I just don't get it. I never, EVER break strings on my guitars: I don't play hard, and I change strings often. But since I got myself a Suhr Classic in January, I've broken 3 A strings. Tuning the Suhr in Eb led to the same results. The first set of strings were Elixir, and since I've used EBs (which I use with satisfaction on all my other guitars). Anybody else has similar problemes with a Suhr Classic? Mine has a 1088 Gotoh bridge.
are you breaking them right at the bridge saddle? if so my guess would be some kind of burr or roughness on the saddle. good luck.
Have you contacted Suhr? From all I have read on these forums Suhr's CS is second to none. You might have to look in to some different bridge saddles. I had a 99 PRS McCarty w/trem that I broke lots of D & B strings on until PRS found a set of their older saddles and that solved the problem.
Oops sorry, I forgot to mention that: yes, the string breaks right at the bridge saddle. I'll check for the roughness on it. (even though there should not be this kind of problem on such high-quality instruments, IMHO).
Suhr does not make the bridge, so he can't predict if a particular saddle might develop a burr over time. This has happened to me before on an anderson with a gotoh bridge. It just happens sometimes even on the best made instruments. It is a super easy fix- a little sandpaper to smooth out the string contact point on the saddle. If you don't like that call John and he may just send you a saddle. No big deal. This is less likely to ever happen on the standard trems that suhr use, as the saddles are a higher grade of steel and pass over a slick little bearing of some sort. The 1088 is cool but more prone to issues, but it sounds more vintage.
OK thanks, I'll try the sandpaper thing. But... Do you guys reckon a set of Graphtech saddles would be a worthwile improvement?
I would ask John, I'll bet he sends you another saddle. I am the king of breaking strings and was breaking a string for every two hours of play on my Suhr with the 1088 bridge. All different strings not the same one. John took great care of me and installed graphtec saddles on it. I still break strings like crazy but less often than before. The graphtec saddles do change the tone. It sounded better before but I cant afford to be breaking strings like that. I'll bet the new saddle solves your problem. Cant say enough about the CS at Suhr.:AOK Richard
My guess is they will want to see the instrument. Since they have the Buzz Feiten system installed on all their guitars, it's not as easy as just installing a new saddle if you don't know how to set the intonation to the correct Feiten offsets.
... I live across the pond, in France... I'm not sure John would. I'll ask him, though. What email contact adress do you use? I'm not sure I've got the right one, 'cos John doesn't seem to answer my emails?!
I use this every time I change strings. Spray a little on some paper and use a small model paint brush, dab it on the saddles and the nut. No breakage and nice smooth tuning.
