Strings popping while in case

greenie44

greenie44

Big King Velour
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Hi all -

This has happened to me 4 times in the past couple of months. I open my uke case to see a string has broken. All the ukes are better ones, and all have Oasis humidifiers in them.

I wonder if I am doing something wrong. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
 
A variety. Low G on all of them, but some Chee-Maisel custom strings, some Southcoast strings. I think a set of Savarez on another.
 
Oh, weird. It's probably not the strings then. Do you have a hygrometer to tell you the actual humidity in the case? Not saying that is the cause... Just trying to work it out...
 
I have had this happen three times over the years. All three times involved different brands of wound strings, twice the G string and once a C. And the strings weren't what I would have considered old. Opened up the case and...Surprise! :(
 
robinboyd said:
Oh, weird. It's probably not the strings then. Do you have a hygrometer to tell you the actual humidity in the case? Not saying that is the cause... Just trying to work it out...
Click to expand...

Nope. I live in Arizona, but the humidifiers are always full. Right now, the humidity in the room is around 26%, but I figure with the humidifiers it must be closer to 35%.

It's kind of a drag, since it's hard to replace single strings. I have had 2 As, a G (wound) and a C (wound).
 
Hmm... Not sure if the humidity is the cause, but I've never had the humidity even approach that level of dryness at my place. Right now, the hygrometer in my hard case reads 60%, which is fairly standard. Swings between about 50% and 75%. Never had to use a humidifier for obvious reasons (bought one when I got a nice uke, but never had to use it).
 
This has happened to me now and again over the years with different instruments: guitar, mandolin and ukulele but never 4 times in a couple months. I never came up with an explanation as to why those other strings broke. Maybe you got are your inexplicable string breakages out of the way in a short stretch and now you are going to win the lottery.
 
dkcrown said:
I have had this happen three times over the years. All three times involved different brands of wound strings, twice the G string and once a C. And the strings weren't what I would have considered old. Opened up the case and...Surprise! :(
Click to expand...

I have had the same thing happen to me with wound strings as well Dana. A Pono baritone, Webber, Kinnard and Collings tenors. I just put it down to defective strings.
 
greenie44 said:
Hi all -

This has happened to me 4 times in the past couple of months. I open my uke case to see a string has broken. All the ukes are better ones, and all have Oasis humidifiers in them.

I wonder if I am doing something wrong. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Check the lid of your case for marks made by the Oasis humidifier. The lid may be pressing down on the Oasis cap and string mount in a way that is stressing the strings.
 
I had two or three Aquila "Reds" pop a long time ago, but, then, I quit using them and haven't had any further breaks.

I don't change strings much either. :eek:ld:
 
I've had only one string go whilst in the case, in 18 months plus, of all my ukes, a 'Red' low G, I put it down to a bad string - maybe you've just been extremely unlucky with string batches. The other thing is, where do they break, is it in a consistent place, as that could determine where a problem lies.
 
Which strings break, where do they break, or has a knot slipped through the bridge and the string is intact?
 
Down Up Dick said:
I had two or three Aquila "Reds" pop a long time ago, but, then, I quit using them and haven't had any further breaks.
Click to expand...

Same here. Too bad too, REDS had a nice sound.

Not sure what would cause fluoro string to pop in the case, unless something on the saddle, nut or tuners is abraiding them and causing them to fray, and when the frayed strand start to peel off like little hairs, there is little material left to hold the tension, and then they just yield and break.
 
I went through a "ghost in the machine" string popping phase. I have two wound bass strings, but it wasn't always those, sometimes it happened in the case, sometimes out, sometimes at the bottom of the string, sometimes at the top. Once a string popped while the uke was sitting on the couch next to me—twang!

The only correlation I could figure was fairly quick temperature changes, such as when in transit to my buddy's house inland, where the outdoor temp might climb 15 degrees in 10 miles, or even like around sunset on a hot day, when the cool winds blew in.

Or maybe it was a ghost... I'd probably need the Mythbusters squad in here to run tests to know for sure. Seemed like every one of my musicians friends managed to come up with a different "string theory"...

I do know that the problem abated after I upgraded to one of the newer Oahu hardshell cases, and started keeping it in a shady spot. But I also ate a grilled cheese sandwich that day, for all I know the butter on my fingers kept the strings insulated from further ghost attacks...

I feel your pain. After a while I didn't even want to tell my uke friends when another string broke, because they all looked at me like I must be doing something wrong, haha...
 
Last edited:
This used to happen to the A string on my guitar. The problem resolved after replacing the saddle. I don't remember the explanation given to me but it had something to do with the saddle getting either worn or nicked from the string tension.
 
Henning said:
I recognize this sad part with humidifiers, but don´t you think that is a little worrying low humidity level? :confused:
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone, for the helpful suggestions. First of all, my bad on the humidity reading - it's actually 37% in the room, which probably makes inside the case closer to 45%. I have not popped the same string on the same uke twice so far, so probably not there. (I had that problem once on a cheap Chinese uke, but it turned out there was a burr in the tuning mechanism.

These strings pop at the bridge, consistently, and it's only my better ukes - the laminates have not have this problem.

I will check the case, but since two of the poppers (who do not play harmonica) were the G and A, that would leave that cause out.

The search continues!

Thanks again.

- Rick G.
 
I opened my Pono Baritone case this morning and the wound low D string had popped on me.

I think it might have happened before as well. But not recently.

I was going to change them, but now will for sure. Lol.
 
This has happened to me three or four times over the last 8 years or so, no rhyme or reason,
no common ukulele, no root cause ever found.
 
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