Opinion on String breaking

  I've been playing bass for about 18 years and here recently in the past month I have broken 2 E strings on my 5 string. First set was about 4 months old and the second set was about a month old. I checked the saddle for burs or anything that could break it and found nothing. It's not the winding breaking either, it's the cores on both. The first set I can kinda understand, but the second set I don't.
Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
Oh the first set of strings were DRs and the second set was Darco and I play on an old 97 Washburn 5 string

  If you're breaking bass strings and not playing with a hack saw, i'd say there's something up and that problem is getting expensive fast!   sometimes it helps to have someone else have a look.  Somebody who looks at and repairs many guitars sometimes sees a problem that we miss.  You might take it over to Tim at Musicians Den.  He might see something you're missing.  He's found things that I know I should have seen on my guitars, but somehow I had missed.  Sort of a forest an trees kind of perspective thing some times.  

  We play 440 half step down. And yes. They are breaking at the saddle. I'll take it in to get it looked at. They're where I bought my strings from anyway.

  I took it to Musicians Den and had Tim and Aaron look at it. it was a tiny bur on the saddle causing it. I didn't see it at first. but they showed me where it was. They took care of it and a permanent fix is coming soon with string savers

  Don't those rob your tone as well?