[carpie]

I keep snapping my guitar strings, especially little e, on my acoustic guitar! I set everything up and it plays fine, but after a bit the little e just snaps. It is especially true if I try any 'alternate' tuning--such as tuning flat or dropping little e to d--and then tuning back to normal.

I use D'Addario Phosphor Bronze - Mediums for acoustic guitar (EJ17).

[greendayfreak]

welcome to GTU

well several things might be causing that... depending on the gauge of pick you're using you might be hitting them too hard. I broke a lot of strings when i started playing (I'm assuming you havent been playing long, sorry if i'm wrong). of you might want to upgrade the gauge of strings you're using to something thicker. if your not to stuck on D'Addario you should try something new. Ask a sales person at your music store what he thinks. I play knucklehead 12s (made by the same company as Ernie Balls) which are super cheap and super huge but they sound great

[FenderSkater21]

[COLOR=blue][SIZE=7]I agree with this guy.

[billy16]

While the pick guage really could cause it, that's probably not the case unless you are slamming down on the strings. If you are doing that, guage your picking to the type of pick you have and guage of strings.

Depending on where the breakage occurs, it could also be a few more things. If the string is breaking at the saddle, you have some sharp edges on there that need to be sanded down. If it's breaking at the nut, same thing, rough edges that need a sanding. Or possibly you have a fret that has raised, or just has a high point that the string is catching. But I think you'd notice that.

Another cause may be at the tuning peg. I had the same problem with mine, breaking while uptuning from a lower tuning. My problem was I was not wrapping the string right, so there was extra tension added to the string, causing it to break more easily. Try wrapping it a bit tighter around and make sure the wrap isn't over the hole on the peg.

So, really check the saddle, nut, frets, and the tuning peg to see if anything has a rough edge on it. If you want, you could always just up the guage of that high E. If you have a .12 on the high E, take it up to .13.

[dadfad]

Billie is probably right if it always breaks in the same place. The saddle, nut, tuner-peg or a fret might be cutting the string.

A very very fine small piece of sandpaper, or a fingernail emery-board, sometimes even just the striker from a book of matches, will smooth it a bit, if that's the case.

[carpie]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. Yes, it's breaking at the tuning peg, but I think it's because I'm not winding it up correctly. I searched through the site for a bit and saw a post by dadfad that showed how to string up a guitar correctly. I've got some new strings, I'm gonna play around with it after I'm typing this.

A bit of history on me. I've got an Ibanez AEF20 Acoustic/Electric guitar and I've been "learning" to play for a bit... it helped me get through some very boring days and nights in barracks while I was in the Marines. Now, it's helping me get through some very boring days and nights while I'm going to college and living with my folks.

Again, thanks for the help.

Carpie

[dadfad]

Welcome to GTU, Carpie. Semper Fi.