Well the funniest thing that happened was when I just started Bass and it happend around 3-4 years back.

So I got my bass + amp + tuner + method book

I thought that its wise to tune my bass first
So I attached the tuner (which picks up vibration) on the headstock
and started tuning to the bass standard tuning which is EADG

But at that time I knew nuts about the tunings and stuff... All I know is EADG (From the TABs In the Method Book)

And guess what? I read the TABs Upside Down..

You guessed it,
I tuned the strings Upside Down (GDAE)

The E and A strings survived the extreme high tension, But when it was till the D string, I remembered that when I achieved a near perfect G (Just a step more towards A) the string just gave way and just sprang out violently

And worst still, I still did not realise my mistake and thought that I tuned it An Octave too high. So I tuned the E A and G string (D String snapped) down an octave sill in the wrong tuning (Still tuned upside down)

But there is no tension. So I concluded that there is a problem with the bloody tuner. So I got my Rant Speech ready and marched back to the music shop the next day.

It all ended when I explained what happened to my current ex-teacher and he just blew out laughing his ass off (Literally)

Me <

And when he explained my mistake

I changed from to

And because I "Brightened" his day, He gave me a new pack of D'addario free of charge and told me not to mess with anything until I know enough.


The moral of this true story is : Only mess with stuff if you know what you are doing

Come on man, he was laughing like he never laughed before

Still ok, thanks to the truss rod

Fast Fret is okay if you can bear with the "Oily-ness"

I have a pack of silica gel in my case but the strings and even the screws at the bridge is still rusting away

If you really want to go to the extreme of cutting cost, you can always soak your strings in alcohol