Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hi all

I am having no end of problems with my 360 eating up strings at the moment. They always snap at the bridge right on the saddle. I have tried finely sanding them, have used 3 in 1 oil and rubbed pencil lead on them for lubricant and nothing works! I was convinced a few months ago that my nut was contributing to this phenomenon because it was pinching the string and not letting anything move, but I have made sure that nothing pinches now.

I love the sound I get out of my Rics but both this 360 and my 650D have been absolute dogs when it comes to strings which is slowly edging me away from them as I can't rely on them to get me through a gig

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

What kind of strings, and what gauge?

Dang! Missed vital info there didn't I! Ooops!

On the 360 I use D'Addario 10-52s. It used to be mainly As and Ds that I broke, but lately it's not been picky and will quite happily break high Es, Gs...pretty much any of the six it wants!!!

If they're breaking at the bridge, it's almost assuredly burrs or roughness on the saddles. Perhaps a guitar shop that does setups can help.

beatlefreak wrote:If they're breaking at the bridge, it's almost assuredly burrs or roughness on the saddles. Perhaps a guitar shop that does setups can help.

I have used fine files on them and had no joy (it was one of the first things I thought of). Any specific technique you know of or could point me to?

If this were a Gibson with a stop tailpiece, I would guess that the stop piece was so low that it was putting too much downward pressure on the strings.

I assume this is a standard R tailpiece with a gentle downslope between the bridge and the tailpiece. Is that right? If so there must be a burr.

The file might not be enough. On the A and D strings, which are wound, use a piece of the broken string as a file and work it back and forth through the slot. I don;t have a good suggestion for the high E however.

nbfanca wrote:If this were a Gibson with a stop tailpiece, I would guess that the stop piece was so low that it was putting too much downward pressure on the strings.

Ha ha! Yeah, I had a LP that was real bad until I sorted this problem out. Never ever break a string on it now.

nbfanca wrote:I assume this is a standard R tailpiece with a gentle downslope between the bridge and the tailpiece. Is that right?

Yes, that's right...

nbfanca wrote:If so there must be a burr.

The file might not be enough. On the A and D strings, which are wound, use a piece of the broken string as a file and work it back and forth through the slot. I don;t have a good suggestion for the high E however.

Yeah, I used an A string last night at practice and have done so before. I spoke with a guy once about how anal he was regarding smooth edges on his frets. He would take a silk scarf and run it lightly up the fretboard to see if it caught, if it did, he'd do further smoothing! Maybe I could apply similar logic here?!

Did it help - although I guess it is too soon to tell.

Make sure you use a D string in the D slot. If you use an A string, it may be too thick to penetrate to the burr.

Oh and I would guess that a silk scarf would catch in the bridge cut no matter what. It won;t tell you anything.

And while I've never tried it myself, I'm surprised your friend ever get a catch of a silk scarf on the frets - unless he never bends a string. (Sometimes you see cacthable troughs on the low numbered frets, but that's about it - a few Hendrix bends and any burr is gone.)

nbfanca wrote:Oh and I would guess that a silk scarf would catch in the bridge cut no matter what. It won;t tell you anything.

And while I've never tried it myself, I'm surprised your friend ever get a catch of a silk scarf on the frets - unless he never bends a string. (Sometimes you see cacthable troughs on the low numbered frets, but that's about it - a few Hendrix bends and any burr is gone.

Yeah, this was YEARS ago...like 18 years ago. I don't even remember his name!! He would only run it up the sides though....he was an odd man so he could have been full of BS!!

Is the bridge on your 360 sitting parallel to the body of the guitar (not tilted either forward or back)?

beatlefreak wrote:Is the bridge on your 360 sitting parallel to the body of the guitar (not tilted either forward or back)?

I'm at work at the moment, but I wouldn't say it is exactly parallel, more that it would be raised up at the bridge end if the guitar was laid flat.

Try adjusting your bridge so that it is parallel (flat), and see if that helps.

beatlefreak wrote:Try adjusting your bridge so that it is parallel (flat), and see if that helps.

D'oh! I know what you mean now! No, the bridge is dead flat...I thought you meant the tailpiece. Sorry.

Well, I'm at a loss. Perhaps Paul W. can chime in here with another insight.