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I have 10+ (years) guitar with new steel strings and I was just playing around trying to tune it to Drop D however the 6th string snapped while in the process. I'm a newbie in guitars so I was just wondering if you need a special type of guitar or maybe a special set of strings? I appreciate it's quite a newbie question however is this the case? Do I need a new guitar to be able to tune it to Drop D or maybe a special type of strings?

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This should be possible with any type of guitar. Since you are detuning the low E string, i.e. there is less tension overall, this should not be the cause of string breakage.

What were you using as a reference tone, are you sure you were tuning the guitar correctly?

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  • That might be the case then. I think I was going the wrong way. Thanks for the quick answer. – Bula Nov 7 '14 at 18:30
  • You might have tried to tune up to a D, but remember its drop D so you want to tune the E string down one step to the D below. I can't remember ever breaking a 6th string.. as long as you are tuning to the right notes you shouldn't have this problem. – Charles Nov 7 '14 at 20:09
  • @Charles - as I read the question, before seeing your comment, I guessed the OP may have been tuning to the wrong D - in fact unison to the 4th string ! That's the trouble with a lot of tuners - they only tell you a note name. What's wrong with ears ? – Tim Nov 7 '14 at 22:04

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