Evolution Of String Changing Paranoia

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 16 Aug 2020 10:25 am

This is regarding the pedal steel E9 tuning.

Initially, if I broke a string on stage, it would be string 3. Started changing it a couple of days before a gig.

Broke a 5th string on stage once.

Better start changing strings 3 and 5 a couple of days before a gig.

Started raising strings 1 and 2 with a knee-lever and probably overused that change. Worried about breaking one of them.

Started changing strings 1, 2, 3, and 5 a couple of days before a gig.

Learned about how much music could be made with that 3rd pedal and started using it....a lot. Started worrying about string 4.

Started changing strings 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 a couple of days before each gig.

Noticed string 6 didn't sound as clear and fresh as strings 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Started changing strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 a couple of days before each gig.

Realized how much money I was spending in purchasing a supply of extra single strings.

(Paranoia can be expensive.)

Also realized it was cheaper to just put a whole new set of strings on the guitar. I only pay about $6 for a set of ghs Professional Pedal Steel strings at my local music store, which is just a few blocks from home.

Still paranoid about breaking a string on stage...

$6 is pretty cheap insurance...and don't fresh strings sound nice?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 16 Aug 2020 10:31 am

When I was doing road shows I would change the entire set every 10 shows. Not that they were dead, just to try and prevent string breakage on a show. Fortunately it worked.

Don R Brown · Post by **Don R Brown** » 16 Aug 2020 11:09 am

Or you could just switch to banjo and have only half as many to worry about.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 16 Aug 2020 11:30 am

If you switch to banjo you'll hope they break.

Lee, paranoia is irrational fear. We all have a rational fear that a string will break, simply because it could happen. I don't know what I would do if it did, but I sleep pretty well.

When any of my strings starts to sound tinny (could be 3, 4 or 5) I change them all. Some folks do this before every gig, but their gigs are clearly more demanding than mine. I don't know how many I would have to break before anyone noticed. That's one of the beauties of this instrument that you can relocate to elsewhere on the neck. If you break a key on a saxophone you're screwed.

I have a theory that while the high strings obviously age because they get pulled around a lot, the low ones also age because they're seldom disturbed and get full of crap. I hardly use my 12th string but the new one always sounds fantastic!

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 16 Aug 2020 4:49 pm

Lee, you play a Williams keyless, right? With that changer design, isn't really hard to break a string?

Maybe you should go the opposite way. If you're really paranoid and want peace of mind, maybe spend (a lot) more and get some more durable strings, like Jagwire/Live Steel/NYXL etc. In terms of breakage, you actually do get what you pay for. You can probably leave them on three or four times longer than the GHS, so could get away with fewer string-changes (which would save money too). But the main thing is you're just not going to break one, assuming you change them when they finally go dead. Especially on a Williams.

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 16 Aug 2020 5:09 pm

I change my strings about every six months. I have not broke a string in about 3 years. Been using NYXL's for about 2 years now. Before that I was a Ernie Ball user for over 30 years.

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 17 Aug 2020 3:03 am

Thank goodness I don't gig anymore, I no longer have the constant worry that a string will break on stage.

Because I played (and still do) all the corny old A and B pedal licks with monotonous regularity, I used to change the 3rd and 5th strings every 4 gigs, and maybe go double that till I changed 6 and 10.

It's like giving up smoking, I am no longer constantly worrying about running out of cigarettes on a Sunday evening, and not being able to get anymore till Monday morning (I gave up smoking in 1982, but still remember the fear of running out of cigs)

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 17 Aug 2020 4:32 am

Lee, paranoia is irrational fear.

Agreed! That's why I used that word in the title.

If you're really paranoid and want peace of mind, maybe spend (a lot) more and get some more durable strings, like Jagwire/Live Steel/NYXL etc. In terms of breakage, you actually do get what you pay for. You can probably leave them on three or four times longer than the GHS...

In my case, that would be a waste of money. Remember, I have this irrational fear of breaking strings; so, I'll be changing them often. Those expensive strings wouldn't be on the guitar long enough to prove themselves. The ghs strings sound wonderful. I don't want to develop a taste for expensive strings.

It's kinda like wine. Once you develop a taste for expensive wine, it's hard to go back to the less expensive stuff!

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 17 Aug 2020 5:48 am

I worked with Randy Travis for 28 years,on and off...

The last stint lasted 19 years(continuously)...

The shows were supposed to be 90 minutes long,most of the time...I was "involved"in most of the intros,turnarounds,etc.,so I really didn't want to break a string(RT,a wonderful cat,would have never said anything if I had-I just didn't wanna mess up his show)...

I changed my 3rd and 5th strings every 3rd show...

...the rest,a few times a year...

...I don't remember ever breaking a string on his show.

SH

Darrell Criswell · Post by **Darrell Criswell** » 17 Aug 2020 7:42 am

Paranoid about breaking strings on stage? Do you really think anyone listens that closely other than the singer? I think it is very entertaining to see people change strings and more entertaining to see someone improvise when a string is broken. I have seen some people make a show of it. The violinist Paganini made breaking strings part of his show. He broke three of the violin strings and played the rest of the song on the remaining string.

Lynn Fargo · Post by **Lynn Fargo** » 17 Aug 2020 10:25 am

I put a set of Live Steel Strings on my GFI when I bought her as a 1 year-old from Mike Sigler last year. As I'm not currently gigging, I left them on all year. Really gave them a workout learning new tunes, going over all the rough spots a hundred times or so

, and really smashing those pedals. Never broke a one. Just changed them cuz my steel-playing boyfriend gave me a set of GHS to try. Curious to see how they're gonna hold up. But I WILL change the third and fourth, at least, if a certain gig I've been asked to play ever actually happens. Yes, a bit paranoid, here, too.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 17 Aug 2020 2:04 pm

$6 for a whole new set of strings and a half hour to remove the old ones, clean the guitar, and put on the new ones.

It does wonders for peace of mind!

Lee

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 17 Aug 2020 3:01 pm

Darrell Criswell wrote:Paranoid about breaking strings on stage? Do you really think anyone listens that closely other than the singer? I think it is very entertaining to see people change strings and more entertaining to see someone improvise when a string is broken. I have seen some people make a show of it. The violinist Paganini made breaking strings part of his show. He broke three of the violin strings and played the rest of the song on the remaining string.

I wish I could have seen Paganini kick off"1982"on one string...

...you're right...it would have been entertaining...

SH

Danny Letz · Post by **Danny Letz** » 17 Aug 2020 5:02 pm

Are you supposed to change strings? I thought they put new ones on at the factory!

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 18 Aug 2020 6:36 am

I can usually slice up to a dozen blocks of cheese before my strings are dirty enough to change.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 18 Aug 2020 10:37 am

The pedal steel is unique among stringed instruments, most of which keep the same strings on them for years on end and don't abuse them by tugging and bending them till they snap.

Curt Trisko · Post by **Curt Trisko** » 18 Aug 2020 12:18 pm

The only time I've only changed one string at a time is the couple times that I've had the third string break. And after changing them it nagged at me to change the rest too. I don't know if my ears are good enough to tell if one new string is ringing more brightly than the others, but how do you get it out of your head? Even when I know the strings are the same age, I still constantly think about whether the strings are ringing with the correct balance.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 18 Aug 2020 1:12 pm

I know exactly what you mean, Curt!

I recently changed my fourth string because it went "fizzy", and then my ears and my brain kept arguing with each other until I changed all the others to shut them up

Rich Upright · Post by **Rich Upright** » 21 Aug 2020 6:54 am

Gigs in Florida don't pay enough for me to worry about breaking a string. The band has songs they can play without me if I need to change one onstage. Haven't broken a steel string for over 20 years, & I have NEVER broken a guitar string while playing, only while tuning & never onstage.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 26 Aug 2020 7:40 pm

Had a few strings to break on stage over 20 years. When I played with Jim Bunch and Country Justice, We was playing a festival one night.
We had no female singer. Jim was singing Marie Laveau and I was doing the witches scream on steel. On the first scream the 3rd string broke. That dang ball end went into the changer. When it was time for the witch to scream and she didn't. Jim turned around and looked at me. I had my steel, By 2 legs upside down shaking it. Just as Jim turned around the ball end fell on the floor. The crowd went wild laughing. Every time I looked up from changing the string everyone in the crowd was looking at me.
I had changed the strings about a week before, But I was having trouble with some bad 3rd strings at the time.

Dom Franco · Post by **Dom Franco** » 26 Aug 2020 8:03 pm

You guys who break strings must be mashing the pedals all the time! My old Fender 2000 used to break the 3rd string quite often but my Shobud LDG rarely ever broke one. And I really played a lot! Now my Pedal steel collects dust and I only change strings before an Important gig or studio session.

I guess if someone wanted to be scientific about it they could track the hours of use or actual number of pedal pulls it would take to break a .011 gauge string (G# to A) or any other string...

Billy Murdoch · Post by **Billy Murdoch** » 26 Aug 2020 10:31 pm

I have two pedal steels.My Zum is My gigging guitar and I have used various brands of strings,I never went any more than twelve gigs (about forty hours max)before changing all strings .I can recall only having broken one string in fourteen Years(at a gig)
I use My Rittenberry as My practise guitar and wait until I break a string before changing all,most times I forget when I last changed strings but I guess I get at least two hundred and fifty hours between changes.I currently use NYXL but have had similar results from GHS and Cobra Coils

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 27 Aug 2020 12:55 am

We probably don't play the 3rd string as often as the 6th, but every time we raise that 6th we yank the 3rd also, so it gets out of life less than it puts in.

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 27 Aug 2020 7:12 am

I lower 3d (.0115) along with 6th (.022W) string, and use the entire F# to A bending range on those two strings a lot. Still get 30 to 40 hours effective playing out of them, and that'll do just fine.
The time for paranoia about string-breaking ended about 20 years ago. Before that I had a habit of adding so many turns on the 3d string key that I could unwind and reattach same string up to 3 times, as the old D'Addario (.011) PSG strings only lasted 6 to 8 hours of playing before breaking at the bridge. Made for a quick fix, and the old string was already pre-stretched…

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 27 Aug 2020 8:24 am

How did you re-attach the broken string?