String break with floating trem

Andy Eagle said:
It depends on the design. Rollers on a strat style bridge change the tone but not always worse. The real thing is they aren't necessary to fix the issues and they take a bit of the top away . Rollers on any design that the string moves across for vibrato are a huge tone suck though (think Kahler.)
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I owned a LP with a Kahler and did not experience this “tone suck” thing. Not disagreeing…just relaying my experience.
 
I concur with Kahlers sucking tone, Big Time. I was able to compare with Tun-o-matic on the same guitar, and the difference was out of this world: sustain, volume, sensing the fundamental, everything was better; it made me hate the concept. But Kahlers are especially bad, because they need a low break angle on the strings for better tuning stability, which automatically kills the tone!
 
Andy Eagle said:
It depends on the design. Rollers on a strat style bridge change the tone but not always worse. The real thing is they aren't necessary to fix the issues and they take a bit of the top away . Rollers on any design that the string moves across for vibrato are a huge tone suck though (think Kahler.)
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Thanks a lot for that info. BTW I bought some abrasive wire for 10E, and a set of graphtech PG-8000-OC, apparently no issue to mount them on a 54mm config. Will also check spring tension. I noticed after taking of the strings that the spring on the bottom side (high strings) has way less tension than the upper spring. Is this normal ?
 
Did a few actions on this guitar :
  • abrasive wire to smoothen the saddles (even if they seem perfect to me, this axe has less than 18 months)
  • noted that the tremolo inserts came out a bit so took some PU glue and reinstated these to fix that. (had to redo intonation after all that)

It still breaks strings within a few hours of playing. Not 100% clear if string breaks on upper or lower part of the saddles. Will replace the saddles with graph tech saddles if this does not work the axe will go back to italy for a warranty call. No idea what could cause this and never encountered this kind of problems with any of the axes I ever had.
 
The other place to look is where the string comes through the bridge plate . Sometimes there is a lip on the plate and because of the sloped bevel on the plate there will be a sharp edge here if this is not of alignment . The string hole on the block should be the pressure point and not a lip on the plate. The fix is a round needle file to make sure the hole in the plate is a smooth transition on to the plate under the string.
 
Andy Eagle said:
The other place to look is where the string comes through the bridge plate . Sometimes there is a lip on the plate and because of the sloped bevel on the plate there will be a sharp edge here if this is not of alignment . The string hole on the block should be the pressure point and not a lip on the plate. The fix is a round needle file to make sure the hole in the plate is a smooth transition on to the plate under the string.
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Will have a look later. Today I played about 4 hours of general rehearsal and nothing got wrong surprising ly.
 
Another 2 hours wo breaking. I checked for the alignment of the block with the bridge plate that seems allright so far, but effectifely the string is touching a tiny bit the angle of the plate (this is a guitar I bought new 18 months ago..). Will put on the graphtechs to see if they're a bit longer so the string pressure after the saddles is totally on the block hole.
 
lauke-lux said:
Hi there since a month or so I more frequently use the floating trem of my Schecter route 66 guitar and I happen to break one of the higher 4 strings about every 4-6 hours of playing. They break at the saddle. This never happened to me before and I wonder what could be the cause of this. I'm using d'Addario EXL110 strings and usually they last 6 months at least without breaking. I'm thinking about replacing the factory saddles with graph tech saddles.
Any advice would be welcome.
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Is there anything in your stringing process that is weakening that point?
 
lauke-lux said:
The string axis e-E on the Schecter is 54mm :-( no standard graphtech product available as far as I can see as they only do 52.73mm and 55.35mm.
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The 52.73mm ones will work, as long as the intonation adjustment screw is in the right spot (some models' screws are not cenrered). There may be a small gap between saddles, but that should not bother anything....
 
Joe Bfstplk said:
The 52.73mm ones will work, as long as the intonation adjustment screw is in the right spot (some models' screws are not cenrered). There may be a small gap between saddles, but that should not bother anything....
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That's what I did. I mount these saddles next weekend. Also I was lucky and found a second hand Vegatrem. Will see what I prefer. The Vegatrem I already had one in the past, it clears up a bit the sound but the feel of that trem is excellent.
 
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