Wound 6th

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 5 Oct 2008 8:18 am

How many players still prefer a wound 6th?

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 5 Oct 2008 10:03 am

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 5 Oct 2008 4:12 pm

It helps with tuning, intonation, and cabinet drop. All I've ever used, and will not use a plain.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 5 Oct 2008 4:25 pm

I totally agree mike, Do you drop it any on a knee?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 5 Oct 2008 4:41 pm

Michael Douchette said it all.
I drop it a full step on my Carter 12 and my Fessenden 12 (very long throw) and a half on my Sho Bud 12 (can't handle the full step).

Ron ! · Post by **Ron !** » 5 Oct 2008 4:43 pm

I used both and lately have a wound on my Marlen and on that guitar...I Hate it...
We have a nice Nashville LTD(Rittenberry) that has a plain on it and it gives me more tone then a wound does.
I always get that scratchy sound with a wound.

Ron

Ronnie Boettcher · Post by **Ronnie Boettcher** » 5 Oct 2008 4:46 pm

Yes I use the wound one. never tried the plain.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 5 Oct 2008 4:47 pm

There is some truth to that ron as far as the scratchy sound, however i'm starting to like it!
It disappears after a couple of hours of playing

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 5 Oct 2008 4:53 pm

No, I don't drop it. I had to go to an .024w to get the voicing of the chords to balance. An .022w was too quiet in comparison to the rest of the chord. The increase in tension with the .024 makes it speak louder, more evenly in the chord, IMO.

I think nickle wound doesn't have the scratch factor of stainless. I never cared for stainless strings.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 5 Oct 2008 4:58 pm

Thankyou mike for that info, thats great to know that someone of your status dosent drop the 6th, and still uses a wound, I thought i was going back in time, but it seems to have its place lately, especially with tuning stability.
I agree, i dont like stainless, or flatwound, i like it bright, i can tolerate the 6th wound sound, its warmer in my ears

Tony Dingus · Post by **Tony Dingus** » 5 Oct 2008 6:21 pm

Mike, does the 24w use more or less pedal travel than a 22w? I used a 22w for a long time until I got a Nashville LTD that had 4 pedals on the E9 neck and I wanted the Franklin pedal so I went with a 22plain.

Tony

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 5 Oct 2008 6:29 pm

Tony, honestly, I don't know. I had an .022w on for maybe 10 minutes 30 years ago. It was lost sonically, so I tried the .024 immediately. Been there ever since.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 5 Oct 2008 6:51 pm

Tony that would only be a minor adjustment, either way, i think it takes less travel.I think i'm going to give one a try, see how it feels out

This is very exciting!!

Thanks again mike.

Craig A Davidson · Post by **Craig A Davidson** » 5 Oct 2008 7:24 pm

The rule is the thinner the guage the more the travel. That is why when adjusting two strings on one pull you have to do the thinnest string first. If you can get that one to work there will be plenty of room for the thicker one to travel.

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 6 Oct 2008 5:50 am

FWIW, the travel required to move a WOUND string a given musical interval depends on the diameter of the CORE of the string, not the diameter of the core + winding (the gauge of the string). As Craig said, the smaller the core the longer the travel required to move a half tone or whole tone. You may be surprised how small the core of a 022w or 024w is -- and I'll bet that the 22 and 24 are wound on the same size core. Take one apart and see.

I tried wound but I move my sixth string down a full tone and up a full tone (sometimes more). Unlike Jon, I couldn't deal with the unwieldy long throw. The wound string does sound somewhat better and certainly tunes better, but that wasn't enough for me to tolerate the long throw.

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 6 Oct 2008 11:55 am

re: length of the throw and string gauge-------

My Carter can do a full step lower with a .022W. Long throw but it is totally within the changer's ability. The Fessenden can't do it. I went to a .24W nickel and it only just barely made it, then a .024W stainless and got there. All from the same maker (I think---these are juststring.com no-name bulk orders and I'm assuming they are all from the same source.)
So each of these strings definitely has different physical characteristics.
And about the sound----no, I'm not crazy about the sound of wound 6ths but I've grown accustomed to them. The stability is so night & day compared with plain strings that I can't imagine going back.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 6 Oct 2008 3:16 pm

Michael Douchette wrote:No, I don't drop it. I had to go to an .024w to get the voicing of the chords to balance. An .022w was too quiet in comparison to the rest of the chord. The increase in tension with the .024 makes it speak louder, more evenly in the chord, IMO.

Thanks for the tip.

Makes good sense in piano terms, where the break between large plain and wound occurs.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 6 Oct 2008 3:43 pm

I use the .024w most of the time. The .022p is just too loud and "boingy" for me, and it stands out too much in the lower triad. I use solid steel finger picks, so getting the volume up on the wound 6th is not an issue!

Jerry Van Hoose · Post by **Jerry Van Hoose** » 6 Oct 2008 4:03 pm

I prefer a stainless wound 6th. Mike is right on, better tuning & intonation. It also helps with cabinet drop, however, that certainly isn't an issue with my Show Pro

.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 6 Oct 2008 6:09 pm

I agree, the tuning is way more stable, especially in real world situations, A/C, heater, sun up, sun down etc, summer fairs. Now studio on the other hand, or practice rig, is not real world situations, 70 degrees all the time

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 7 Oct 2008 10:03 am

I vacillated between a plain and a wound 6th for a few years early in my playing and eventually decided I liked the plain better. The wound is easier to play in tune, but you sacrifice volume, tone, sustain and clarity. And balance, when playing it with strings 4 and 5. I tried a wound again a year ago and it sounded so dead and muddy that I replaced it with a plain after a couple of gigs.

It's like the G string on a guitar. If your style is like Chet Atkins or Grady Martin, use a wound, but a plain is more suited to a Don Rich style.

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 7 Oct 2008 3:38 pm

Thats true also cal, i seem to be in that
[ switching back and forth mode] ahhhhhhh!

I hate choices sometimes!

I seem to have settled for the wound for the most part, i do somewhat feel slightly handicapped without the full tone drop, but gosh man, the steel guitar is endless,I seem to have more solid control with less toys, ever listened to those paul franklin tapes, the 6th string drop dont even come into it, and i'm still struggling to nail all that simple [but not easy] A/B pedal stuff. Where does it end, its almost impossible to have all the copedants that all the players have. When i do live work, i work
around a certain change of exspression in my own style, i'll be damned if i'm going to add a new knee lever for one lick, because paul added it for one song

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