Bye Bye Wound 6th

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Tried real hard to like it. LOVE the tuning stability. But I just can't get any pop out of it. Tried stainless .024, .022, nickel .024, .022. Just too recessive sounding. I've been playing the Rugg intro to the Wanda Jackson song that I inquired about in the Steel Players section (had to learn it for an upcoming show) and the 6th string was just not coming through. On top of that, it is strung with pretty serious tension and breaks about as often as the 5th string (which is to say not real often but certainly more often than a plain .020. So there it is. I'm back to a plain 6th. A worthy experiment. Some high rollers use the wound string so obviously in the right hands, on the right guitar, it is a hip choice but I guess it's not for me.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

Yeah... I hear ya, Jon.
I liked the way the needle on the tuner was rock solid, but the volume and tone difference when played together with the 5th string finally got to me. (Not to mention I got a good deal on a half dozen sets of strings that all come with .020p's for the 6th.)
Definatly a worth while experiment though!

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Wow, I thought I was the only one.

Just couldn't abide the additional travel on the B pedal and the volume difference. Sure did tune well, however. Once you realize the temp sensitivity of a plain sixth and understand that you can't tune it cold, it can be coped with pretty easily.

Interesting that we're all U-12 players. How 'bout you 10-stringers who have gone to a wound 6th?

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 29 April 2004 at 02:37 PM.]

Bill Ford · From: Graniteville SC Aiken

Tried it, didn't like it, too much travel, went back to plain. I don't remember about the tone, it were a long time ago.

S12 5+5 Ext E9

Bill

Rick Schmidt · From: Prescott AZ, USA

Cool! A club I can finally join. Even though I think we're in the minority. I've use a 22P for years on both my 10 and 12 string E9 (we are talking about plain vs wound & not gauges ...right?)

It sounds evenly balanced and in tune to me.

[This message was edited by Rick Schmidt on 29 April 2004 at 03:03 PM.]

David Spires · From: Millersport, OH

I certainly agree with you gentlemen. I love the way a .022" wound tunes, but I don't like the way it sounds with the 4th and 5th strings.

.022" plain is my favorite for tone, and balanced volume. I just wish it tuned as well as it's .022" wound counterpart.

and... I do play D-10, so there is one vote from that crowd.

Different options for different ears,

David Spires

Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

Tried a wound a few times years ago... NG... too much travel,stiffer pedal action,wasn't worth the aggravation... the plain sixth is just fine bob

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Most people use a plain string. The most popular set in the Forum Catalog has an .020 plain.

The thick plain string never sounds as true to my ear. I try it every few years, but it doesn't last. I prefer the sound of the .022 wound, and the harmonics.

I've never broken one. It doesn't feel like a lot of tension to me. Can any physics experts here post the tension of plain vs. wound?

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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax

richard burton · From: Britain

Most steels made in the early days had cabinet drop that would be unacceptable now. These steels benefit from having a wound sixth, which is more tolerant of cabinet drop than a plain sixth. Issues like pedal travel/return spring travel can be addressed quite easily, to improve the playability of the steel.
R B

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Tried it several times. HATED IT. Just didn't like the tone and decreased volume level.

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Carter D10 9p/10k, NV400

Chris Forbes · From: Beltsville, MD, USA

I drop my 6th string a whole step waaaaaaaaaaay too often to use a wound. I just can't live without that change.

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Bobby Boggs · From: Upstate SC.

Can I be a member too?? Think the wound 22 only works for Lloyd.

But he don't lower it a full step with a lever.Don't need to.He has the best bar hand in the biz..

Dave Van Allen · From: Doylestown, PA , US , Earth

I use the wound 6th on my ZB, and love it. It is "contemporary to the period instrument" and sounds and tunes just like it should.

I have been using a wound 6th on my Zum U12 for about a year, and am indifferent tonality-wise, but love the tuning stability.(The TT PU seems to have made a positive difference in even response) I changed it on a whim last summer 'cause a plain 6th str. seemed too "splanky" for me, and "pitchy"... And I never used the whole tone lower.. but I may crawl back under the axe and re-rod for a plain again sometime soon on the Zum. Put it back to factory specs as it were.

[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 30 April 2004 at 06:36 AM.]

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

.022 plain is the only thing that I am pleased with. .020's are too loose when I lower them a whole tone. I could never mix a wound and a plain on primary "melody" strings; like 5 and 6.

carl

David Doggett · Posted 30 Apr 2004 10:10 am

I'm not a physicist, but are two facts that help in understanding how best to use plain and wound strings. For the identical guage string, the wound has a much thinner core, so the travel is much greater for the same pull. But, the guage/pitch curve is not the same for wound and plain strings. For a given pitch, the wound should be a little thicker. Around the 6th string pitch, an 0.020 plain would be matched by about an 0.022 wound, and an 0.022 plain by a 0.024 wound. They shouldn't be matched guage-for-guage. Using a thicker wound string will help reduce the travel, and might also help balance the tone.

I haven't tried a wound 6th string for a silly reason. My eyes and brain are use to having the strings on my U12 divided between the 6 unwound upper strings, and the 6 wound lower strings. I'm afraid if I change that, my orientation on the strings will be completely screwed up.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 30 April 2004 at 11:13 AM.]

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

David--nothing like a man set in his ways. Six of one/half dozen of the other!

Well, I see I'm in territory familiar to many of you.
I find it interesting how many of you cite pedal/lever travel as a major consideration. With a little rodding work this was never a real big deal on the Carter. Actually, the 10th string B pedal pull dictates the length of the pedal throw (on my U12)--I could rod it for a shorter move but I don't want to stiffen it up--I've also got a 7th string compensator raise at the end of the B pedal travel so I'm doing all I can to keep it a light touch. The 6th string whole step lower? Yeah, it's a long move w/ wound string but not prohibitively so.
As to breakage, the whole step, raise of P7 (happens to be P5 for me) is certainly a factor. Are there breakage issues with a whole step raise with a plain 22? I notice that Carter's standard stringing chart uses 22P on 10 string E9 and 20P on U12.

Anyway, some 24 hours later, real regrets about the tuning issues that I gleefully left behind when I believed I had converted to the wound 6 religion; no regrets as I leave behind all the self questioning about whether I can live with the tone/volume/attack issues.

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

Gene H. Brown · From: Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

I've used a wound sixth on every steel I've ever owned and that goes back 44 years and never had a problem with it and I also lower my sixth a whole tone. I have a sho-bud LDG and a Carter double ten and both have no problem with a wound sixth. I don't like the feel or the sound of an unwound sixth, 20 or 22 gauge.
JMHO
Gene

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If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!

[This message was edited by Gene H. Brown on 30 April 2004 at 04:14 PM.]

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