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Topic: String life on Non-pedal steel Guitar |
Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 3 Aug 2021 2:23 pm |
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It seems like strings "never" break on a non-pedal steel guitar... I think I have only broken one in well over 10 years of pretty constant playing!
Playing pedal steel with a band on the road decades ago I often broke the high G# and occasionally The B or E string, rarely a wound string. Consequently I was in the habit of always being ready to change a string during a gig, and I often pre-emptively replaced the E and G# strings before an Important concert or Studio session.
Now playing Non-pedal almost exclusively, I often lose track of how old my current set of strings are. I use Dadarrio Chromes flatwound so I never get an indication that they are going "Dead" because they do not lose "Brightness" like regular or stainless steel strings do.
I just changed strings yesterday and there was a slight amount of crisp "new string" sound but not really all that different from the set I removed that must have been a year old!
I just this moment put a small piece of masking tape on the back of the headstock with yesterday's date.
I may give it a year or so...
I have also been doing this with batteries in my effects boxes and Battery powered amps. A little tape on the battery cover and a black sharpie marker records the date.
I am also pleasantly surprised at how long Duracell, and Energizer Max batteries last!
QUESTION: How often do you change strings on your Lap or console steel guitar?
Thanks
Dom
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Larry Carlson
From:
My Computer
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Posted 3 Aug 2021 2:49 pm
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Well, at least I'm not the only one that writes the date on a piece of tape and slaps it on the guitar... 
My guitars look like a blue tape parade.
I change my strings about every 6 to 8 months.
I don't detect much change in tone but after 6 months sometimes they get ugly
with oxidation and from my greasy fingers picking at them.
I'm not a professional, although I do play one on the internet. I just play for friends, family and the occasional gathering.
Having fresh strings makes me feel more comfortable.
The only guitar I've broken strings on is my Duesenberg Fairytale, but I solved that problem
and it gets cycled through with new strings at the same times as the rest of them.
I have 8 so it takes up a bit of time and not a small amount of rum.
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I try to make music with it.
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Sometimes it doesn't.
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 3 Aug 2021 6:36 pm
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| I change about once a year on non pedal about every 2 months on pedal steel. Like Dom, I replace the 3rd 4th and 5th prior to a gig if they are not fresh. I had a unusual experience of my b string breaking on pedal steel on 2 occasions. None since. I write the date on the string pack for each set changed. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 4 Aug 2021 7:58 am
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I don't change 'em unless I need to set the instrument up in a radically different tuning that requires strings of a different gauge. Once I obtain a lap steel, I string it up with the optimal string gauges for the tuning I elect to install, and consider it good to go. Like most of us here, I have the luxury of having several instruments in various tunings, so once I get an instrument set up to my satisfaction, I'll only change a string if it breaks -- which is to say hardly ever.
Acoustics & resos? I'll change the entire set when the strings go dead, or won't tune up properly -- whatever happens first.
Pedal steels? That's a different story. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 4 Aug 2021 8:16 am
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Jack Hanson said:
| Quote: |
| I don't change 'em unless I need to set the instrument up in a radically different tuning that requires strings of a different gauge. Once I obtain a lap steel, I string it up with the optimal string gauges for the tuning I elect to install, and consider it good to go. Like most of us here, I have the luxury of having several instruments in various tunings, so once I get an instrument set up to my satisfaction, I'll only change a string if it breaks -- which is to say hardly ever. |
Yes is is amazing how long a non-pedal steel can go without a string breaking-even under constant use. However, when playing live (as a solo act) Breaking a string is a "show stopper" and although it has never happened to me in over 12 years of solo gigs (as often as 6 days a week sometimes) I still worry about it.
So changing strings once a year seems like a reasonable level of maintenance. I too have multiple steel guitars, and the "wallhangers" never get their strings replaced. I only have two 13string lapsteels that I gig with, my "RED" goto steel and a backup. -now come to think of it- maybe I should change the strings on my backup steel? It's probably been 2 or 3 years in fact it still has the same original strings on it from when I built it! Whenever that was?
Dom 
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Miles Lang
From:
Venturaloha
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Posted 9 Aug 2021 12:05 pm
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What is this “changeâ€you speak of?
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Mark Mansueto
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 18 Aug 2021 5:55 am
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| Miles Lang wrote: |
| What is this “changeâ€you speak of? |
Haha. I don't really keep track on my electrics but I would say a year more or less. My acoustics get new strings about every six months unless I'm playing them a lot. |
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G Strout
From:
Carabelle, Florida
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Posted 18 Aug 2021 6:16 pm
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I have broken 2 strings in about as many years on my console. Each time, I was doing a behind the bar pull.
Gary
_________________
Melbert 8, Remington S8, Silk 6 string, Rick B6, Tremblay 6 lap steel, Marlen S-10 4&4, Prestige Guild M75 and Artist Award, Benedetto Bravo, Epiphone Century Electar (the real one) and a bunch of old lap steels.... mostly Ricks and Magnatones' |
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