Strings derailing from bridge on Epiphone Swingster

[1dogged49]

I recently grabbed a beautiful and affordable Swingster to use on jazzier numbers and I love the sound and the playability. Last night was the first time on stage, and with that extra bit of adrenaline, I found that my finger-style technique, which works just fine on steel-string acoustics, nylon-string acoustics, my former T5 and my Tele, on this guitar actual pops the strings out of the bridge saddle. The Bigsby tailpiece means that there are about 5 inches o string behind the bridge, and the actual saddle has rollers to allow the strings to move easily when using the vibrato bar. Great, except that the string tension isn't sufficient at that point in the string to keep the strings in place. I can learn to play lighter on it. Not a bad thing. But I wonder if anyone has encountered this and found a solution.

[him]

As far as I know that's a sign that the neck angle isn't enough to have the strings really bend over the bridge. That means less tension holding the strings in the saddles.

Raise the action, move up in string size, have the neck angle changed and raise the bridge, learn to live with it... I think those are your options.

[1dogged49]

There's a lot I've learned to live with, so I know I can do that. Changing the neck angle would probably be more expensive than worthwhile, given the price point of the instrument. But how does this sound as Option 4? The strings attach to the Bigsby tailpiece by going OVER the bar and then hooking on the posts on the front/bottom of the bar. What if instead I routed the strings first UNDER the bar, then over the top and onto the posts? That would increase the angle of the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece and increase tension on the bridge therefore. Can anyone think of a reason I shouldn't at least try that?

[David Eastwood]

While that would certainly increase the string pressure on the bridge, it would also make your Bigsby work backwards... that may or may not be an issue, depending on whether you actually plan to use it

[1dogged49]

Right you are. Hmmm. Back to the drawing board. Thanks.