guitar players: help a brotha out

[sigweed]

Ive been playing for a couple years now (accoustic). I play mostly in standard tuning, and drop D once in a while... but recently theres a song i really like play that requires tuning the G string (hehe) to an A. The first time I tried this it worked great, but since then I've broken 2 strings in 2 days trying to tune it back to an A. Am I doing something wrong, or am I supposed to go out and replace the G string with an A string every time I want to play the song?

thanks!

 

[perkele]

Ive been playing for a couple years now (accoustic). I play mostly in standard tuning, and drop D once in a while... but recently theres a song i really like play that requires tuning the G string (hehe) to an A. The first time I tried this it worked great, but since then I've broken 2 strings in 2 days trying to tune it back to an A. Am I doing something wrong, or am I supposed to go out and replace the G string with an A string every time I want to play the song?

thanks!

Stop playing tunes that require alternate tunings!

 

[chefbone]

Thicker gauge may help.....What kind of guitar are you jammin' on?

 

[sigweed]

doubt you've heard of it, but its a Canadian company called Simon and Patrick Luthier. I've played a bunch of other top-brand guitars and have to say I liked this one the best. I'm gonna be picking up a Les Paul sometime in the early new year too

 

[HunterUk]

Where abouts is the string breaking? If its up by the nut you can carefully grease the groove that the string sits in a bit which can help (a trick people use is rub a pencil in the slot, the graphite works well but if the nut is white it can look unsightly if done too much) . Otherwise I'd go wih what chefbone said - if you're playing with less than 10 guage strings up them as 8s and 9s are prone to breakages when you tune them up.

 

[Mr. dB]

Simon & Patrick is a quality instrument. What gauge strings are you using? G to A is just one whole step, that shouldn't be much of a challenge for the string.

I suppose you could tune the other five strings DOWN a whole step and then put a capo on the 2nd fret to play the song...

 

[sigweed]

thanks for the replies. I use elixir strings which are pretty high quality, but they're "light" because I like the soft sound... E string is only .053 so im gonna try a bigger gauge. Since thats the only string thats breaking, could I technically toss in the string that this pack intends as the D string and use it as the G string?

also Mr DB I tried doing that and I couldnt get it to sound anywhere near as good as it does when I just tune the string directly... and the string breaks up close by the neck if that helps

 

[krishna]

I see no reason to tune the G to an A. Just be a pro and find a way to play it in standard tuning. It actually sounds like a dumb thing to do, hence all the broken strings.

 

[sigweed]

hah well the song is played with EAEAC#e (open A) tuning so i doubt its possible in standard tuning. The song is See You Soon by coldplay incase anyone knows what im talking about...

thing that bugs me is that im just tuning it up a step... im just wondering if im doing something wrong because that makes no sense to me. If I try a higher gauge string and it still breaks then im just gonna forget it

 

[krishna]

hah well the song is played with EAEAC#e (open A) tuning so i doubt its possible in standard tuning. The song is See You Soon by coldplay incase anyone knows what im talking about...

thing that bugs me is that im just tuning it up a step... im just wondering if im doing something wrong because that makes no sense to me. If I try a higher gauge string and it still breaks then im just gonna forget it

If you are playing in open A tuning (which I've only used for slide guitar) then that means all the strings would be tuned to an A chord. Are you tuning the B up to a C# also? If not, just fret the A on the G string and play it in standard tuning. Send me the song if you can and I'll check it out.

 

[krishna]

If you are playing in open A tuning (which I've only used for slide guitar) then that means all the strings would be tuned to an A chord. Are you tuning the B up to a C# also? If not, just fret the A on the G string and play it in standard tuning. Send me the song if you can and I'll check it out.

And are you tuning the D up to an E?

 

[sigweed]

And are you tuning the D up to an E?

yea its EAEAC#e tuning. I dont really know how to send the song but its called See You Soon by Coldplay and its really easy to get using any file sharing program.

does it seem weirdto you that by simply tuning the G string up a step it keeps snapping?

oh and actually you might be able to answer my questions posed towards Mr DB... if I use the string that the box intended for the D string as my new G string (i.e. it'll be thicker) would that help?
i dont mind tuning the guitar like that because it only takes a second, so if i can just get it so the string doesnt snap then ill be fine

 

[krishna]

I'd try using the D string in its place, it should help. That's why I quit screwing around with open chord tunings.....too many complications--mostly that it limits modulation capacity. Plus there's usually a way to play it in standard tuning. I never use a capo though and I play in all keys. You gotta be able to play lots of different chords all over the neck, but it pays off in the long run.

 

[Mr. dB]

You want thinner, not thicker. A thicker string will be even more difficult to get up to pitch. Imagine trying to tune your D string all the way up to that A, it'll break before you even get it up to pitch.

I like Martin or Martin Marquis strings for acoustic. You might want to take the guitar to your local luthier or guitar repair dude and tell him your problem, maybe there's a slight adjustment that could fix it, like re-filing the slot in the nut for that string. Or use a plain 3rd string instead of a wound one.

 

[krishna]

You want thinner, not thicker. A thicker string will be even more difficult to get up to pitch. Imagine trying to tune your D string all the way up to that A, it'll break before you even get it up to pitch.

I like Martin or Martin Marquis strings for acoustic. You might want to take the guitar to your local luthier or guitar repair dude and tell him your problem, maybe there's a slight adjustment that could fix it, like re-filing the slot in the nut for that string. Or use a plain 3rd string instead of a wound one.

Ya but thinner will snap easier if tuned up that high.

 

[Mr. dB]

Ya but thinner will snap easier if tuned up that high.

Really? Then why is the high E-string so much thinner than the low E-string? Why do basses have thicker strings than guitars?

You've got it completely ass-backwards. Tension breaks strings. The thicker the string, the higher the tension for the same pitch. Therefore, if you're tuning higher, you use a thinner string. Period.

 

[i-Supplements]

Really? Then why is the high E-string so much thinner than the low E-string? Why do basses have thicker strings than guitars?

You've got it completely ass-backwards. Tension breaks strings. The thicker the string, the higher the tension for the same pitch. Therefore, if you're tuning higher, you use a thinner string. Period.

You are correct.

 

[krishna]

Really? Then why is the high E-string so much thinner than the low E-string? Why do basses have thicker strings than guitars?

You've got it completely ass-backwards. Tension breaks strings. The thicker the string, the higher the tension for the same pitch. Therefore, if you're tuning higher, you use a thinner string. Period.

I tried it and it left too much slack in the strings. It was buzzing like hell!

 

[sigweed]

well i replaced it with a D string and for the sole purpose of that one song is sounded alright, but obivously with any standard tuned song it sounds brutal, and logistically what mr Db is saying makes sense.

next time I've got time to kill ill bring my guitar back to the store and ask someone, but for now im just worry more about recording my own stuff rather than playing obscurely tuned songs

 

[krishna]

Really? Then why is the high E-string so much thinner than the low E-string? Why do basses have thicker strings than guitars?

You've got it completely ass-backwards. Tension breaks strings. The thicker the string, the higher the tension for the same pitch. Therefore, if you're tuning higher, you use a thinner string. Period.

But you're right about being backwards, not sure what I was thinking.

 

[Mr. dB]

I tried it and it left too much slack in the strings. It was buzzing like hell!

Well if it's your G string that's breaking, and you're only tuning it up to an A, then you wouldn't need to go MUCH thinner. It would still need to be thicker than your B string. For example, if you're using an 0.025 in G string, just go to a 0.022. If you replaced your G string with an extra B string (0.016) that would be way too thin.

These numbers are based on a standard 0.012-0.054 acoustic string set.

 

[RADAR]

why not just drop it an octive lower thats what i do no tuning required
RADAR

 

[satchboogie]

bro youre confused..

in order to tune the 3rd string (G) to an (A) means you have to raise it a whole step.

you mean you tune down the A string a whole step to G????