Help: Skinny Top Heavy Bottom; low E "unwinding"

[TomK]

Hi,

I play Ernies since ... Nothing but praise. Recently I have bought a new guitar; Epiphone Futura EX and stringer her with ... Skinny Top Heavy Bottoms as usually. This is now a 4th week I have her and I already had to change the high E string (gauge .010) twice. Due to unwinding. This has never happened to me before. I noticed, that the string is unwinding only when I am bending it. That means that when I play a solo part, I have some 10 minutes of lifetime on this string.

Now my question(s) would be:
- am I doing something wrong when stringing a guitar? Should I use forceps to squeeze the string by the ball end?
- is there something wrong with the stoptail bridge, so the string is being twisted?
- I am using strings, which I purchased a while ago in an bulk package offer so also, could this be the problem; old unused strings?

I would really appreciate some comments since changing strings every couple of days is getting quite expensive.

Thanks.

[beej]

It's unusual to get a string that unwinds at the ball end. Usually this kind of thing can be caused by a sharp edge, burr, etc. that's doing damage to the string. (You might want to try the EB "RPS" strings that are reinforced at the ball end if this persists.)

I would call or email the EB customer service folks with your concerns and they can help get you straightened out.

[TomK]

It's unusual to get a string that unwinds at the ball end. Usually this kind of thing can be caused by a sharp edge, burr, etc. that's doing damage to the string. (You might want to try the EB "RPS" strings that are reinforced at the ball end if this persists.)

I would call or email the EB customer service folks with your concerns and they can help get you straightened out.

That would be great. I have checked the RPSs but there is no option for the gauges I am looking for. The STHB are just right for me. Thick bottom sound and pearcing lead. \m/\m/

[DrKev]

I agree with Beej, it's probably a sharp edge where the strings pass through the tail piece that can damage the strings right by the ball end, though usually it cuts the string completely, I can't say I've ever seen it unwind. Then again, when playing I've never looked! Something up with the tail piece is definitely first on my list to investigate. Having two strings unwind is very odd and definitely suggests a problem with the hardware rather than the string.