If you're tuning a whole octave too high before breaking strings you must be using a plumbers spanner on the machine head ...... or have a very strong fingers and very light guage strings! Why don't you take your guitar into a shop, ask them to check it for any faults such as those Andrew described and have the broken strings replaced? Ask them to tune it for you. Feel the tension of each string by pulling the string gently away from the fingerboard when it's properly tuned and get a feel for that tension. This also stretches the string if it's newly fitted. I think any decent shop would probably do that for a nominal charge or even free, particularly if you purchased the guitar there. If they want a full setup fee for just doing that, go to another shop. Be fair though and pick a time when they are not busy ....
With any tuning meter you should be sure the meter is not still responding to a previous note or inadvertantly plucked strings. Mute the strings until the reading drops towards zero then be careful to pluck only the string you wish to tune before final adjustment. Make sure the volume is up on the guitar or your tuning meter may not respond properly at all. Go slow and just use your common sense, if the string is very tight and your tuning meter still shows it to be flat, careful! you probably are going an octave high.
|