Do you use Thomastik-Infeld strings? Please read this...

[monk]

I put a set of TI Swing 13's on my Epi Joe Pass in the autumn of 2007. The first string--high E 0.13--broke a year later when I was tuning the strings back to pitch after slackening all of them to swap out the bridge and maybe the pickups. So I stuck a .14 or .16 in the top slot and the same six strings remain on the guitar to this day. It gets played a couple of nights per week and has sat out on a stand in my den since I got it in the summer of 2007. I have slackened all the strings for pickup swaps five or six times and have had both wood compensated bridges and tunamatics on it with both metal and nylon saddles. The strings have never been wiped down after playing. I smoke in that room so maybe the second hand smoke does something for string preservation. As far as cost, I bought this set about a year before I bought the Joe Pass. The set was sitting in a sale box on the floor of the local Guitar Center with a $7.00 price tag on it. I'm hoping that one of the lower strings will break soon so that I can throw a set of Chromes on it.

OK, You put a set of year old (a least) strings on your guitar, one broke a year later, you never wipe them down, you've tuned them up and down five or six times or more and the strings have been on the guitar for seven years.

There is such a thing as metal fatigue and crystallization. Go ahead and spring for new strings.

[jzucker]

and I can't use chromes because of their current manufacturing defect which makes the G & D strings on the .012 and .011 sets not ground completely flat.

[DRS]

I put a set of TI Swing 13's on my Epi Joe Pass in the autumn of 2007. The first string--high E 0.13--broke a year later when I was tuning the strings back to pitch after slackening all of them to swap out the bridge and maybe the pickups. So I stuck a .14 or .16 in the top slot and the same six strings remain on the guitar to this day. It gets played a couple of nights per week and has sat out on a stand in my den since I got it in the summer of 2007. I have slackened all the strings for pickup swaps five or six times and have had both wood compensated bridges and tunamatics on it with both metal and nylon saddles. The strings have never been wiped down after playing. I smoke in that room so maybe the second hand smoke does something for string preservation. As far as cost, I bought this set about a year before I bought the Joe Pass. The set was sitting in a sale box on the floor of the local Guitar Center with a $7.00 price tag on it. I'm hoping that one of the lower strings will break soon so that I can throw a set of Chromes on it.

Those are shitty strings, only a year on the E and 7 years on the rest.

[PTChristopher2]

>>> This is why they wrap the non-ball end with thread but I have found that the thread does not go far enough down.

Wow. Do you have a specific quote from T-I identifying this as the reason for the silk wraps?

And what of the tradition of wrapping wound strings, even those that do not somehow offend?

Silk wraps were widely used for a very long time, long before we were born to be offended by "fragile" T-I strings or to just make stuff up on the web.

The most traditional method would be to have the wraps become less tightly packed near the non-ball end, with the silk wraps there to hold the now-loosely spaced wraps in place.

The idea of a more loose spacing was to allow the string to flex more easily around a tuner post.

This works pretty badly considering all the different tailpiece to tuner distances out there.

On some piano strings you can see the wraps end completely before the tuner posts.

Wow.

[Patrick2]

I use three different types of strings on my arch tops. D'ad Chrome .012 FW . . TI .013 jazz swing FW and TI .012 GB FW. I've never had any problems with either of the three. Oh, I've had the occasional string break for no apparent while the guitar is sitting in its stand. I've had the very infrequent unraveling of the tuning post end of the string . . when you turn the tuning gears two or three full turns . . the pitch doesn't change . . then it breaks. I've had the unexplained breakage and freighteningly loud POP . . when the string breaks at the ball end for no obvious reason what so ever. But, with some 20+ guitars strung up with one of these three sets . . I don't consider these to be problems. I consider them to be . . occurances. It happens. I don't loses any sleep over it . . . I just restring it.

I imagine this might be a serious problem if it happened frequently in a gig setting. But, I've been going to jazz guitar gigs for a quarter century . . or more. I can only remember one occasion where a good player broke a string. It was Tal. I was sitting about 10 ft away from him when the string popped. It was the B string. It was in the middle of an improv. Tal didn't even seem to acknowledge that the string broke . . although I'm sure he knew it . . obviosly. He just kept on blowing and finished out his improv . . then went on to comp behind Vinny Corrao. Vinny just shook his head and chuckled while he was blowing. He was aware of what was going on. When they finished the tune . . Vinny said to him . . "you broke a string". Tal chuckled and said . . "Yeah . . I know . . but I stll had 5 more good ones". We all had a great laugh over that. "Now that's a true story". (Micheal Corleone . . "The Godfather" when telling Kate the story about Luca and a certain band leader)

[Moonray]

To avoid string detuning and breakages, for most of my playing life I've simply
wrapped the string over itself at the string post.
That effectively locks the string in place ensuring it's more likely to stay in tune
better...[I said better...not perfect]...

By locking the string over itself and then winding say two complete turns around the
tuner post, the string is leaving the tuner post which is round. Whereas if you just
have the string coming directly out of the hole in the post, it is now leaving at an acute angle
that naturally won't take long to break with metal fatigue of normal tuning, let alone
tuning down from time to time.

Works for me.....haven't broken a string in years and I play fairly hard and bend strings
when I feel it.


And Jack, I hear you about the the gritty feeling "flatwound" D'Addario Chromes.
I use the 12-52 set these days [with the 1st & 2nd changed out by .013 & .017]

I was at my wit's end ...I'd used LaBella 13-53's for years and then a couple of years ago
the quality turned to shite.....Sounded DOA, whereas they had been the brightest flats I could find
up till then.
They tried to help with replacement sets.....each as bad as the last....they would just not say that
they had changed their raw materials...when it was patently obvious even to look at them with their dull finish.

So time to try other brands....I personally didn't dig TI's....great acoustically, but through the amp
I found an unacceptable inbalance of volume between the wound and unwound strings that even extreme
polepiece adjustments couldn't level out to my satisfaction.

So back to Chromes...great...first couple of sets nice and clear [for flats] ...must have been old stock....
I noticed the next couple of sets had different packaging...and the dreaded scratchy 3rd string....Aaaaagh!

What bad karma had I incurred....? ha ha

Well, needs must.....and in a moment of desperation I took to the offending string with a piece of 600 grit
wet and dry paper held between finger and thumb....drew the string through a few times...and voila....
...all good.
Now I have a smooth 3rd string...and yeah the intonation is cool.

I know we shouldn't have to do such things ....but it did work for me....

Worth a try maybe..?

[jzucker]

thanks moonray, will give that a try!

[pkirk]

jzucker and moonray: is this a recent problem with the D' Chromes? I've almost burned through a bunch of sets I bought about 4 years ago (and didnt notice similar problems), but I dont want to order a bunch more if they are defective now.

[jzucker]

it's been going on for several years. I first reported this problem about 5 years ago. Supposedly they fixed it but I have tried sets from all over the country recently including some fresh off the assembly line at d'addario and they all seem to have this issue. According to my contact there, they are currently examining the strings with a microscope to see what's going on. Another friend of mine spoke with someone there personally who acknowledged the problem but thought that it had been fixed several years ago. He was surprised when the problem re-surfaced recently. I hope they resolve the issues because I like the way they sound.

[Moonray]

You may have got lucky and got some old stock.

They seemed to change around the change of packaging..to what could be called Mark 11 .

Meantime D'Ad's have switched to a Mark 111 packaging ...easily identified by a solid color.
...the strings maintain the same problem...

Open them up and see whatcha got.

[pkirk]

thanks J and M. Maybe I ought to use the opportunity to try some other brand.

[Gertrude Moser]

Even a $40,000 guitar will sound compromised with defective strings.

But you say you use D'Addario Chromes? I have not tried these for two reasons:

1. I've read guitarists claiming the strings go dead very quickly.

2. I'm afraid the chrome, which is actually polished stainless steel, will prematurely wear out the nickel frets.

You're quite insane you know.

Don't even look at that guitar, it's never been played!

[Gertrude Moser]

Beware, there have been reports of counterfeit D'Addario Chromes. Watch where you buy them.

[Patrick2]

You're quite insane you know.

Don't even look at that guitar, it's never been played!

Now that's funny!! Are you two married??

[anothersixstringer]

'been using TIs for years now, .11s, 12s. 13s, mostly flatwounds...no issue at all.
Best strings for my ears, guitars, fingers and wallet (yep, expensive per/set cost, but lasts forever)

[TonyB56]

Used D'addario flatwound 12 - 52 for years never had a problem with them, have changed recently to TI jazz swing 13 - 53's great strings love the tone.

[Broyale]

Beware, there have been reports of counterfeit D'Addario Chromes. Watch where you buy them.

Ya know, I had a feeling this could be true.
Look at this:

Its been like this for almost a year now. Nobody at the shop I go to noticed the spelling error until I pointed it out. D'addario hasn't bothered to correct it, seems a bit sloppy on their part or possibly fakes?

[BigMikeinNJ]

The TI strings I've tried were consistently great. I use the GB12s on all my arch tops and semis. I was using the tape wound classicals when I had my parlor guitar (sold it). Never a problem. As many have said: your issue sounds like your tuners are the problem, or the method with which you are stringing her up (the guitar).

[barrymclark]

I finally bought a set of TI Swings a couple of months ago. They lasted maybe two weeks. They didn't break. I just didn't like them. I am sure that if I played them enough they would have mellowed some but I honestly didn't want to hear the tone it was producing enough to wear them in. So... I ate the cost and got my normal Chromes. Much, much happier. It's a taste thing. I didn't notice any issues with build quality. Seemed like decent enough strings.

[jzucker]

barry, you should have given it a week. They mellow out and then stay consistent for years, literally.

[zigzag]

I love the sound of T-I Swings, and I use them on three guitars, all different gauge sets. The first two sets I put on a guitar with locking tuners, the thicker E-string broke at the point where the string is locked in the tuner. I now wrap the strings around posts on that guitar with no breakage issues. Those are the only issues I've ever had with those strings.

[Petros]

What hasn't been mentioned here is that TI strings have a warmer response,attack and lower tension because of 2 things.
High quality materials (which won't contribute to early breaking?) and a thinner core. The thinner core will of course be more prone to breaking with certain guitars, certain machine heads, playing styles, break angles etc. but on the whole as a retailer of TI strings for many years I've haven't had customer feedback which flags this up as an issue.

--I suspected something like this when I examined the LOW E-String that broke at the tuning post. What it means is that for the (subjectively evaluated) "higher" tonal quality you also get a string that is more unforgiving -- meaning if you do something like install the string improperly (bad wrap, not enough wraps, worn or sharp tuning post, etc) you may get more breakage.

When it comes to breaking the HIGH E-string (.012) I admit that I may have, in making changes and adjustments to intonation and string height, subjected the string to tensioning then untensioning, and if you do this too many times the metal gets fatigued and will break.

[Petros]

Yes, except my tuners are Sperzel. If I don't tighten very well, what happens is that the outer wind of the string only is captured and pinched in the tuner, but as you tighten, the outer wrap winds around the peg as it strips off the core. The string does not come up to pitch because the core is not being stretched, so you tune further, exposing more of the core as you go. Do not be afraid to tighten the heck out of the lock knob, pinching the wrap against the core and locking them together. Also, pull the string tight as you are locking the tuner. The less slack you leave, the less you wind around the peg as you tune, and the less chance you have for the wrap to separate.

Do not be afraid of damaging your tuners. It is highly unlikely you could do so without applying tools to it. If you do, tuners are replaceable.

Thanks for being clear on what you meant by using the locking tuner "correctly." I can see how with the round core string you might run into a problem if you don't tighten completely.

[Petros]

they are DEFINITELY fragile. I have broken wound strings before too. This is why they wrap the non-ball end with thread but I have found that the thread does not go far enough down.

Still, they are my favorite strings by far. Why are you detuning them though? You said that they break after several times detuning them?

Okay. So another person agrees these strings may be fragile, and if the core of the wound string is thinner than most strings, then this might explain why they are more unforgiving.

I detune at times for various reasons. For example, if I'm making an adjustment to the neck, if I need to correct intonation, and other maintenance issues. I think I was checking for buzzing when I detuned the LOW E-String and then it broke suddenly when I re-tensioned. It was only done once though.

I do have a problem with the guitar (It's an Ibanez AFS75T) not being set up correctly at the moment, and this is because on this instrument I am switching from Rotosound Tapewound strings (too much tension for me to play, and they only come in one size) to the Thomastik-Infeld strings. Naturally, there has to be adjustments made to the bridge height, the string saddles (for intonation and in my case a shim to raise one up a bit), and the neck trussrod.

[Petros]

To avoid string detuning and breakages, for most of my playing life I've simply
wrapped the string over itself at the string post.
That effectively locks the string in place ensuring it's more likely to stay in tune
better...[I said better...not perfect]...

By locking the string over itself and then winding say two complete turns around the
tuner post, the string is leaving the tuner post which is round. Whereas if you just
have the string coming directly out of the hole in the post, it is now leaving at an acute angle
that naturally won't take long to break with metal fatigue of normal tuning, let alone
tuning down from time to time.

Nice tip. I've heard of this being done to prevent string slippage, but I can see it applies to having the string not come into contact with the edge of the post hole as well. I'll have to try this.