Originally Posted By: MarioD
Rule #1 when playing out and a string breaks - Do not stop playing!

+1 on Rule #`

When anything happens, if you can continue playing, continue.

If I break a string, I put the guitar down and quickly pick up the wind synthesizer. I have a half dozen good guitar patches on my VL70m synth, and since it uses Physical Modeling synthesis, the parts are very guitar-like in both tone and expression. Since I mostly play lead, this works just fine.

If I'm playing rhythm, I turn the volume off and continue playing until the song is done. (Thanks to the vibrato bar the guitar goes out of tune when one string breaks)

But unless the string is defective, they don't break. Why? I change them often. I might break one guitar string every 4-5 years. Usually the winding on the ball end is the culprit, unwinding because it hasn't been manufactured properly.

I make my living playing music, and when on the gig, I have the responsibility to minimize anything that will stop the show. Changing strings, bringing spare synth modules and an extra wind synth (since it can cover any of the other instruments), spare cables for everything, spare mic, and anything else that is likely to go wrong, as long as it can be carried with me.

So the best way to handle broken strings IMO is to change them often enough so that broken strings are rare.

It's about being professional and prepared.

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