String guages * Read this and laugh but newbies beware.`

Ron Sodos · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

I am truly embarrassed at posting this but here goes. I swapped pickups on my C6th the other day and of course changed my strings. I got to a gig Saturday night real early so I carefully tuned the steel including all the pedal stops which I rarely have to do on my Zum. When I got to the 5th string which lowers the G (442 by Jeff Newmans' chart) to an F# 436.5 I couldn't get it to lower past 440. No matter how hard I tried it wouldn't come down. So I really don't play much C6th at gigs so I figured I would figure it out at home. On Sunday I started moving the rod up on the arm so it would give it more throw. Lost the retainer clip and the tiny nylon washer on the carpet. Had to go to the hardware store where they didn't have the right stuff. Anyway after combing the carpet i actually found the clip and washer and put the rod back where it was originally cuz nowhere on the arm worked. The Zum has 5 locations for the rod and none worked. So I put it back on the location it was originally and gave up. later i looked at the strings I had purchased and realized that I was using a 24 instead of a 26. Pulled a 26 out of my seat put it on and brought the string down right as it should have in the first place. So after spending all day Sunday messing with it I changed the string (5 minutes) and now my 5th pedal is working perfectly. Dumb Huh? Yup go ahead and laugh at me I can take it..... Laughing

Larry Hamilton · From: Amarillo,Tx

Ron, no chuckles here. I have done the same thing
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Keep pickin', Larry

Pete Ethridge · From: Mississippi, USA

I play bass and once i put a D string whre the A is and the a where the D was Didn't see this untill i had to play the next night luckley i had some extras with That can happen to anyone. So don't feel bad about it just laugh it off thats what i did.Oh and i wasn't even drinking when i done it HAHA
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i use a ZUM SINGLE ON a double frame, no effects,and a nashville 400 that is it

Ransom Beers · Posted 20 Mar 2012 6:51 am

I broke an.011,didn't have one close to that guage so subed with an .009,yep had to retune the pedal,the finger was changed etc.,point is "KEEP THE SAME GUAGE STRINGS YOU HAD" redardless.It's too much time & trouble to change everything back & forth & makes an old man of you real kwik.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I'm surprised that there wouldn't be enough travel for that small difference in gauges. I should think that you could tune that much with the nylon tuner unless the travel is really close. Does your Zum have split tuning screws at the changer end?

If so, many times people forget about backing off that split screw.

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Hey, Ron, maybe this will make you feel better...
When I first started playing I wrote down the string order/ gauges on a card I kept in my seat with my spare strings. 9 months or a year later I was really thinking about gauges and pulls one day, and realized I had written the order down wrong and had been playing with an .015 on the first string and .013 on the second.
Since I was playing a Maverick with the basic setup it didn't matter to much more than my pride... live and learn!
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Stop by the Steel Store at: www.markvanallen.com
www.musicfarmstudio.com

Bill Howard · From: Indiana, USA

When i got my franklin in 1987 it had a 10 3rd on it ,of course J newman said to use a 12, I broke a ten on night and didn't have one It would not tune up with an 11 on it so I put a 9 on it for the night,of course I could have changed the pull but note different guage strings require more or LESS pull use same guages....or prepare to tune !!!

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

You pulled a string out of your seat? That don't sound right. Whoa!

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Zum Encore, Zum Stage One, Fender 2000, Harlan Bros., Multi-Kord,

Brian McGaughey · From: Orcas Island, WA USA

Check this goober move, Ron.

A while back, (around the time I was thinking how fast I had gotten at changing strings), I got interrupted about 3/4s of the way through a string change. I always strip all strings off, then start from small to big.

I got to the 9th string on my guitar and pulled the last 10th string out of a new Jagwire set...nothing else left. Hmmm.

I found the missing string on the carpet wrapped around itself like they do from the factory but I couldn't tell which one it was as I'd pulled it out ot it's package! I don't have a mic so I had to strip off the wounds and set them aside to replace them with new ones out of a 2nd new set. Mad

Those old, unknown gauge "new" ones were setting on my bench for several years, I finally threw them out.

Moral: Don't take out more than one new string at a time and don't answer the phone during a string change.

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