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My A string on my Classical guitar snaps on open tuning (third higher)?

  • I'm playing a beautiful piece called Ocean by John Butler on a 6 string classical guitar and because his is 12 acoustic I need to make some tuning adjustments (he is also on open tuning). So I have found the tuning tweaks that need to be made and generally his tuning sounds like a C chord (or Do) on a normal E tuning (most of the guitars are tuned this way). So that means I need to tune the 5th string (A) a third higher (three frets). Bottom line, I need to tune it higher by a third and sometimes I find myself having the problem that the INSIDE of the string (the thread part) snapped while the cover unraveled and it happens at one of 2 places depending on when it snaps: if I have a Capo (on 4th) it will snap about 3 frets higher, and if it's free it will snap at the root of the string in the tuning end of the guitar. The main problem is that the strings are totally new! However I have come to notice that when the strings are older the problem rarely happens so I need to know this: Is tuning the A string a third higher possible or is it over the limit and should not be done? (By the way I have tried this with 3 types of strings: All hannabach, One Goldin, other Silver Special, and Pro Pack silver special. Help! I can't play! It snaps 2 days after I buy them.

  • Answer:

    I think you have already confirmed the obvious, namely that you're stretching the string beyond the limits it was designed for. Don't do it.

Bradley Obrian at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Thats a tight little jam. I just looked at it and its an open c tuning. For CGCGCE you tune everything down except for the high C which goes up (higher by a half step or one fret) and the G and E around it remain the same. I Dont know why your A is breaking the tension should be loosening. And the tab im looking at has the capo on the second fret btw. Maybe your not leaving the strings long enough and the tightest they can go is standard tuning. On my steel string I usually give it and extra inch or so. I love alternate tunings, Sonic Youth is my favorite band. They use 6 stings and use pedaltones to give its a droning 12 string effect. If you just use 6 stings for this song it will sound about the same minus the pedaltones. I dont know nylon strings but slinkys are good for a wide tuning range on electric. Good luck, if you need anything else hit me up. nazrat23@ymail *I guarantee its not DCEGCE, doesnt the DC next to each other raise an eyebrow? The very first thing he does in the song is harmonic all the way across the 12 and it simply doesnt work with the DC. it also wont work physically going three half steps up, the tension is too great on the string, hence the breakage. and its not a C tuning it in OPEN C(new link) which has the components of the C major scale which is where you hear the c chord C-E-G. You need the strings to be a 5th apart. ESPECIALLY the lowest three strings. THe point is to line up the two notes together to play them easier and harmonize. Like using a 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 12 pattern for both strings rather than remembering that and that the next string is the same but one off 1 3 5 6 8 10 12 1, catch my drift? Its basically playing in any dropped tuning. The higher three strings you can toy around with and do 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7ths or whatever depending what you are trying to play. But its crucial to have the bass strings similar so you can do simplified bass lines (or taps) while focusing on making it fancy with some higher licks. This is the style of guitar i like so feel free to shoot me a message. Send me a link where you got that tuning, im curious now. Dont deviate from his tuning its the exact same thing only he has an extra string on each. **** I just noticed he always does it different, which tab or version you trying to play? Look at the first tuning in the box. http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/alternatetunings.html

Gunther

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