Jem7VWH GROSS STRING BREAKAGE problems

[YngVaiTriani]

I have a 2000 Jem7VWH which I bought last October so i've had the guitar just over a year. I bought the guitar used but the use was very minimal.

Ever since i've had this guitar, with moderate use, the strings wouldn't even last 2 weeks. I was never a heavy tremolo user. Just bending and picking. The strings that normally break are the High E and B strings.

Every time I would break a string or change a string, I would sand the saddles out making sure there are no sharp edges.

I recently bought an S540LTD. It came with a cosmo black Edge. I replaced the Lo Pro from my 7V with the Edge and the problem with frequent string breakage persisted.

I am running out of patience with this guitar's high maintenence and constant string breakage. Does anyone else have problems with string breakage like this? I have heard of people with Jems that have string life of 5 months with fairly heavy use.

[caprile]

Originally Posted by YngVaiTriani

Every time I would break a string or change a string, I would sand the saddles out making sure there are no sharp edges.

maybe you are doing that wrong? why should you sand everytime?

I think my picking is soft, because I have yet to break a string on my UV and RG.

Can you take pics? a close up of the saddles would help.

[YngVaiTriani]

I use very high grit sand paper and only sand enough for any noticable unsmoothness to be removed. I do this everytime I change a string because I notice some of the trem's color (cosmo black, gold) paint has some sort of residue. Like the string has scraped some of the paint off the saddles. It's nothing unusual.

One thing I want to know is trem angle. I'm sure I have it right as I have been a jemsite member for over 2 years and have had Edge trems for over a year but...

I set the trems up so that when looking from the side of the trem, the small rectangular tab on the side of the bassplate is parallel with the body of the guitar.

[jeff l]

Two weeks is about right for me.....then the high E go BING!!!! I use 9's so it's to be expected. I just roll a little more string off the post back into the bridge 'cause I'm a lazy ba$tard about re-stringing. Then after I do that a couple of days go by and then the B go BING!!!! Then I fix that the lazy way and the next day the high E go RE-BING!!!!

It's normal for me, if you whammy a lot and bend and stretch a set of 9's after a couple o' weeks they gonna go....well you know.

[RAI6]

Well, it honestly could be how YOU play.
I used to have a couple of custom Hamers with Schaller Floyds (I think...), and I would violate these trems!
I probably should have been arrested for what I was doing to those poor trems........But I hardly ever broke a string or even go out of tune.
Whenever my friend picked up one of these axes, he would strum it gently and fondle the trem like a true gentleman.
And it never failed. He would be so out of tune in mere minutes!
Same guitar, two different people, and so different results........
Just a thought.

[Tubarão Guitars]

Strings don't make BING to me!
Two months of abuse/gigs and NOTHING: still in tune. (But some corrosion...).
I use LoPro w/ oo9's D'Addario, Dean Markley and the "cheapiests" too...
In Brazil we have NO opitions about guitar strings.

Tubarão

Anybony can tell me: OMG!, My english is VERY poor?
IMHO, yes!
Jemsiteforum makes me much better about engl-ISH...

[YngVaiTriani]

Jeff - I do the same thing with extending the strings and get the same results.

RAI - I play the same on my guitars. I never pull up or do any aggressive bar chops. Maybe a few short dives and returns. Honestly, I just play like I would on a fixed bridge except when I practice Hordes of Locusts recently cause i'm playing it in December. I never pull up on the bar or trem.

The roughest thing I do is bend or pick.

TUBARAO - 2 months??????

See this is what I don't understand. Same guitar but the strings last soo much longer. I honestly, just pick hard. My bending is not usually beyond 2 half steps.

I use Daddario XL 9-42

cause that's all these guitars can take without extra setup

(I like 10's otherwise)

[RAI6]

Admittedly, back in those "violating" days, I would change strings every two weeks, needed or not.
But that still doesn't change the fact that when I played my guitar nothing happened, but when my friend played it he would get it out of tune.
Maybe I just had the "right" touch for my little baby............

[RAI6]

Admittedly, back in those "violating" days, I would change strings every two weeks, needed or not.
But that still doesn't change the fact that when I played my guitar nothing happened, but when my friend played it he would get it out of tune.
Maybe I just had the "right" touch for my little baby............

(Hey, what up with the double post?????????)

[rvj]

I have five of these guitars, and I can honestly say that I've only broken one string. This was due in part to the string being very corroded and about 4 months old. I use DR's mostly, but currently have three of my Jems set-up with different strings. I have Dean Markley Blue Steel on my 7VWH, D'adds on my 90th, and DR's on my 777DY. The string that broke was from the original factory D'adds on my 7VWH.
The odd part about your problem is that you switched trems and it still persists. So... it does'nt sound like a trem problem at all. It could possibly be your picking style. Are you a heavy picker or use heavy picks? Does your pick strike too deeply below the strings? Are you picking too closely to the bridge?

[RAI6]

I was just gonna say, that if you're going with an SRV approach to your JEM with 9's on it, you're bound to be busting strings left and right!
Spend the few bucks, and have a pro set it up with the gauge you actually want, and is really used to...
That should be a good start, at least.

[Akhenaten]

String life has lots to do with you too...not just playing issues. If your hands just happen to sweat pure acid, you're gonna go through them more. I also wondered - Are you breaking them in the same place every time? I know you mentioned sanding the saddles, but are they breaking on the saddles, or somewhere over the pickups, or out toward the nut? Do you clean off your guitar's strings when done playing? There are so many variables, and so many things that strings go through...lol

I would think "heavy grit" sandpaper, as you said, would leave more burrs in the saddle. These burrs can kill your strings, obviously. I use a very fine rat-tail file. And I do it maybe once every couple of months at most. Some of my guitars have never had any filing done...

Another kinda common thing I see is people who use the same pick for like weeks on end, and have all these nicks in the side. This could also contribute to shredding strings quicker. Just some ideas from someone who fixes these issues all day long...lol Take care guys!

[Rich]

Originally Posted by YngVaiTriani

I honestly, just pick hard. My bending is not usually beyond 2 half steps.

You just solved your own problem. I used to break loads of strings on my Les Paul. Sooner or later when you start analyzing what you're doing you begin to understand exactly why the string broke. I'd bust an E and say "yea, I know why" and slowly over the years I weeded out my bad techniques [not like I still don't have plenty left!] until I almost never break a string now. And when I do, I know why. It's either because I was too strong a pick with too steep a pick angle attack, same thing while bending, or becuase the strings were ready to fall off the neck anyway. Start paying very close attention to exactly how the string broke when they do

[anuj]

yngvai~

what about string life on other guitars?

i'm with rich on the cause of string breakage .. i know exactly why my strings break on my 7vWH when they break .. no surprises .. in fact, i'm often surprised at how long they do last given how i play (actually, i have blue steels to thank for that ;-)) ...

i play dmbs 9-42 and set up my guitar myself ...

~A

[Jakan555WHT]

Hmmmmm. I never broke a string. Jup thats for real. I attack every string parallel. Seems to help a lot. ggg. BTW About this Blue Steel Strings from Dean Markley. Dont they eat frets? I mean it is Steel or am i totally wrong? (Sorry for that bit out of "thread")