I’m was doing a string change on the mando, and I’ve unravelled two high e-strings and broken a third, all right at the windings. The tailpiece is an Allen TR. I looked very closely and aside from the post the loop goes on, the string doesn’t appear to touch the TP anywhere else, so it would seem it’s not an issue of the windings catching on something.
I am definately NOT overtensioning (I’m using a tuner, changing one string of a pair at a time, etc. etc.
Needless to say, I’m more than a little confused and out of E strings now
I’ve never seen that happen with loop end strings at the windings. Maybe you got some defective strings. I think there’s a lot of tension going on anyway on those high Es, so if they weren’t wrapped right it makes sense they would unravel. Just my thoughts.
Maybe you could take the strings back, and tell them you want to try another brand, see how they work, and if it happens again, you’ll know it’s not the strings.
Thanks Barry. Yeah, defective was my first thought too, although I was sort of worried because a) This is only the second time I’ve strung up the mando with the new tailpiece, and b) the third string I tried was a different brand, however it was one that I had just taken off, so the removal process could have weakened the winding on that particular string.
Anyway, I did write to Ted at Jazzmando.com, as the new strings in question were from a set of Labella Jazzmando JM-11’s. Ted wrote back in short order to inform me that he must have gotten a bad batch of strings, because I am the 5th person to report back to him with the same problem in the last 3 weeks, so it would seem that your diagnosis was correct, Barry
Ted said that up until this point, he’s sold more than 500 sets of these strings this year, with no problems, so it would seem to be an isolated problem. He is dropping a free replacement set of E strings in the mail this morning (hopefully from a different batch), so all things considered, I’d certainly say Ted’s customer service is top notch so far.
In the mean time, my mando is all strung up, except for E strings So I’ll have to go out and scare some up. These days it’s probably cheaper and easier to simply buy another full set of inexpensive strings and use the E’s. Heck, the martin lights I bought last time around sounded pretty good, and the whole set was under $5.00!
Great, glad to hear you solved your problem with your phone call. They sound like a good outfit to deal with, you’re right.
You may be able to find some banjo singles, not sure of your guage though, and they might be cheap if you can find them. But, yeah, a $5 set of strings will give you some spares too!
I feel like I need safety glasses when I install new E strings on the mandolin. They are really under a lot of tension. Poor things. I would break too if they did that to me.
Actually, the second string snapped as I was picking the string to tune up. As a result, I did in fact suffer a laceration on the side/palm of my right hand, where the broken string lashed up and made contact. Good times.
and out of E strings now 
So I’ll have to go out and scare some up. These days it’s probably cheaper and easier to simply buy another full set of inexpensive strings and use the E’s. Heck, the martin lights I bought last time around sounded pretty good, and the whole set was under $5.00!