Lower tension strings for pedal steel?

Karlis Abolins · From: (near) Seattle, WA, USA

Has anyone experimented with lower tension strings? For the past two years I have been playing an acoustic folk instrument that has an average string tension of 10 lbs. The instrument is played with the fingertips of both hands. I recently tried playing a sadly neglected 6-string guitar with my fingertips and frankly my fingers ended up sore. On my pedal steel I have strings tension in the 28-32 lb. range. I would like to try much lighter strings but have no idea what the consequences would be for my pedals and levers.
Please share your experiences with lighter strings. I probably will end up not going with lighter strings but the idea fascinates me because I like the sound of meat on strings.
Karlis

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Slacker strings will respond MUCH faster/more than tighter strings. This is why tuning splits always requires raising the final lower: it takes more travel to lower a C# to C than it does to lower the B to A#, so if the C is in tune, the A# will be flat.

Slack strings will also sound "warmer"
Drop your E9th to D9th, and you'll find that ALL your changes overshoot their marks, but you should be able to retune them easily enough.
You'll also find that even subtle changes in bar pressure will have interesting effects on intonation.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Bill C. Buntin · Posted 2 Jan 2017 11:32 pm

Karlis, Lane pretty much covered it.

I did experiment with this once upon a time. I did it with a d10 msa.

I put a .009 on string 3

.015 instead of .017

So on and so forth but I wasn't happy with the results.

In fact, I went the other way.

.012 on string 3
-018 instead of .017
.022p instead of .020

So on and so forth

Much happier with those results

Karlis Abolins · From: (near) Seattle, WA, USA

Lane, Thank you for your comments. I did a quick calculation on the low E to D string change. My E string sits at about 29 lbs. Going to a D with the same gauge string would give me about 23 lbs. I assume the other strings would give me similar reductions in tension.

Bill, Thank you for sharing your experience. I did a quick calculation on the high E going from a .0125 to .009 ( on my 25 inch scale ). The .0125 comes out to about 24 lbs. Going to a .009 would give me about 12 lbs. That's a pretty significant change. How would you characterize the sounds you got from the light strings? What happened to the pulls?

Karlis

Henry Matthews · From: Texarkana, Ark USA

I don't like the feel of a guitar that feels like it has loose strings. I was given a set of Cobra Coil back in the 90's and put them on my guitar and they felt like spaghetti. Played them about 30 minutes and took them off and put some S.I.T's back on.
Lighter gauge strings just don't have the tonal qualities of larger strings. I've tried 10's and everything else I guess but my preferred is the 11.5 for 3rd.
I wouldn't even worry about lbs pressure and worry whether it sounds good or not. Strings are much better quality now and breaking a string to me is very rare.
_________________
Henry Matthews

D-10 Magnum, 8 &5, dark rose color
D-10 1974 Emmons cut tail, fat back,rosewood, 8&5
Nashville 112 amp, Fishman Loudbox Performer amp, Hilton pedal, Goodrich pedal,BJS bar, Kyser picks, Live steel Strings. No effects, doodads or stomp boxes.

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

If you want to gauge what it feels like, tune your whole steel down a half step, using the current strings (less tension).
I found this out by using an E9/B6 string-set tuned to Eb9/Bb6.
The pedals/levers are alot softer/faster feeling, but intonation is a lil squirly, but totally do-able.

Bill C. Buntin · Posted 3 Jan 2017 8:42 pm

Karlis, I had to increase travel on everything. The mechanics were much easier obviously but it felt sort of mushy. Sound was " jangly" not as crisp. the 7/8 bar was then too heavy.

Bear in mind I was a practical beginner at the time. Simply by nature I have to take things apart to understand how they work.

Between Bud Carter, Gene Fields, Bob Rains it finally sunk in why what we have as standards work fairly well. With minor tweaks...For example I have been using .012 on the high g# ever since gene told me to "try it you'll like it". Likewise, Bud turned me on to .018 instead of .017 and a .038 on string ten instead of .036. Bob Rains used a 2x4 to teach me how to setup a push pull Emmons and how a legrande changer works. LOL!!

Stephen Williams · From: from Wales now in Berkeley,Ca, USA

I am assuming that you want lighter strings so as to have a lighter push on the pedal. If this is true then you can modify the pulls so as to have further-travel/less-force-required.

i, myself like a light feel on the pedals but I'm stuck with a hefty travel.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Stephen, some people like the warmer sound of less-taut strings. They do have a nice sound, but on a steel, they become nearly unplayable, as small changes in bar pressure result in major changes to the pitch; you spend so much time and attention on intonation that there's little mindspace for creativity
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Karlis Abolins · From: (near) Seattle, WA, USA

Thank you all for your comments. I think that Pete's and Lane's suggestion to try tuning down to D9 or Eb9 is a good way to try out lower tension strings without actually changing strings. I'm right in the middle of remodeling my studio so my steel is in the case. I hope to be able to try this option in the coming week.
Karlis

John Goux · From: California, USA

I find the 24" scale to feel looser than the standard 24 1/4". Even at standard pitch. You might try some of the brands that are the shorter scale length. To my knowledge, that is GFI, MSA, ShoBud, Desert Rose. Like the differences between a Tele and a 335, there are advantages to each.
J

Karlis Abolins · From: (near) Seattle, WA, USA

I finally set up my guitar and retuned to D9. I like it. I tried playing without fingerpicks and it felt much better. I want to try lowering the tension so that it matches a standard set of 6 string guitar strings ( around 16-17 lbs. according to D'Addario). Flabby strings don't appeal to me but so far D9 doesn't feel flabby. I want to push the limits to see where it becomes annoying or unplayable.

Karlis

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

It is no accident that there is a general concensus on what gauges work best for general purposes; but it's great that there are people like Karlis who have the curiosity to try something different.

Now here's something that's always puzzled me:- when I was still playing the twin-neck but thinking about changing to universal B6/E9, I tuned my back neck down to B in preparation so that I could get used to playing up a fret. I soon realised that the string gauges already corresponded to the E9 ones, that is to say that the usual C6 setup is actually strung slightly tighter than the E9. Is anyone aware of why this might be? I have to assume it suits the style better.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

John Polstra · From: Lopez Island, WA, USA

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

I prefer a .070 C string. 0.054 has always been adequate to me for the E/F
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

I have this theory - sustain is greater the higher the tension.
Thoughts?

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

As the inverse of sustain, consider decay. The energy in the string is dissipated by air resistance and the work done flexing the string at the fulcra.

I would have thought that both these quantities would be larger with a tighter (and therefore fatter) string, and that therefore it would sustain less.

That is my opposite theory.
_________________
Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

John Goux · From: California, USA

I would think D9 would sound great, lower the tension and allow you to use thicker string gauges on those higher strings, as well as extending the low range of 10 string.
The G# string always sounds thin to me, by comparison to the rest of the set. I've thought about doing just that but it means new gauges and re intonating the guitar as an experiment, and I haven't had the momentum.
J

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