I used D addrio light strings for a while, well a ten pack, i wasnt truly satisfied with them, and then i used Dunlop electric guitar strings light, but i snapped a string from the Dunlop pack, and i only had them on my guitar for a week or two, i like to play hard, and rough, i do alot of string beninding and metal and rock riffs, i need some strings that will hold up my beating on the strings, does anyone have any suggestions for good tough strings?
Electric Paul Reed Smith SE EG, Marshall MG CD10, Digitech Hot Head Distortion, Dime Cry Baby From Hell, Line 6 Uber Metal, Line 6 POD Floor Plus 10

do you wipe your strings down after playing?
do you keep your guitar in the case when not in use?
i am asking because i haven't broken a string (regardless of brand or gauge) in years.
and i use 3mm picks and attack the strings very aggressively.
if you sweat and don't wipe after you are going to shorten the life of your strings, they are metal and not going to last once they start to corrode.
you may also have a burr on a saddle that is causing a problem.
i know i didn't answer your question, but i feel there may be another reason why you are suffering with broken strings.

i dont wipe them down after use, but i dont clean them frequently, and i keep my guitar on a stand when imnot playing

I've got 2 suggestions, follow the advice of Guitarzan, and move to a heavier gauge string set. I used 11 guage D'Addario XL's when I played in a band a few years ago, they solved the string breaking problem and my hands got used to them to a point where I could bend them all over the place. They held a tuning better as well.

Jim

Ernie Balls. Get the 10s or 9s.

Elixers 10s, 11s and 12s depending on the guitar and style it's used for. I play way over the top and hardly ever break them. Of course, corrosion isn't a problem. Tone is mild (dull by some standards) but lasts a very long time!

You may want to check for barbs, nics or rough spots in your bridge saddles as well... If you find them, polish them. Look at the saddle that corresponds to the string you commonly break.

Good advice above, wiping strings and possibly going to a slightly heavier gauge; also consider trying GHS "Reinforced Boomers" in their T-GBL .010" through .046" set.

I think that you would like the tone of the Heavyweight Boomers and they should hold up well for you, judging by a friend of mine that uses them, who plays in a "heavy" band and is terribly HARD on ALL of his gear and seems to have very harshly acidic and corrosive sweat that just destroys strings! Coated "Elixers" strings last longer for him, but the Boomers sound better for his style and everything.

ALSO- be sure to adjust the set-up of your guitar accordingly whenever you change string brands and types, ESPECIALLY when going to a set different gauges. If heavier, the necks truss-rod will have to be tightened; I just did that last week on my friend's PRS SE when he went to the heavy-bottom Boomers.

Look at the various stainless steel strings available... I'm using the markleys.

Put some lemon oil on a cloth, and keep it in a plastic bag in your case. Wipe down the strings when you are done. Helps to keep the crud off the fretboard, too. Also wipe off the pickups, if they are metal, and the bridge.

I used Ernie Balls for years, as I was building custom sets, very heavy. Those strings are just too rough for my tastes.

Moved to DAddarios again for quite a few years. But I'm unlikely to move away from stainless strings now. I usually try a couple of different sets of new offerings a year, but I keep coming back to the stainless.

1) Is it a Strat with the vibrato tailpiece? Do they always break at the bridge? If so, your bridge saddles may be the cause. (The path between the ball end and over the bridge saddle).

2) As far as corrosion, I've never used a better string resistant to corrosion than GHS SUB ZERO BOOMERS. I've never wiped them down and they don't corrode. They also last a long time.

3) If you're a guitar based band, tune down at least 1/2 step and use heavier strings.

Strings break... such is life, I don't think there's a way to eliminate the chance that it will happen. Like everyone has said, checking bridge saddles for spurs is a good idea. I break D and G strings on any or my guitars, no bridge spurs... they just take the brunt of the bending and picking.

I use these



and they greatly increase the life of the strings and fight corrosion (though it still happens a bit... I live in Louisiana, in humidity, and just leaving the guitars in the supposedly air-tight cases can result in corroded string after a few weeks). They coat the strings with something that protects them and makes them a bit slicker to finger. Wipe the strings with one right before I play, and then right before I put the guitar in the case afterwards.

Elixirs are great, I lent a guitar to someone and they returned it with a set of them on it, but I fray the coating off the area where I pick fairly quickly.

I used to break strings like crazy... I had to change them before every gig and halfway through I'd have to grab a second guitar and hope to make it through the set. As I got less picky about the brands and started ordering them in bulk that problem stopped... for whatever reason.

"Elixirs are great, I..."

I wanted to like them, and they seem like a cool company (head-wise...) but I didn't. (shrug.)

Yeah, strings do break I guess, though I can't remember the last time that I broke one. the contact points in the guitar can get rough or worn and act like a saw or file.

If they break at the saddle every time- and there's no burr or sharp edge there (and there probably isn't, if it's a fairly new PRS SE, their quality has seemed pretty good lately), using a small tiny little droplet of clear Teflon gel lube in each saddle-notch, under the string- and, while you're at it, also in each nut-slot, for enhanced tuning stability- can help a little to lessen string-breakage.

Graph-Tech String-Saver saddles are designed to do just that, being made of slippery graphite-composite material that is more forging and lessens metal-fatigue where the string angles over the saddle. A good friend used to break "tens" and even "elevens" fairly frequently, but that virtually ended once he installed some String-Saver saddles on his Telecaster.



Y'know, I didn't dislike Elixers like I expected to, but I didn't like them as much as my favorite strings, either.

I know a guy who often used Elixers, partly by happenstance, but they really did last longer for him- he's a chronic acidic/corrosive/destructive sweat kind of guy, and his "normal" strings rust and turn green and then black in a couple of days!

Now, the Elixers held up better under this extreme duress than most strings, but when he recently switched over to some GHS Boomers (his old-standby favorite) in a light-top/heavy-bottom set, it was a dramatic perfecting improvement in his particular sound, they just really suit him and his PRS SE guitar and Laney head/Marshall 4x12 rig. Being either .010" - .060" or .011" - .060" gauge sets, he doesn't break 'em nearly as often, either.

But, he still turns 'em into black barbed wire in about a week...

I have that acidic sweat problem, too... I corrode away bridge saddles and screwheads that my palm comes into contact with on guitars.

The Elixirs are on a jazzmaster, and franky I'm thankful that they dulled the tone of that guitar a bit.

If you're breaking a lot of strings because you're an aggressive picker, I don't think a strict cleaning regimen is going to benefit you any. Mind you, it's good advice and you should do it to help get the best tone out of your string the longest, but doing that is not likely to make your strings last any longer from a material perspective.

As a couple of folks noted, check your saddle and/or an areas the string contacts for burrs or sharp edges that may be digging into the string and weakening it. If you're really pounding on your strings, even a tiny nick is going to cause major headaches.

In addition to moving up a gauge, have you also considering trying a slightly lighter pick? A pick that'll flex a little bit more than what you normally use may take more of the brunt of your picking style AND could help your tone a little bit...you won't be strangling the string as much when you hit it. You might also play around with different pick materials and see if that helps.

Reinforced strings might also be a good choice. I'm mainly a D'Addario user, but like the Ernie Ball RPS strings and throw them on every once in a while. But if the breakage is happening at the saddle or elsewhere they might not make much of a difference.

Mike Pello put the Graph Tech nut and saddles on the guitar he built for me, and I'm sold. Any future guitars that I might habve made will have them, for sure.

When I first started playing 30 years ago I stuck with Light Guage SuperBullets.
Then I discovered GHS Boomers and I couldn't break those even with harsh use. For the years that I had only a Strat, I used .09's. When I got my first Gibson (SG) I discovered that "Scale" made a big difference in tension, so I went to .10's. Seemed that .09's on Strats and .10's on Gibsons matched well.
I now use Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (.10's) and find them to be brighter longer. I also no longer own a Fender. All my Guitars now have the same scale and guage strings. When I switched to heavier Picks...The planets lined up and all was well in my world.

Strings are so cheap, I think the best solution is to just keep a fresh set on your guitar. My rule is that I change strings after one week or two gigs, whichever comes first. When I’m recording I change them everyday.
I have a friend who had an endorsement deal with GHS a while back. He changed his strings every set. He was the fastest I’d ever seen at string changes, by the way. I’ve even seen him change a broken string in the middle of a song, while he was playing the song!
As far as Graphtech saddles and nut, to my ears they had a weird upper mid-range thing going on with them that I didn’t like. But to each his own.

About scale length...

I've always figured that the longer the scale length, the "slacker" the tension... but people always say the opposite... seems like a simple fact of physics, plus that's how it felt to me. The slight difference between Les Pauls and SGs and strats and teles I don't even notice, but I have a Jazzmaster, and when I got it there were 8s on the thing and it was like silly string... I couldn't hit the strings without knocking them all out of the (notoriously problematic) bridge. I eventually put a BuzzStop on the tailpiece, which makes the tension over the bridge greater and improved the feel of the entire guitar (but cut out some of the cool behind the bridge picking opportunities) and 10s don't bother me on it anymore, but I was stringing it with 12s and 13s before to get it to feel like my other guitars.

Do I have it backwards? Was I imagining that?

The longer the scale length, the more tension is required for the same pitch. This is why, for the same string gauge and pitch, Les Pauls are easier at bending than Strats.

I'm not real loyal to any particular brand. A long time ago, somebody knowledgeable to me that there were actually only two or three companies that actually manufacture their own strings, and they make everybody else's for them. GHS makes Ernie Ball and a bunch of others, I can't remember the names of the other two manufacturers. After that, I just figured if I got the right metal and gauges, I was probably gonna get the same strings anyway, so I look for the cheapest price.

I hate the sound of stainless steel. What I look for is solid nickel wrap, not nickel plated steel, and the particular gauge I'm using at the time. If I'm playing a lot, 10-46, if not 9-42 or sometimes 9.5-44.

I do have to say that I once found a set of Rotosounds, half price on clearance, that were made for electric(gauged 9-42) but had bronze wrapping. I thought "weird, but what the heck, who knows what they might sound like?" Believe it or not, they were the best sounding strings I ever used. When the amp was pushed hard, they developed harmonics in the sustain better and easier than any other set of strings I ever used. Unfortunately, I never found them again. If I did and I could afford them, I'd probably use them.

hmmm... Like I said I never notice a difference between Les pauls and Strats, really, but Jazzmasters seem ridiculously easy to bend strings on BECAUSE of the longer length, though I guess technically the "scale length" might be the same as a strat (nut to bridge) but there's so much extra real estate behind the bridge. I know that the darker tone of Gibsons are generally because of the shorter scale, and that certainly seems to come into play on Jazzmasters, which are bright no matter what... and rattley...

Yeah, I used to use some Rotosound brand... Superwound or something like that,lion on the package. I liked them a whole lot. They jsut were in and out of stock too much... I always bought my strings from a wholesaler, boxes at a time to get the best price.

Yhup; and why basses are made with such long scale-lengths, compared to guitars. The longer the scale-length, the tighter the tension if the strings, given the same gauges and tuning. There's no two ways about it, it's physics!

I do notice the difference in tension between a Les Paul an a Strat or Tele; for that reason I prefer 11s on an LP or similar scaled guitar, but can deal with 10s on a Strat or Tele.

Bought a T5 about a month ago and it came with 11-49 Elixers, was going to change them to my GHS Santana 10.5-48's after the 45 day return period expired...but...I kinda fell in love with the Elixers and have decided that Taylor's recommendation is a good one and they have a better ear than I do...also found a great string cleaner (ie. GHS Fast Fret)...this is a wonderful product in my travel bag from now on, it not only cleans the strings but is also good for the fretboard...I always carry two guitars to gigs just in case I break a string, but (knock on wood) I've never broken one for over the last 3 or 4 decades....

Fender recommends 10's on the Jazzmaster & the Jag (p90jr's buzz problem using 8's would be just one problem with using too light of strings, probably not get as good of a tone out of the Jazzmaster either), 9's work quite well on the Strats & Teles, I have had no problem with bending strings on any of them although I still like the GHS Santana big core 9.5-43's on the Strat & Tele and the 10.5's on the Jag & Jazzmaster...I prefer the shorter scale length on the Jag over the Jazz...but find myself playing the T5 (acoustic electric) more often than the Fenders these last few weeks....

I used 8s for the longest time on Strats, Les Pauls, SGs, a Jaguar (which is shorter in scale than a jazzmaster), Tele... at some point I just felt the need to go up to 9s, then 10s... I think I eventually wanted to feel and hear something more substantial.

As for the Jazzmaster, it seems most of the guys who kind of made them chic again use very heavy strings... I think Tom Verlaine used 13s or 14s, the Sonic Youth guys can't be considered in normal guitar operating discussions but I think they put thick strings on Jzmstrs, J Mascis uses 10s and seems to bend the high E up and over and around the neck...

8s on the Jazzmaster sounded and felt REALLY dinky...

I used 11s or 12s on the Jazzmaster, but at the time I was using 11s on the Les Paul, too.

I heard once that S.I.T. makes a lot of "brand name" strings and I'm pretty sure that Fender and Martin strings are not actually made by Fender and/or Martin.

I'm also pretty sure Ernie Ball, GHS and D'Addario all make their own sets.

I heard S.I.T stands for Stay In Tune???

Yep, it sure does. I'm about 20 minutes away from their main manufacturing plant.

And yes, they do make a lot of strings for "other" brands and packages them

If we were doing a Poll, I would put my vote in for GHS Boomers. Very consistent pack to pack and just don't seem to wear out as fast for some reason.

GHS makes good quality strings no doubt...pole wise I like their Santana line the best just because they are a tad heavier (ie 9.5 instead of 9, 10.5 instead of 10, etc.) the "big core" concept may add to the tone and long lasting factor and they don't break...I'm now using Elixir, but have use Dadderio, and other brands...don't care for Earnie Ball but a lot of players seem to like them...so pole results would probably vary a whole lot...mignt be interesting for GP to take a poll???

Good idea larry, or do a lab-controlled test

Take 10 brands and string them up on a jig under tension (i.e. in tune) and spray them with a little acidic spray and then see what happens to the strings over 4 weeks or a couple of months

I guess you would have to do one set of strings at a time to eliminate any inconsistency with tuners, but still doable LOL

I think a poll would be the easiest, but you may have a crash test dummy idea there Roots...forget about staying in tune as most strings will do that pretty well...I say a couple of tractor pulls for the country boys and maybe a gym style heavy lift contest for the city slickers...we just go by maximum strength right out of the box....then soak'em in acid and try again????

PRS Man didn't really say what his dis-satisfaction stemmed from, though we might guess first tonal loss. He did mention switching between various light strings.

Players that are vigorous can always benefit from heavier guage (though that also generally needs set-up adjutment). It can solve breakage problems (not mentioned except in responses) but does nothing for the maintenance of the strings per skin oils, or wear from playing, etc.

I've a more basic suggestion.
You're playing an elctric guitar, I presume.
WHY are you "beating on the strings" ?!
Many players, especially the less time they've played or if coming from the acoustic guitar world, have the idea that hard strumming equates with louder or with intensity & power.
That's all out the window when playing electric, however. In fact playing too hard can lessen the dramatic power of your playing & even cause you to go out of tune, especially on note attacks.

It's a freaking electronic instrument connected to an amplifier !!
You don't need to play hard to be loud or to have dramatic power.
Most electric guitars, in fact, respond better when played with physical restraint.

That in itself may be the best solution.

thanks dude, i understand but if you play hard music and you enjoy playing, you just naturally rip the strings apart, i can be nice calm on a worship song for church but put my pedals and my PRS in front of me, and i go frickin crazy, just practicing i jump of stuff i run back and forth, kick stuff on metal songs and just act like a drugy but it invigorates me dude, so i will try lighter picking buts it hard

The point is control of your technique & performance.
Has nothing to do with holding yourself back...which is actually what you do when you let your playing be out of control.
Best of!