How to avoid guitar strings from breaking
May 6th, 2008 | by admin | 
You will never eliminate string breakage but it can often be reduced by lubricating rough points on your guitar hardware. The lead of a pencil is made from flake graphite a wonderful natural lubricant. Rub a pencil lead on the nut slots & saddle to reduce friction to allow the strings to move more freely over these surfaces without snagging which results in string breakage.
A reason of it breaking again and again is that you play too hard. What happens is that when you hit a string, it bends more at the saddle or bridge than anywhere else. After all, the other end is a long way from your pick. Enough bending and flexing, and the string fatigues and breaks. If you pick really hard right next to the bridge you’ll be more likely to break strings than if you play over the soundhole. It’s a simple matter of how much you bend the string at the saddle when you hit it.
One of the best tips my teacher gave me was to drop the tunning half step back so that you can bend more than you actually do on a standard tuning without breaking the string. I broke at least 3 strings to learn the guitar solo of November Rain by Guns N Roses then I found out that it really is played on drop tunning and the moment I changed my tunning I’m really glad that I never broke a string since.
