Something wrong with my high E string.

[Newbie]

Hey guys. I think theres something wrong with my tuner or nut of my guitar. I just changed my high E string and after 2 days, it snapped on me. When i tune my strings, all the strings seemed smooth and easy to turn, even if i wanted to go 1 whole tone higher, but for high E string, the tension to even reach E tuning is very... tight?

can anyone tell me whats going on? like what can i do. the 'slot' for high E string on the nut has this black black colour thing. cant get rid of it, maybe dirt or something. any advice please help. thanks.

regards

jee

 

[GC]

Few possibilities:

1) nut slot too narrow for the string itself
2) saddles have sharp edge ( string breakage)
3) machine head itself could be faulty

solution

1) Fold sandpaper (400 -600 grit silicon carbide is fine) into half and use it to gently widen the slot
2) same as 1), use sandpaper to smoothen the sharp edges
3) Possibly need to replace the entire set of machine heads

 

[Newbie]

Thanks GC for advicing me. But just curious, i'm not exactly skilled in sanding, just what if i accidentally sand the edges bigger than what it is suppose to be? will it do much dmg? like tuning wise or anything?

 

[Newbie]

And btw GC, will the "rough-ness" of the saddles + nut affect the tuning tension? Like when i turn, i can feel a very strong tension.

 

[Newbie]

Anyone?

 

[yi]

i'm no good at this stuff but i'm guessing its the machine head problem. the screw on the E string tuner might be too tight. but dont take my work for it. haha.

 

[Newbie]

this means i gotta change the entire machine heads? errr how much will that cost? decent heads + fixing fees

 

[thor666]

aiyah. just bring ur whole guitar over to GC lo... hehe.

 

[GC]

Thanks GC for advicing me. But just curious, i'm not exactly skilled in sanding, just what if i accidentally sand the edges bigger than what it is suppose to be? will it do much dmg? like tuning wise or anything?

Sorry, I'm slow to reply on weekends. =) Anyway, use a 400 grit sandpaper and do it slowly and evenly. It shouldn't have any adverse effects. Of course if you're not confident, get someone to help. It's hard to describe without using pictures but I can think of a website which might help.

www.frets.com

check the section on nut making and troubleshooting. If you go thru it throughly, you will actually know how to make your own nut.

 

[Newbie]

No worries man. Just curious, i can get the 400 grit sandpaper at any hardware shop?