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As many of you are playing Strats and Teles as well:
Recently I came across a these so called String Sleeves by a company called BigBends LLC that were allegedly also used by SRV and Jeff Beck to prevent string breakage.
It wasn't easy to find a description of how these are installed.
No I am wondering if those String Sleeves are nothing more than much over-priced pieces of heat shrink tube.
Is anybody using those? Or simply pieces of heat shrink tube to protect their strings?
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08-31-2024 04:27 AM
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You've got it right, it's just a gimmick. When the points of contact between strings and trem/trem-block are as smooth as they ought to be and no friction occurs, then all should be just fine. The break-angle over the bridge is THE weakest point anyways and when you polish this then you're good.
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I knew SRV used them, but I think only on the B & E strings? And they weren't a product: I think they were just heat shrink tubing. I think Bonamassa did this for awhile also, before he started using nylon saddles for the high E.
I rarely break strings, so I have no use for these. On either my teles or guitars with vibrato bridges where the strings pass through the block. If you're having an issue breaking strings, there's probably something going on at the saddle, like a burr or something.
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I’ve only had 2 guitars with trem tailpieces, and I “blocked” both of them to maintain tuning stability. So I can’t speak to common breaking spots on them. But in hardtail string-through guitars, I’ve had more breakage at the point of contact at the top of the bridge base or ferrule than I have at the saddle or anywhere else. This is especially true in string-through Tele style guitars with bridge/TP units that have a flat base plate with drilled holes for the strings.
My Raines Tele7 came with a cheap generic bridge/TP that broke strings because of roughly finished edges on the string holes. I chamfered and radiused the openings, which stopped it temporarily. But the material was not tough enough even to withstand the slight string movement from bending (it’s my main blues guitar), and the edge of the E1 and B holes got rough, developed tiny burrs, and broke strings again after a few gigs.
I put on a Hipshot and all has been right in the world ever since. OK, I exaggerate a tiny bit - all is not yet right in the world. But I haven’t broken a string in the baseplate since the Hipshot went on between 2 and 3 years ago.
You have to look at the broken pieces and identify where the breaks occur. If it’s always at the same point on the guitar, something needs attention. I had a breakage problem on one guitar that seemed to be at the nut. But recutting the slot didn’t help. A new nut didn’t help. When I looked closely at the next broken string, I realized that the breaks were at the point of contact with the tuning post hole.
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If you use heavier strings, like 12-52, these may not fit.
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I’ve never used one on my strat. I break strings rarely (no more often then on my other guitars that I use with light strings and bending). If strings are breaking at the saddle or at the hole in the bridge plate the points of contact can be smoothed; that will reduce breakage. I guess in cases of people who pick really hard and use the whammy a lot a sleeve might be useful, but for everyone else probably not.
Last edited by John A.; 08-31-2024 at 11:56 AM.
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Thanks for all the insights. I haven't used the vintage style Strat (trem fixated) for quite a while that I got as an endorsement deal from Gregor of Thorndal long time ago. One reason was that I very often broke the B string even if it was quite new. Now I got some interesting hints what to look for hardware-wise.
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First, look at the broken string ends. The location of the break will tell you what’s wrong.
Originally Posted by Bop Head
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