I know, right?

Good job on figuring that out on your own.. not so good job on not knowing in the first place lol..

I thought I was a genius with the first guitars in the 80's that had wang bars with neck clamps to keep them in tune.. Two different types" Kahlers and Floyd Roses.. all my Jackson Randy Rhoads models (with one newer exception) had Kahler wang bar system on them.. All my Soloists - and one RR model - have Floyd Rose systems.. With Floyd Rose systems, you cut the ball (looks more like a doughnut) off the end of the string and insert it in a cavity that clamps down holding that end of the string in place..

But, the Kahlers are like most guitars - the ball slips into a groove and is held in place by the ball.. But, with the neck clamps, string pressure is severely changed when you crank down on the wang bar or pull up.. which, in turn, eventually causes the ball to unwind.. the ball is held in place on the string because the string is wound around itself, holding the ball in place.. So, after a few songs of cranking the bar, the string would pop, I'd get hit in the eye with the ball, and the entire guitar would go horrifically out of tune..

So, I started soldering the ends of the string so that it wouldn't come unwound.. brilliant, huh? I STILL do that to this day with my Kahler guitars, which happen to be my two main stage guitars.. Pain in the butt to solder the end of each string, but better than the alternative..

So, a few years ago I read that soldering the strings was what all the big named guys were doing who played Kahler systems.. except they made their guitar techs do it.. Eventually somebody figured out that super gluing the ends would also work, but I don't trust super glue for that fix..

So, anyways, I thought I invented the fix, but, like you, the same fix existed all along.. we're both sorta geniuses.. in our own minds, at least!

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Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..