I’ve got a Breedlove acoustic with a pinless bridge. The A strings hole isn’t shaped properly so the ball end gets stuck. My usual paper clip hook trick isn’t working today. I can’t press it with another string and needle nose pliers appear to be damaging the opening.
Got any tips on how I can get this out? And keep it from happening each time?
If you can get the thin e string in the hole of the ball you can pull it out. If not try needle nose pliers and push it out from the sound hole side. You’ll need to grab the string as close to the bridge as possible or you’ll just bend the string.
Good luck getting it out.
I’d put some sort of sleeve in those holes to stop it happening again.
Cheers, Shane
Thanks guys, I tried pushing it from the sound hole side but can’t get it out far enough to thread the high E all the way through. And alas, the string has snapped and can’t be grabbed anymore. I might just have to take it to a local luthier.
Sleeves is a good idea Shane, once I get this out!
Do you have a nail countersink punch. You might be able to get the divet over the string and push it out.
@stitch Rick, I don’t have one of those but that sparked another idea. I thought something L shaped would give me enough leverage to push it through from the sound hole end. This little Fender multi-tool did the job 
Phew! Now I need to figure out a sleeve or maybe the right sized washer or bit of foam above the ball end might keep it from going through again!
Glad you managed to get it out. I’ve have an Ovation with a pinless bridge.
Haven’t had one stick that bad but have had to use more than a little force to remove them a few times. Only when it’s very humid.
There maybe some kind of wood filler that is hard enough to repair the hole.
I always make sure the ball ends are parallel to the groove in the back of the bridge when restringing the guitar.
Glad you got that out.
If you have a next time, I think I’d see if cutting off the string at the bend it makes at the bridge and then using a light hammer to see if tapping it out would work. Light weight hammer so you don’t bend the string remaining too much. I’d see if I could support it with something that would not slide with the tapping to avoid damage in the bridge area. Maybe a “straw” made from rolled paper or something like that to give it some rigidity and a place to flex against that is not the guitar parts.
Take a look at these, I had a Breedlove acoustic similar to yours and used these to prevent that problem.
There are different sizes available so it’s just a matter of picking the best one; if memory serves me correctly I got 5 or 4mm ones.
Neat, thanks Darrell, I will try to find something like this!
