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Topic: Strings for a Duesenberg Fairytale |
Rich Heier
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2021 7:28 pm |
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I recently purchased a Duesenberg Fairytale lap steel, and after a solid month of excessive string bending I finally managed to snap my 3rd string. The guitar came strung with stock Duesenberg nickel wound strings (016-018-026-036-046-056) so I thought I would swap in the 026 from a set of GHS custom shop lap steel strings (016, 018, 026, 040W, 050W, 058W) that I had laying around from another lap steel.
Unfortunately, this was not possible. The GHS 026 string wraps around its ball-end and then part way back up the string, where it then terminates as a small, wire knot. The diameter of the knot is large enough that it will not fall into the channel underneath the lever of the multibender mechanism on the tailpiece. The consequence of this, then, is that the string bending is way out of whack as the effective string length increases due to it wrapping around, instead of falling into, the channel.
Has anyone else experienced this issue with a Duesenberg multibender? I assumed that the 2nd and 3rd string burn rate for a guitar fitted with a multibender might be on the high side so I figured that I would just stock up on a fistful of 018’s and 028’s but now that I realized I cannot easily substitute in any old string, I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to have to buy a whole new set of Duesenberg lap steel strings ($17) every time I snap a single string. Duesenberg does not seem to sell single strings, much like many manufacturers. If anybody has any similar experiences, I’d love to hear about any fixes you may have come up with.
As an aside, I really love the Fairytale guitar. I have had an absolute blast learning my way around this instrument and the issue with string replacement is the only problem I’ve come up against to date. I have alternated between open D (DADF#AD) and GBDF#AD (inspired by Luke Cyrus Goetze/Youtube). |
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Jeff Highland
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 4 Jul 2021 11:52 pm
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Never had this issue with mine,with any string brand
Maybe try compressing the knot with some pliers?
I use D'Addario NYXL strings for the bent positions, stock gauge with 2 string ball ends threaded on to space out the end so that the end of the wrap is away from the axle.
The NYXL strings are more resistant to fatigue from bending.
Nothing magic about the Duesenberg strings, they are standard Dobro open G Gauges so many people replace the 056 with 060 or bigger for the open D
_________________
Duesenberg Fairytale
1949 Supro Supreme
1950 National New Yorker
2008 Highland Baritone Weissenborn
2020 Highland New Yorker.
2020 Highland Mohan Veena
2021 Highland Weissencone |
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Rich Heier
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2021 3:07 am
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| Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like the ends of the GHS strings are the oddballs and I just got unlucky. I'll give the pliers a go first! |
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Rich Heier
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2021 3:42 am
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| Also, I just joined the Steel Guitar Forum yesterday and have since had a chance to search the archives. Looks like adding the ball end from an old string is a common cure to the string breakage problem. I'll give that a try, too! |
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