New JP70 breaking High E

[Guitardom]

Recently got a new JP70. Took a spot filling in for a band this summer and doing some shows at the rally's this summer, Hollister, sturgis, Vegas, some other shows. Got this as a gigging guitar along w my Mark V.

This guitar plays amazing!! Not sure how else to put it. Not impressed w the new midrange ibanez stuff anymore and had sold my 7620 a couple years back and had been wanting to get into some ebmm guitars and figured I would start here.

I am playing lead and have had about 2 months to learn the songs and leads and get rehearsals, so playing like crazy. I had not broke a string on any of my ibanez's in many years. I broke the high E string on about my 3rd day or so with it. Changed a new set EB 10 7 string which I believe it came from the factory with. This E lasted me about a week till I broke it again. They have both broke while bending, nothing crazy, 1 step max. They both broke at the same place as well.

Obviously I am a bit nervous as I only have a few weeks till the first show and not to comfortable worrying about this. I pulled the bridge out and looked for any burrs or jagged edges where the string comes out and it looks fine. Filed the edge of it down a hair just to be safe and polished it w a dremel a couple days ago. Not sure what else to do, but I am worried. I don't have time to send it off or let it sit at a shop for a week so curious if anyone has any ideas.

 

[TNT]

hmmmmmmm, not too uncommon for things that may need to be addressed when buying a guitar. I think your covering the right areas though (I mean, where else can you go??) Seems you may have got it. Still under warranty - may want to call CS or talk to your dealer.

By the way, did it break at a contact point or a suspended point?

 

[Guitardom]

I believe it was at the first point of contact. What COULD it mean if it were a suspension point? I will see what happens in the next few days with it and have rehearsals this weekend so should know by then if it will do it again.

This is the first guitar I have ordered online since 1999 when I bought a JPM P4 online. So went out on a bit of limb ordering this since none were local. So can't take it to the dealer.

This is stressful! Never worried about this before. Have friends that play ebmm guitars and its never been an issue w them so I am guessing its not normal? Obviously this is the low end guitar and I recognize that. Will decide this weekend when I rehearse side by side w my others if the pups gotta go!

 

[SBMM]

Could be, I believe, one of two things.
My first thought would be a burr on the saddle, which, from your taking it apart and going through it with the dremel should take care of the issue,

My second thought, if the problem persists after your doing the above, is that there could be a slight misalignment between the bridge plate and the trem block, with the bridge plate serving as a knife edge of sorts, causing a mild kink in the string and then breaking after some string bending.

Either way, PM me your Name and Address and I will send you out a new bridge assembly as a replacement if you want to go that route. I would like to get your old one back so I can go through it further to inspect it for the above possible issue.

We do give all the SBMM instruments a pretty nice full spec setup here at our facilities in Orange, CA, but we don't do any noodling on the guitars, so finding an issue like this is a bit difficult.

 

[Guitardom]

Thank you!! I Never expected this sort of response. I pm'd my info to you. Not used to this sort of service!!

 

[SBMM]

Thank you!! I Never expected this sort of response. I pm'd my info to you. Not used to this sort of service!!

That's how we roll here Steve!

Will get it out to you today.

 

[SBMM]

Steve, did you get that new bridge, and if so, how is it working out?

 

[Minoin]

Just a shout out to SBMM for handling this in an awesome way!

 

[Guitardom]

Steve, did you get that new bridge, and if so, how is it working out?

The bridge arrived this afternoon. Have to wait till I have time to setup the intonation and such so will need a bit. I might have to wait a couple days to do it. Do i send the old one back to the address on the package cc'd to you or a different address??

 

[SBMM]

The bridge arrived this afternoon. Have to wait till I have time to setup the intonation and such so will need a bit. I might have to wait a couple days to do it. Do i send the old one back to the address on the package cc'd to you or a different address??

Just to confirm that address it's

SBMM
Attn: Brian
1850 West Collins Ave
Orange, CA 92867

 

[Guitardom]

Just to confirm that address it's

SBMM
Attn: Brian
1850 West Collins Ave
Orange, CA 92867

Gotcha. That road sounds familiar. Near Tone Merchants?

 

[SBMM]

Gotcha. That road sounds familiar. Near Tone Merchants?

Yup - around the corner from where they used to be.

 

[mtrejo]

Tone Merchants…sounds very familiar.

 

[Guitardom]

Yup - around the corner from where they used to be.

Have not been to their new location. I was at the infamous Ron Thal - Guthrie Govan show there back around 05. A show I could never forget.

Got the bridge installed last night. Also installed some new pups as well. The normal crunch lab-liquid fire combo. Have rehearsals today so will break the bridge in good!

 

[Guitardom]

Just to confirm that address it's

SBMM
Attn: Brian
1850 West Collins Ave
Orange, CA 92867

Finally got it shipped today.

 

[MigraineBoy23]

Same problem here

Hi there,

I was google-ing around and found this thread because I am having the same problem. I have a JP70 (almost a year old now) and a JP60 (almost 2 years old) and my high E strings have been breaking like crazy, especially on the JP60.

I used to use Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkys (.046 to .009 on the JP60; same set on the JP70 but with a .056 low-B string). And it was just 2 months ago when I switched to Regular Slinky 6- and 7-string sets which come with the .010 high string. I tune both guitars to standard E.

In the last 2 months, I've broken 2 high-E strings on the JP70 and another 10 on the JP60 (I've broken 3 strings in just the last 5 days!). The strings always break at the point where the string meets the plate where the saddles rest. I have attached a couple of pics for reference.

I've broken .009 high E strings before but not as frequently as this, and only when I try to bend over a whole note and a half.

On another forum, I read that JP70 owners filed the edge of the hole of the metal plate where the saddles rest, and some of them have gotten good results. I've done this myself a month ago and it's not done good for me. The hole for the high-E string is now around a quarter to half a millimeter bigger than the other holes on the metal plate under the saddles. I hope I don't break this new string that I've just installed (just before writing this post) as I no longer have a back-up high-E string. Need to buy a new batch tomorrow.

Quite sad really because I really love how the Regular Slinky set feels and I feel that I'm gonna have to go back to Hybrid Slinkys.

Any suggestions to resolve my issue will be greatly appreciated.

 

[DrKev]

Thanks for the photos, makes it very clear what the issue is!

I think you have two options...

The first is get back in there with a needle file and finish with 400 grit sandpaper. Perhaps take the strings and completely dismantle the bridge - removing the bridge plate from the block so you can be certain that top and bottom edges of the plate are smooth and rounded. Then check exit the hole in the bridge block too. If you have a magnifying glass, jewellers loupe, or camera with a macro function, you can check your progress.

The second option is to put something between the string and bridge plate. When Rene Martinez worked as tech for SRV, he used to strip lengths of wire insulation off wires, pass the string through the bridge, thread the insulation onto the string and down through the saddles, then wind the string on the tuner and tune up. The wire insulation protected the string from damage on the edge of the slot in the saddle or bridge plate.

 

[MigraineBoy23]

Thanks for the reply, DrKev.

Will buy a new set of strings later today and do as you say and report back with results soon.

 

[SBMM]

Migraine, where are you located at?

 

[Andeek]

Hi!

I'm having this same issue with my one year old JP60. The high E string breaks exactly like yours, this is driving me nuts!
Did you get this problem sorted out?

Thanks!
Regards
Andreas