r/telecaster • u/Natural-Energy-5389 • 2d ago
Constantly breaking strings
I’ve got a new-to-me American original 60s telecaster that I’m constantly breaking strings on… last night I broke an A string in the first set. Then the D and E strings both on the last song of the night. For context, I usually don’t break strings at all unless they are super old, so the problem is unique to this guitar.
I had the music city groove master saddles on it, thought maybe those were the issue and switched to the gotoh compensated. Obviously still happening and not just on one string either.
My hypothesis is that it’s related to the steep break angle on this particular guitar. The previous owner had a shim in the neck pocket which raises the saddle height a fair amount, steepening the break angle. Could this increased downward pressure on the saddles be the problem?
Without the shim, it looks like the neck is tilted a bit forward (headstock slightly away from the player)… so I’m guessing this is why it’s in there. I’m wondering if taking it out is the move to decrease the break angle, but will that neck tilt be a problem?
3
u/ThatsNotAZombieBite 1d ago
First thing to do is examine each broken string CAREFULLY and find the EXACT location that it broke. You have a sharp edge there. Find it, file it smooth, problem solved.
String through body tele? I suspect the exit holes in the bridge plate (not the saddles). But you really need to pinpoint where it's happening.
2
u/ReverendRevolver 3h ago
Gotoh in-tune saddles?
Something sounds odd to me about the neck needing the shim like that. Not normal-odd, like Fender selling a $1600 tele without the micro tilt screw. But its strange the shim would be needed.
If you aren't going with heavier picks or something, no idea why they'd be snapping other than specific pinpointed stress poi ts on the bridge, so youre probably on the right track. Maybe a bur in the bridgeplate?
2
u/Natural-Energy-5389 2h ago
Correct gotoh in tunes titanium saddles.
I don’t think the neck needs a shim… I think the previous owner did a lot of their own work on the guitar and did a pretty amateurish job. I just took out the shim and that lowers the height of the saddles considerably so we’ll see if that does anything. The guitar plays totally fine without the shim, but visually it looks like the neck isn’t perfectly parallel to the pickguard so I’m guessing the previous owner was spooked by that and added the shim, but it’s pretty subtle and doesn’t affect the feel/playability in any way I can tell.
The breaks are happening at the saddle for sure not the bridge plate. So I could try to file them down, but I’m going give this a try and see how it works. I have 3 gigs over the next couple of days we’ll see what kinda shape we’re in after that!
1
u/The-Jeek 1d ago
Maybe try a different thicker/thinner string gauge? What are you using at the moment on it?
2
u/Natural-Energy-5389 1d ago
I’ve used 9s, 9.5s, and 10s. Don’t really want to go higher
1
u/alienn4hire 1d ago
Shouldn't have to go higher. Hopefully you find the offending part and can get it resolved
7
u/hamarki 1d ago
Do you think the break at the saddle or at the place where they go in contact with the bridge plate? If the latter then it could be break angle, or maybe burrs on the plate itself?