String break over bridge?

Jerry1

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I've been reading old posts, especially those with info concerning bigsby equipped guitars, and I've learned that a common issue is the degree of string break over the bridge.
Can someone put that into better prospective for me? Possibly a picture? Seems to me that if you need more string break you'd raise the bridge, maybe sacrifice a little string height but it's not a 1:1 relationship. Am I looking at that correctly? And does more string break relate to better tone, or is there a point where enough is all you need? And if you can't achieve enough string break and an acceptable string height, is a neck reset the next option?
 

Walter Broes

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Jerry1;1752003 Seems to me that if you need more string break you'd raise the bridge[/QUOTE said:
If you raise the bridge, you raise the action.

it's really pretty simple, if there's not enough of an angle, the strings just won't stay put in the saddle. The lack of angle makes for a lack of tension. I don't know if you have any experience with Fender Jazzmasters, they're notorious for having the same problem. Easier to remedy because it's a bolt on neck that you can shim for some angle.

And yes, in my own experience not enough break angle can result in a guitar that doesn't sound all that great either, floppy spaghetti-feeling strings don't vibrate nicely I guess.

On a lot of archtops, a neck reset can be a solution. But unless it's a model that comes with a Bigsby stock and just looks funny without one (A Gretsch 6120 or country gent, or maybe a Guild Starfire III or Duane Eddy) I'd just not buy the guitar, or sell it, and look for a guitar that'll work better with a Bigsby. On a guitar that's otherwise just fine, having a neck reset done just because you want a Bigsby on it is quite the undertaking. Not cheap either.

Another thing you see is that people install a tension bar Bigsby à la Bigsby B7 instead. I'm not a fan of how those perform though, and they can change the feel and string tension of a guitar quite a bit, not to mention the fact you have to drill holes in the guitar's top to mount one of those.
 

Quantum Strummer

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I've found that more string break over the bridge improves tone…to a point. Past that point it just increases pressure on the bridge saddle(s) and likely contributes to tuning issues when using the Bigsby (or other vibrato unit). With set neck guitars a decent neck tilt angle relative to the body makes for a more fine-tunable instrument. If you need to bottom out the bridge for good playing action but find this lessens sustain and tonal body, then your only recourse is to increase the neck angle. IOW: neck reset.

Re. Walter's comment on Jazzmasters, many of those (Jaguars too) left the factory with neck shims used to fine tune both playing and vibrato action. Many of those shims were later removed by folks thinking this would improve tone. Oy… My own Jazzer doesn't have a shim, but that's 'cuz I string it with heavy-ish flatwounds. The break angle over the bridge is just right for this config.

I'm currently in the midst of refurbing a Silvertone-branded Teisco K-2L with a very Bigsby-like vibrato. This guitar plays pretty well with the .010 roundwounds currently on it, but once I put on .011s the neck will likely need to be shimmed. If this were a set neck guitar I would've passed on it.

-Dave-
 
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