I'm not sure changing the needle would help the OP as she stated the shredding was happening way before the thread hit the needle's eye at the thread guides before the needle. I don't know if this will help but I had this happen to me on the LA with a poly thread from Superior and I needed to really loosen up the tension on both top and bottom. If changing the needles doesn't help she could attempt loosening the tension on both top and bobbin.