ClarkW Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 That's an approximation of the sound my A-string on my EURB (NSDesigns 5-string) made Wednesday night as I tuned up for rehearsal. Strings are D'Addario Helicore hybrids, and the bass hadn't been played since late August. No jostling or stark temperature changes, but the moment I reached up to tune the A up just a bit the string snapped right by the tuner. Fortunately, nobody was standing in front of me or they would have gotten a nasty welt or a vicious eye-poking. And rehearsal was only 5 minutes away from home so I was able to run home and grab and electric, but now I've gotta dig out the stock strings (wherever I put them when I moved) and replace it and hope that it doesn't sound too different from the others. Bleh. Ranting done... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLroomtempJ Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 that sucks. It was probably a manufacturing defect or something. I can comiserate kinda...i was fooling around at the end of a rehearsal last night and my high f string popped. It was a generic "just strings.com" brand. I sent them an angry email with pictures this morning. Hopefully they will throw a refund my way or something. jason 2cor5:21 Soli Deo Gloria "it's the beauty of a community. it takes a village to raise a[n] [LLroomtempJ]." -robb My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g. Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 G7, No need to get irate - it's been known to happen with a lot of brands and JustStrings.com handles it well - last time one broke on me I got a bunch of replacement strings that ALSO had too long of windings for my B position ; } Then the manufacturer got a bunch of let us say, "market research" from me, since their B wouldn't work on either of my basses even when strung through the back. ...For Clark I feel though - those have got to be expensive enough puppies that one is less likely to have an exact set of replacements in the case. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Clark, I have those on my URB right now. I'm not crazy about them but I figured I'd give 'em a whirl. Not too expensive as far as URB strings go...only $100-110ish! I think about 90% of bass guitar strings I've broken have broken at the bridge. The first URB string I ever broke was at the bridge. It actually broke as I was taking off the very old set of strings on a school bass to change them. The last one was weird. The core of my D had broken in the sound box (where the tuners are) at some point but the winding managed to keep it on and tuned up. I noticed it one day while practicing when I decided, on a whim, to blow the dust out of the box. I freaked. I had to play on it for several more days before I was able to get a much needed set of replacement strings. EDIT: AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Post #1000!!! I'm a Platinum Member! Guess I'll have to change my avatar then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Brown Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 The Helicores are a top choice string; I know many pro orchestral players who use them. The Hybrid is a bit different, and I really didn't like the sound. I'm wondering if it broke at the tuning post or the nut. Sometimes the nut of basses is slightly miscut, holding the string too tightly. You can actually have more tension from the nut to the post than you have along the string playing length. When this happens, the string can be overstressed. An old trick we learned is to lubricate the string slots on the nut and bridge with graphite. You can take a soft lead pencil and color in the entire slot. This helps tuning and equalizes the pressure. Yep. I'm the other voice in the head of davebrownbass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davio Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Originally posted by Dave Brown: The Helicores are a top choice string; I know many pro orchestral players who use them. The Hybrid is a bit different, and I really didn't like the sound. My sentiments exactly. I really liked the Helicore Orchestrals I had on my school bass in highschool but I'm really not diggin' the Hybrids. Originally posted by Dave Brown: An old trick we learned is to lubricate the string slots on the nut and bridge with graphite. You can take a soft lead pencil and color in the entire slot. This helps tuning and equalizes the pressure. ...and I thought I was one of the few still doing this. I always though my crazy old eccentric bass teacher from years back was just crazy and eccentric but I always followed his advice anyway. Just for good measure, when I'm changing strings, I always put graphite on the notches in the bridge too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getz out Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Condolences for your loss, Clark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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