Re: Breaking A-Strings in CGDA tuning
This rings a bell - a long time ago, I played a 19-fret tenor banjo in CGDA, and the A string was near breaking when tuned to pitch the first time - if it survived this and stayed tuned, it lasted quite a long time, but lowering and tuning up again was out of the question (down a half step and up again BANG). String change was like defusing a bomb every time. In the end, I sawed the nut slots down into the wood to make the first fret a zero fret and have an 18-fret banjo henceforth.
There is a reason. Near the breaking point tension, steel goes from elastic to plastic deformation, i.e. microscopic fractures are beginning to develop. You have the same process when bending a spoon forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards until it breaks.
Therefore, to make tuning changes possible, you must stay away from that tension limit by using lighter strings.
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