Replacing broken 11 chrome string

[lydian_dorian]

Local GC's don't have single replacement chrome 11 strings. I could just use whatever replacement 11 string they have available. Would it be that big a difference from the rest of the strings on my guitar? Whole new XL chrome sets are digging a hole in my wallet.

[nyc chaz]

I buy the bulk set of 12 strings on musicians friend in different gauges for my b and e string replacement.Only costs $2.50 and sounds just as good.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I buy the bulk set of 12 strings on musicians friend in different gauges for my b and e string replacement.Only costs $2.50 and sounds just as good.

That’s because they’re the same. As far as I’ve been able to tell, “plain steel” strings are all plain steel, with little if any difference among brands. I’ve been buying the same MF bulk strings that you get and using them with wound strings of all kinds - Chrome, TI, etc. There seems to be no difference at all in quality, tone, longevity, or resistance to breaking.

[marcwhy]

Semi-ignorant question: aren't all the electric unwound strings essentially the same? It's the wound (nickel blend, pure nickel, chrome, etc, with different "cores") strings that are really different? If so, any 12 would work - right? [or again, I may be off ...]

[Edit] Nevershouldhave just beat me by a minute!

[Stringswinger]

I think that there are some plain string differences, to wit:

Size: Not all 11's are the same size. Some makers are a hair above 11, some are a hair below 11 and some are pretty damn exact.

materials: Some are finished in tin, some are finished otherwise (TI's come to mind)

[omphalopsychos]

Not all plain strings are identical but they tend to be pretty close. However I'm pretty confident the chrome 11 is the same as the D'Addario's standard plain steel found in most sets. Here's the link


Speaking of tin coating, I can't stand Thomastik's tin coated treble strings.

[lesyeuxnoirs]

Speaking of tin coating, I can't stand Thomastik's tin coated treble strings.

Neither can I. Horrible things. A far cry from what I expect from one of my favourite manufacturers. I bought them once in error. Never again.

[Stringswinger]

Neither can I. Horrible things. A far cry from what I expect from one of my favourite manufacturers. I bought them once in error. Never again.

I have never tried their tin coated. I do like their usual plain strings which, IIRC, are brass.

[lesyeuxnoirs]

I have never tried their tin coated. I do like their usual plain strings which, IIRC, are brass.

I also like, really like, their regular plain strings (and yes, they are brass plated)

[omphalopsychos]

Oh I must have meant the brass ones. My bad. Hate them!!

[lesyeuxnoirs]

Oh I must have meant the brass ones. My bad. Hate them!!

hahaha - maybe you’d like the tin ones?!

[omphalopsychos]

I’m good with plain steel, I don’t need a fancy coating. Also I used to not be bothered by the TI ones but in recent sets I’ve found the plain strings to feel sticky and the wound strings to feel rough. I’m not usually a flat wound guy but I switched to dogal and expressive jazz flats and have not looked back. Those are incredible.

[sgosnell]

All plain strings I know of are plated. Otherwise they would discolor and begin rusting immediately after manufacture. Tin is by far the most common plating, and as far as I can tell, the TI brass-plated strings actually have a tin coating beneath the brass. After the brass plating has worn off of the ones I've used, it looks very much like standard tin coating, and not plain steel, which would discolor very quickly.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Some are finished in tin, some are finished otherwise (TI's come to mind)

Pretty much all "plain steel" strings are actually plated (with tin, I think). TI unwounds are plated with brass, according to their website. There are only a few makers of piano wire, which is where giutar string makers get their core and unwound stock. Mapes is the largest supplier of wire like this in the world. Almost all of our unwound strings are the same regardless of brand name, because they come from Mapes.

[lydian_dorian]

Thanks for the advice, peeps. Will see what loose 11 and 12's GC has in stock. Then I'll order a bunch of bulk loosies.

[SOLR]

Pretty much all "plain steel" strings are actually plated (with tin, I think). TI unwounds are plated with brass, according to their website. .

Actually they're available in either Tin or Brass... "T"

Jazz Swing Jazz Guitar | Guitar Strings | Products | Thomastik-Infeld Vienna

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[Cunamara]

If you are having trouble with the high E string breaking frequently, it would be worth looking into why that's happening because it shouldn't. I would look for some indication of a burr or sharp edge on the tuning capstan, the nut, the bridge saddle, the anchor point. Any of these would cause a stress riser resulting in breakage at that point.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

If you are having trouble with the high E string breaking frequently, it would be worth looking into why that's happening because it shouldn't. I would look for some indication of a burr or sharp edge on the tuning capstan, the nut, the bridge saddle, the anchor point. Any of these would cause a stress riser resulting in breakage at that point.

If the same string breaks at the same place each time, you know exactly where the problem is. As Cunamara says, the commonest places for an irregularity are the tuning capstan, the bridge saddle, and anywhere the string bends over a solid edge. Put the short end back where it was and the breakage point will show you where the problem is.

My Tele was breaking E1 at the point at which it rubs over the top of the baseplate on its way up to the saddle. Sure enough, there was a rough edge around the top of that hole in the metal, with a tiny burr right where the string contacted it. I chamfered and polished the tops of all those holes and the problem was solved. I also had a breakage problem with the 7th string on my Epi LP 7 where it emerged from the tuning post. Again, I lightly chamfered the edges of the hole after enlarging it by about 0.010" and polishing the entire hole and outer surface. Problem solved. Those early LPs had really cheap hardware, and the post wasn't thick enough to pass a 7th string bigger than 62 through the stock hole. After enlarging the hole, it just looked like there wasn't enough metal left to hold up over time. So I put on 7 of a 12 string set Grovers, enlarged the hole on the 7th to take a 72, polished it up, and I haven't broken a string on it in 20+ years.

With separate bridges and stop tailpieces, the angle of the string from the bridge to the tailpiece can be acute enough to press the string firmly against the rear edge of the bridge body and/or at the top front edge of the hole through tailpiece. I had breakage at the back of the bridge body on the same Epi LP when I first got it. The early Epiphone 7 string LPs (early to mid '90s) had really cheap hardware. But a little rounding, smoothing and polishing did the trick and I still have the same bridge and tailpiece on it with no problems.

[lydian_dorian]

If you are having trouble with the high E string breaking frequently, it would be worth looking into why that's happening because it shouldn't. I would look for some indication of a burr or sharp edge on the tuning capstan, the nut, the bridge saddle, the anchor point. Any of these would cause a stress riser resulting in breakage at that point.

I do have to figure out what's wrong. Second time with the same guitar (Ibanez AF75G) that this has happened while simply detuning the strings (!) to adjust the bridge height.

[Cunamara]

Does that have a TOM bridge? If so, a common place for a burr to develop is in the string notch of the saddle. It's just the result of wear.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I do have to figure out what's wrong. Second time with the same guitar (Ibanez AF75G) that this has happened while simply detuning the strings (!) to adjust the bridge height.

The most important question is the simplest one: where did the string break and was it at the exact same place both times?