broke the high E string
 

I’m new to electric guitar. I’m an acoustic player, used to mediums on my dreads. Today I broke the high E string while practicing some licks that have a whole step bend (from C to D, to give you an idea where I want bending). The string were pretty new. I believe they were 9’s. Felt pretty skimpy compared the the 13’s on my dreads. So I guess I am not surprised it snapped but the strings weren’t old or worn out. Or could I have been doing something wrong in my newbie way of bending the high E string?

Some strat bridges have very sharp edges on the block and the bridge plate that make strings more likely to break. Check the hole where the string goes through the bridge for sharp edges, assuming it's a strat and the string broke near the bridge. If that is the case, a small file will do the trick to smooth off the edge and your strings will last longer.

Actually, it snapped somewhere around the 15th fret. Should’ve mentioned that in the original post. And yes. It’s a strat.

SIT strings sells their set of 9s with a spare 9. May not be a bad idea to grab a few singles next time you're at a music store. Or just go with something a bit heavier.

Are the frets smooth in that area?

Good point. Yes the frets are smooth but maybe in my newbie way, I am pressing down too hard.

Will have to see if it happens again after I restring.

What brand of strings were you using?

Something else I should’ve mentioned earlier. I just got it and the shop set it up so I am not sure. But I was told it was a 9.

I broke a couple of high E strings when I got out the electric after not playing it for ten years. I have trouble with that bend. Especially on the 10th fret. I tend to slide that one.

If they did a setup, and used the same set of strings start to finish, that would be enough to make the strings -- especially the high e -- more likely to break. All that tuning up/retuning does a number on the strings. When I do setups, I usually throw a fresh set of strings on when I'm done just to ensure I'll be able to play that set awhile.

I can't recall a need to bend the high end E string. (Higher string tension than the strings above it which makes it more difficult to bend for a start which could explain things for you).

It was lick #1 from here

https://youtu.be/Gu2esZ-PzFM

Greater chance that the high E string will break if you want to bend it all the way up per the video simply because of its tension. (Suggest using a more gentle bend, bending another string above it or even not bending the high E string instead which may alter the tone of the lick but half the fun is making someone else's lick your own anyway).

Good luck!

Yes. It was a bit of a fight bending the high E. I just changed my strings. Gonna go back at it and see if I can break the string again :)

That's actually a kind of odd place for the string to break; they usually break at one of the stress points...saddle, sustain block, nut, etc. It could have simply been a defective string or maybe it got kinked during installation.

Another thing...unless your bridge is really, really decked (or a hardtail), bending a string a whole step will cause the bridge to pull up, forcing you to bend the string just that much more in order to arrive at the intended pitch.

If I have a bend like that, sometimes I palm the bridge (if possible) to hold it down while bending with fingers. My bridges are set up for mostly dive with very slight up-trem...floating just a bit. I mainly do it this way so the bridge doesn't smack the top of the guitar if I let go of the arm.