Need advice on sons new guitar strings already broke twice in 24 hours!
EDDIEisMINE
Posts: 101
My son got a new guitar for his birthday. It IS a nice guitar we bought him for his b/day. He is 9 years old. He played it yesterday at his party and last night at his party we gave him while they were kareoking at home. His string broke twice and I had someone fix them. I know nothing about guitars. I do know we got it at a music store, it was pretty cheap for a guitar, but, on sale. It is a squire, I think that's how its spelled. Any advice on why his guitar strings are breaking? Is this normal to happen at this speed? What can I do to stop it?
I need advice quick, because His dad and I are at odds. His dad, who also knows nothing about guitars, says it is because he is not playing in tune, but, I say it isn't the reason. It has to be something else. He isn't being rough with it. HELP. ADVICE ADVICE PLEASE!
I need advice quick, because His dad and I are at odds. His dad, who also knows nothing about guitars, says it is because he is not playing in tune, but, I say it isn't the reason. It has to be something else. He isn't being rough with it. HELP. ADVICE ADVICE PLEASE!
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also, check the friction points on the guitar. the places where the string actually touches the guitar. make sure everything is where it is supposed to be.
First off Squire guitars by Fender, while being budget instruments, are serious enough so that it's very unlikely there is a defect with the guitar itself which is causing the strings to break. That's not to say it's impossible, again without seeing it there is no way to be certain. But I'd say if there is 90% chance we can solve this online there is only a 10% chance the strings are breaking because of the guitar.
Ok... so here are the likely factors that you probably take care of with ease.
1. It is possible the stings aren't being tuned correctly. If the strings are tuned too high... ie pulled too tightly, then they may be getting exposed to stresses they weren't designed to handle. A guitar tuner should run you about $20 for a cheper credit card sized Korg model. These things are great and work just fine. You'll plug the guitar into them the same way you'd plug it into an amp, make sure it's set to guitar (not bass), play each of the strings one at a time until an LCD needle appears, and keep turning the tuning knob for that string at the guitar headstock until the needle points to 12noon.
2. Does the Guitar have a "Whammy bar" or "Floating bridge?" The strings have two ends. One end goes to the top of the guitar at the top of the neck where the tuning knobs / pegs are. The other end go down to and sometimes through the body of the guitar down below the pick ups nearer to the knobs for volume and tone. Some bridges are screwed into the body completely so that nothing lifts or "floats" or "springs" up away from the guitar. Some "float" and a thin metal bar / handle can fit into them somewhere to make it possible to push and pull the bridge up or down away from the guitar body. Floating bridges are difficult to make well, and on a budget guitar like the squire they might only be able to handle very subtle and gentle use. It's possible that pulling or pushing on a floating bridge too much can cause the strings to break. If this is what's invovled it's a matter of learning not to over do it with the bridge. BTW, please note it is just as likely your guitar does NOT have a floating bridge as that it does. It's like asking if a car has a sun roof. It's just a feature. It's neither good or bad. It's just a feature, so no worries if you do / don't have one on your guitar. It doesn't mean it's good / bad if you do / don't. Plenty of great cars have sun roofs. Plenty don't.
3. Here's a really REALLY important one. String Gauge. String gauge refers to the thickness of the strings. The measurements for string gauge are provided on the packaging and refer to the diameter of the string. If you were measuring street lamp poles for example, you could wrap a tape measure around them and say one was 2 feet in diameter, one five feet etc. The thicker the street pole, the more likely it is to survive if someone jumps the curb and hits it with a car. Similarly the thicker a string, the more likely it is not to break.
String measurements are available for each string, but when you buy a whole pack, it's usually set by the diameter of the thinest string... usually called the "high e". A .009 is a common, but nearly paper thin string with all the strength of a piece of angel hair. These will break very easily and one of the signs of a well practiced guitar player is that they know how to treat them with care and delicacy to keep them from breaking. It's perfectly common for a new player or a young over eager one to strum .009 strings to shreds.
If you combine .009 strings with either of the issues above (1. Tuning them too tight -or- 2. Pulling pushing too hard on a floating bridge) trouble is certain to follow.
If the strings you have are .008 you can almost be sure this is the problem as those are super flimsy.
Try moving up to thicker strings. Try to buy a pack of strings where the "high e" is .010 .011 .012 you see where this goes. Just one thing... the thincker the string, the stronger, and the "tougher" to play, at least for some styles of music. Certainly they require a little more strength to work with. So for a nine year old the difference between .009 strings and .010 could feel a little bit like being asked to run with lead shoes after running with light sneakers.
Let him know that the thicker the strings the "fuller" the sound so it's a trade off. You get a "thicker sound" with a thicker string, but it also gets tougher to play. Either way it's a good thing for any guitar player to try playing all string gauges to find out what best suits them and their style of playing.
Once he's had a chance to play tougher strings though, he'll probably be in a better position to understand what the thiner strings can and can't take.
Oh, and by the way... YES... STRINGS BREAK. Ideally he should get to a place where they only break once or twice a month, but NO MATTER WHAT buying new strings and changing them a lot, sometimes even without having them break, is just a very basic part of playing guitar.
Going back to the car analogy you change strings more than you change tires, and less than you fill your tank. But it's somewhere in between.
Anyway... good luck, and hope that helps.
I got the impression from your post that you don't know too much about guitars, so appologies if any of what I've written or am writing is remedial. I mean to be helpful. Anyway, it just occured to me to mention that for number 1. above (in my first post)... if you use a tuner, and are trying to get the nedle to point to 12 noon as you tune, remember to also check the letter, or name of the string in the window. The guitar strings most grequently get tuned like this... from thickest string to highest... E,A,D,G,B,E
So start with the thickest. Turn the tuning knob until you see the letter "E" in the screen (if this is the $20 korg tuner I mentioned), and then try to get the needle to point to noon. Keep going for the other strings. Second thickest you want the needle pointin to noon when it says "A"... third thickest noon on "D" and so on.
The thickest "E" should sound deeper and lower than the thinnest "E".
Hope that helps.
Thanks!
He's playing too hard.
He's tuning the string too high.
It's not put on right.
You put the wrong string in that position.
That should help clear things up a bit
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The guitar pick itself. If it is too thick, and combined with how hard he plays...that could break strings. If you look at the guitar pick itself it should tell you (.70, 1.0, 1.14)...if it's those, switch to a .63 or lower....and if the pick breaks....try the next size up...like shoe sizes.
Most beginning players break strings - that's a part of learning to play - it can't be avoided - many people give up in frustration because they think guitar strings are supposed to last years (NOT if you actually play the instrument), and if a strings breaks, the guitar is somehow broken.
Strings need to be replaced somewhat often, just like changing the oil in your car - strings wear out, strings go bad, strings break. If you play the instrument and don't replace the strings, they get corroded, gunked up, and most of the time downright play and sound awful (and yes also break).
You have no idea how long the strings were on this instrument before you bought it (and remember, even though it may be a new instrument, it is likely that 100's of people have picked it up in the store and strummed it (putting their dirty, grungy, sweaty hands all over it). Because of this the strings on most store bought instruments aren't that new, and usually need replacing.
Yes, Fender Squier isn't a pro instrument (it's an end entry level guitar - there are a lot of entry level guitars, and even Fender Squier has it's low end which run in the neighborhood of $99). But it's a guitar, strings break, it needs normal maintenance, and there are things that you can do to help it play better. If you replace the strings, yet they keep breaking, take it back to the store and ask them to look it over - sometimes guitars (even very expensive ones) have faults.
Most beginning players go through strings fairly quickly because they aren't familiar with:
1)How to tune correctly,
2)how to strum or pluck the strings correctly (light enough, hard enough, ect),
3) which strings to use (i.e., string gauge - don't put heavy gauge strings on a Squier because the guitar isn't meant to handle heavy strings - heavy strings can actually hurt a Squier, as well as make it much more difficult to play, remember it's an entry level guitar - most Squiers come with 9-guage strings on them),
4) or even how to attach the new strings correctly (electric guitar strings DO NOT get tied on).
I recommend replacing all the strings at one time (just replacing one string that breaks is pointless since now this new string will play and sound different from what's been on it, and the other strings are old, and therefore are more likely to break before the new one).
1st things first, get a tuner (and ask the guy who sold you the guitar to show your son/husband/you how to use it). Now have someone that knows how to replace guitars strings WELL show you how to replace them - if strings get an actual bend in them they break a lot easier (just like bending a paper-clip back and forth a bunch, it breaks). Changing strings takes a little practice, but the more you do it the easier it becomes.
Now I'd suggest getting your son some lessons - these things covered should be the 1st things the instructor goes over (if not, get a different instructor).
Hope this helps - Cheers . . .
- Ian C.T. vom Saal
<b><font color="red">CONTACT ME HERE</font>: www.myspace.com/ianvomsaal</b>
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How to fix:
1. Take the guitar to a pro and spend 50 bones on a set up. He will make sure the guitar is set up to play properly.
2. Your cheap or don't have the cash. Remove the strings, take 3M metal sandpaper and softly go over the saddles. If you are unsure of what a saddle is, then you should go to a pro. The burrs will go away with a couple hits from the sand paper and you are good.
3. Chances are your kids guitar has cheaper quality hardware, so he will get burrs again. So for his bday, go get him some graphtech saddles and he will give the axe to his kid and tell him all about this thread
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I remember the first time I broke I string.. I really did feel like i'd broken the guitar!
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Oh my, they dropped the leash.
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"Make our day"
I would also suggest getting the young guy lessons.
I have played for years, but when my son wanted to play (around 9 as well I think) I took him to the local guitar shop where the did lessons. He got an young kid (18 I think) as an instructor who taught him all the songs my son liked.
But also showed him how to tune the guitar, care for it, etc.
Having the teacher helps them find out if they really want to play, by letting them make progress and get better.
Today at 13 he plays some stuff better than me, but he's into much heavier stuff like Pantera Bullet For My Vallentine, Avenged Sevenfold and Trivium. But he plays every day and learns songs on his own.
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