So I've had this problem with breaking a string whilst bending on one of my guitars. It always the high e and it's always at the tuning post. The guitar has those infernal grover locking tuners that lock the string in whilst you tune up rather than have the thumbwheel at the back (I really do not care for locking tuners).
I've googled it and people say it's probably a burr within the post and to run a wound string through it, I've done that and today I put a set of Elixir 11's on it and within about three bends it snapped again. Same place.
If I put ten's on it though it's no problem whatsoever. I had a skinny top heavy bottom set on there and you could bend it no problem. Now I'm not talking three tone bends or something extreme, just a one tone the majority of the time.
Any ideas/suggestions? Long term I'll probably get shot of the tuners and put something a bit more traditional on but any opinions/advice would be appreciated.
Ta!
Comments
Could be that you are over-tightening the locking wheel.
On the Grovers with the asymmetrically drilled stringing hole, you may be offering the string up to the post with the post in the wrong orientation. This will force the string to make an excessively sharp bend, fatiguing the steel and leading to premature breakage.
Also try changing the E and G tuners - see what happens then
If, after the change, the string breakages occur on the G, the problem is a burr.
If, after the change, the string breakages continue on the E, the problem was not a burr.
Since the Grovers are self-tightening, theoretically, they cannot over-tighten. That leaves the asymmetric stringing hole explanation.
I fitted new strings and just hated the tuners so I fitted a new set of Gotoh "kluson" type tuners and couldn't be happier with the old manual string change.
Personally I think locking tuners are an answer to a problem I don't have.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm gonna try swapping the E and G tuners but if that doesn't work, how did you guys (@Voxman , @Bigsby) contact grover for a replacement and did you have to show proof of purchase? I bought the guitar second hand from guitarguitar so I doubt I'm gonna get much out of them!
Fed up with this now...
https://www.grotro.com/Grover/2154a941-6e5d-484f-a28c-2640779e7038/LOCKING-ROTOMATICS/Installation-Instruction-for-106-406 - this may help.
Lord_Spanielchip said: @Lord_Spanielchip , 'fraid not - that didn't have anything to do with the problem. There was simply a burr on the machinehead that cut into the string.
I did the ol G and E tuner swaperoo and it seemed to work for a few hours but now I've broken another string bending at the same place. I'm completely perplexed! It doesn't break anywhere on the fretboard, it breaks behind the nut and is pretty much right near the tuning post of the high e.
I think the action needs adjustment, it was buzzing out on the bottom three strings so I raised it a little but I haven't done that to the top three strings, could that cause an issue? It's weird because when I had light top/heavy bottom strings it was perfectly fine.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
As for where the strings are breaking, I would suggest if it’s not something to do with your stringing technique, maybe kinking the strings when you put them on, it’s faulty tuners.