am often injured on stage. Observe these examples for you 1)my bass player for my band Hammer of Thor,has extreme large strings which break with large blasts,causing once a severe laseration to my torsoe 2)Our drummer,Juergen, has stick-shattering which causes fear in the audience,and I have once caught a large splinder in my butocks 3)the guitar player is wild with swinging his instrument around.and wears a horned helmet with which he pierce the bass playr 4)I am stepping up to the microphone and bashing myself in the teeth by accident.

And so here is my question. How can I stop in these violences which I suffer? I am having too many blows to my face which makes my groupies shy.

Sincerely,THOR

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Little Neophyte
Date: 12 Aug 00 - 08:09 PM

I've got an idea THOR, why not wear goalie hockey equipment when performing on stage.
I know someone who had to go feed to insane Siamese cats once a day while the owner was away. The cats terrorized my friend to the point that he put on goalie equipment to feel safe enough to go feed the cats.

Bonnie

Subject: RE: BS: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Peter T.
Date: 13 Aug 00 - 05:16 PM

Dear Bonnie, insane Siamese cats is redundant. (Thanks for the advice, gang).
yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Aug 02 - 08:12 AM

Good point, Peter. Look up the comic "Get Fuzzy" for plenty of evidence to support that assertion.

- LH

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Genie
Date: 11 Aug 02 - 05:00 PM

Sorcha, rangerroger, and sian, every problem you have with your G-string in public is embarrasing -- as is everything you say about it and everything you say to try to "cover" for the double entendre of the previous remark.  To wit:

"Excuse me a minute.  My G-string is loose."
"Oops!  I tightened my G-string too much."
"Always carry extra G-strings with you when you're performing."
"God!  I hate having to change my G-string in the middle of a concert!"
"Why is it always the G-string that breaks?   I think maybe it's because I play so hard there."
or
"Excuse me, Reverend.  It seems I've snapped my G-string again.  Probably because I've stretched it too much with all this bending."
"Ach!  Meine G-Schnur hat wieder entzwei gebrochen!"  (Gebrocht?)
 
 
 
 

Seriously, though, I had a new guitar that kept breaking strings --  G, and especially B and high E.  It broke two Elixir strings within hours of my installing them.  [Elixir did, BTW, as per their excellent warranty, give me a new string and a whole new set of strings for each of the broken strings.]  Then I took a #2 pencil and slathered the graphite over the edge of the saddle before installing any new strings.   After that, the premature string snapping stopped.
 

Jon F., I play very lightly, with fingertips, a relatively lightweight thumbpick, and fingernails, and I do break the thinnest 3 strings relatively often.  But I think it's because I use extra light gauge strings and I don't change them as often as I should.  I almost never break the three lowest strings.  (They just go dead, of course, it I keep them on too long.)

Genie

PS, Folks, remember that there was a time when all cats had good reason to hate classical guitars, violins, cellos, and the like!  ;- )

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Aug 02 - 07:11 PM

Some new guitars keep breaking strings because the edge of the post where the string is secured is too sharp. In this case, get a guitar technician to file those edges slightly down and you will save a whole lot of strings from breaking. I'm sure the graphite trick helps too.

- LH

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Bill D
Date: 11 Aug 02 - 09:59 PM

Little Hawk...why did it take you two years to think of a reply?...and how did you remember?

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Little Hawk
Date: 12 Aug 02 - 10:37 AM

Well, I went looking for threads with flattop in them. A whole bunch came up. One of them was this one. I started reading it, and found some good stuff in it. Then I saw Peter's comment about Japanese cats at the end and thought, "That comment needs a response, and it never got one."

So there you are.

- LH

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 02:51 AM

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: John Hardly
Date: 18 Oct 02 - 06:48 AM

talk about yer deja vu.

'splains alot.

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Jack Campin
Date: 28 Dec 11 - 06:52 PM

This is a bit more dramatic than a string breaking - live from Turkish TV:

Udi Cengiz

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: Will Fly
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 04:42 AM

Oh dear! That same thing happened to me when I bought my first guitar - a real cheapo - tuned it up, the tailpiece snapped and the strings went flying past my head.

More unfortunately, it happened to a double bass in the jazz band I was playing in, in a Brighton wine bar, many years later. The tailpiece snapped and suddenly Mike, the bass player was beating thin air!

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 04:17 PM

I have heard that the late, great, Josh White had a performance trick in which he would deliberately break a string (How'd he do that?)take it out, and replace it whilst still playing on the rest of the strings, and continuing to sing. Still singing, he would then pull the new string into tune and finish the song. The whole thing, start to finish, done without hesitation. Is this true? Has anybody seen him do this.

Subject: RE: Dear Dr. Folkenmusik
From: DMcG
Date: 29 Dec 11 - 04:37 PM

No, but I've seen an amatuer club resident do some similar. A little into a song a string broke, but he continued to sing unaccompanied while he got a spare out of his case, fitted and tuned it, in time to finish the song accompanied again.