Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

[jvegas]

Hey guys im on here alot but this time im on here on behalf of my guitarist in my band... im the drummer and have my own guitar rig since im first and foremost a guitarist at heart..

on to the question..

my guitarist has a fender american telecaster.. deluxe i believe.. you can see it here

the problem is he breaks strings almost once or twice a week.. he plays correctly because he also uses a gibson 81 sg and that one doesnt break strings and this tele is constantly breaking strings everyweek..its gotten so bad that at the last recent show i brought my own strat for him to use as a backup haha

anyways what can we do to see whats wrong? i was looking at the saddles and the nut and things seems to be physically alright..nothing out of the ordinary. hes constantly breaking the high e string and if not that then its 2 other strings..

i recommended graphtech saddles.. its what i have on my modded strat and i never break a string..

any recommendations ?? what should we look for.

maybe a setup will be needed by a tech..

thanks

j

p.s the skinny drummer in the pic is me

 

[casblah]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

Try putting some teflon tubing on your unwound strings b-4 inserting it thru the body of the guitar. Only put enough tubing on to clear the point at which the string comes thru the body; if that is in fact how the tele is being strung. Contact me if you want to try this idea; I can get you some of this tubing (for free!).

 

[benji657]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

Try putting some teflon tubing on your unwound strings b-4 inserting it thru the body of the guitar. Only put enough tubing on to clear the point at which the string comes thru the body; if that is in fact how the tele is being strung. Contact me if you want to try this idea; I can get you some of this tubing (for free!).

the late SRV's tech did that too.(according to this book called guitar), it says, "to prevent string breakage at the SADDLE, the late sRv's guitar tech slipped wire insulation over the wrapped portion of his strings to protect this often-delicate contact point."

 

[Hellion]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

Graph Tech saddles make a world of difference.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

It's most likely the bridge, but are you sure there is no string breakage when he plays on his SG? I've managed to break a string or two on both my guitars, and those times it was because I was bending wayyyyy too far; it was the way I was playing. But maybe it is just a technical issue with your guitarist's guitars.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

I had that problem for awhile, since I'd let my technique get a bit heavy handed and was using a heavy pick. Unconsciously, when you're getting into the music, you can easily get too aggressive with the strings. My solution was to consciously lighten my touch as well as move down to a medium pick, which I knew didn't sound quite as good as a heavy, but I did it out of necessity. Also, I bought Stringsaver saddles for my American Strats. (make sure you buy the ones with the offset screw, not the ones with the screw down the center). The Stringsavers eliminated the breakage problem, and actually made my plain strings sound a little less icey, which was a nice thing.
I also noticed that 10's tend to break less than 9's or 11's. 9's snap because they're thin. 11's snap because the tension is higher. The first step should be to use a medium pick, not a heavy.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

where can i get teflon tubing thin enough for strings?

And what kind of tubing would do the trick? Anyone here do this?

 

[Frantic_Rock]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

You can take a dremel tool and smoothen out the holes for the top 3 strings in the bridge plate. Make it smoothly bend - this way the bridge won't put a little kink in the string every time a hard bend occurs.

Tubing is also a great idea. I used durable clear scotch tape (has to be clear) for a period of time - but i don't know whether this worked or not.

Graphite saddles will definitely solve the problem is the string is breaking at the saddle.

Put cooking oil on string trees, nut, bridge and saddles - This really really helps !!

 

[DirrtyCraig]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

The obvious question would be how often is he changing them? If I don't change my strings before a show I will break one guaranteed. I play out every week, so its a hassle but a necessary evil for my playing style.

 

[jvegas]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

thanks for the help guys.. im assured its not the way he plays because at our practices everyone will be playing softly and calmly and he still has brokn strings.. the sg has maybe broken 4 strings in the past 6 months compared to maybe 20 strings broken on the tele... somethings definitely wrong with the tele.

 

[Imp]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

have you taken a *really* close look at the saddles when there's no string in place? it the problem is really bad there might be something obvious wrong, e.g. a pit on the saddle which is effectively sawing the string apart...

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

That cooking oil idea sounds good...ill try it. You sure it wont damage the strings at all?

 

[Bluzboy66]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

....my guitarist has a fender american telecaster.......the problem is he breaks strings almost once or twice a week......he plays correctly because he also uses a gibson 81 sg and that one doesnt break strings........maybe a setup will be needed by a tech..

thanks

j

J,
Take it to a reputable tech, and be specific about describing the problem. If you're not 'seeing' the cause, then you won't be able to fix it regardless of what people recommend. That's what the professionals are for. I personally wouldn't recommend changing to graphite saddles. Keep the steel ones, they sound better.

Also, I know it sounds too simple to make any sense but, what guage string set does he use?? If he has developed an aggressive playing technique, he may need to move up one string guage. The Tele has higher string tension than the short-scaled SG, and because the Tele requires more effort to play, strings will fatigue sooner. I'll break anything less than 10's, and my guitars are well set-up. Deep Blues bends, and heavy picks kill strings. I recommend D'Addario strings. Their quality control is very consistant.

Good luck,
Mike

 

[Bluzboy66]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

I'm going to have to say no to the cooking oil.That can go down into the screw hole and in the long run is no good for the wood.It may work in the interim but not cool over time.

I second that. I would use ANY kind of actual oil. Personally, I've used 'dry' teflon lube on the nut and saddles for years, and it works perfectly. Pedro's, and Finish Line make a great tef lube that drips on wet, dries within a minute or so, and leaves an invisible thin dry film. Wheweee, is it slippery. Buy a small squeeze bottle at your local bicycle shop. I use it on my mountain bike's cables, and shifters, and it holds up well against water, dirt, mud, sweat, etc. Believe me, it'll hold up on your guitar!

Mike

 

[proxy]

Re: Help Help On This String Breaking Habit!!!

I'm down on the oil approach as well.

I was reading in my guitar repair book saying oiling hardware that isn't suppose to be oiled is a bad idea. The oil can travel into the oil holes, soften up the would and then the screw can more easily pull out and strip the wood, or the wood begins to rot somewhat.

I'm go with the tubing or graphite saddles.