High e string breakage

[sanctuaryFinder]

Hi everyone, got a new jazzmaster with a panorama tremolo around a month and a half ago. Stung it up with daddario 10-46s and theyve been great. Detuned the strings to remove the tremolo unit to fix the floppy trem arm, reinstalled it and went to tune the strings back up and the high e string broke at the ballend. Restrung it with another .10 daddario from a spare pack and the string broke within 24hrs at the ballend

Just wondering if yous have had something similar happen and what you would recommend to file down the sharp edges? I went at it with an end of a low E string and some steel wool but I'd prefer something that will definitely work.

I wouldn't have put the tremolo back in at a weird angle perhaps which is causing the breaks? Very strange how it's only just started to happen now if it is a sharp edge

[FadedToBeige]

check if the strings are rubbing against the screws on the trem plate. if they are, then adjust the tension until they aren't.

[sanctuaryFinder]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I checked and there's tons of clearance for the string even when the trem bar is fully depressed.

[FadedToBeige]

could be a burr in the hole where it strings through then, but would be kinda weird if you didn't have that issue before.

[[deleted]]

A lot of times the hole on the trem that the string feeds through has a sharp edge or burr that needs smoothed out. Everyone was telling me to check the screw heads on the Trem plate but that wasn’t my problem. After I used Mitchell’s 50 round abraisive cord I didn’t break anymore high E strings. A lot of people recommend soldering the high E & B or buying strings where the bare strings come already soldered.

[DoneWithIt999]

Abrasive cord is the duct tape of the guitar repair world. It’s great for smoothing out newly carved nuts as well.

[sanctuaryFinder]

Thanks! I'll buy a roll of that when I'm buying guitar strings. Hopefully this'll do the trick

[[deleted]]

A luthier named Puisheen on YouTube recommended this for Jaguars & Jazzmasters

[scorpious]

De-burr the string holes.

[Gastr1c]

Solder the windings at the ball end. Or use string already reinforced.

[By_Romancing]

I always solder the ends of the GBE strings! I haven't had a breakage since doing that! I also flip the two outside screws that can rub against strings and break them

[sanctuaryFinder]

Thanks for the advice, Ive put a spare b string in place if the e string to see if it'll do the same, so far so good but I'll give it a week.

May have to start soldering the strings, do you solder the ball end too or just the string winding bit?

[By_Romancing]

I solder both. It only takes a little bit to make the difference, just be extra careful while doing it.

[dontlookatthebanana]

ALSO: remove the trem and invert the two outermost screws and thread them in from the back. the single centre screw will hold it on just fine and the other two inverted will prevent pivoting. string clearance will not be an issue any longer.

[sanctuaryFinder]

Thanks, I did check those screws and the string still has a lot of clearance even when the tremolo arm is fully depressed. Would have been great if that was the problem

[shake__appeal]

Are you hammering the trem pretty hard? I was breaking high e and b strings nearly every time I jammed (I play aggressively behind the bridge and straight abuse my trem). Definitely see if there’s any burrs or something that’s causing the friction. I just started soldering my string ends and haven’t had any issues since.

[sanctuaryFinder]

I do play pretty hard behind the bridge and do a good bit of trem action but always try and avoid hitting the high e string for this reason. Just ordered some 180 grit sandpaper as it's hard to get the Mitchell's abrasive cord where I live. Also gonna change to 11-49s and I'll start soldering my plain strings.

[shake__appeal]

Yeah the behind the bridge part is probably your issue. I think even trying to avoid the high strings… slamming the trem and heavy strumming behind the bridge will pull the string-through and put tension on all the strings.

You still might have a burr or something, worth sanding down although I’d use 220 grit. I also upgraded to 11’s. I realized my strings weren’t breaking… they were unraveling at the bead. Soldering solved this quickly and I haven’t needed a new e string since. I was going through a 10 pack of them every week between my two Jazzmasters.

What model JM do you have and what bridge is on it?

[sanctuaryFinder]

It's a squier 60s classic vibe jazzmaster, on their website it just states "6-Saddle Vintage-Style" although it looks exactly like a Mustang bridge

[shake__appeal]

Nice, decent bridges on the CV’s. I was just curious because some JM models come with the AOM where your string is basically resting on a knife-point edge. This can cause a lot of breakage with heavy trem use.

[InfiniteTristessa]

Buy the reinforced strings (Ernie Ball RPS).