Unbalanced wound/unwound strings -Supro pickup

Jim Fogarty · From: Phila, Pa, USA

Hey,

Just restrung my Supro 6 string to Open E with these GHS:

https://www.steelguitarshopper.com/e-major-lap-steel-ghs/

It seems to me that now the unwound plain strings are MUCH louder than the wound. Has anyone had this issue? Better luck with other string? I really like the John Pearse 7650 C6 set on my Fender Dual Pro 8.....but they don't seem to make a set for open E.

I also really dislike the unwound .24 G# (3rd) string in this GHS set.

Suggestions??

Frank James Pracher · From: Michigan, USA

The pole pieces might need adjusted for a different set of strings... and it can be quite dramatic on these. How I do it is adjust the bass side for as much output as I can get without the strings touching the pole pieces when I'm blocking.. then I set the treble side to match the volume of the bass side.. Careful, the pole pieces can be fragile...

Does your Supro have 1 magnet or 2? Sometimes with the single magnet ones you can swap the magnet and the spacer and get a bit better balance...

One the pickups with 2 magnets sometimes one of the magnets gets flipped and this can give you a weaker sound...

Hope this helps.

I'm a big fan of GHS strings (Michigan Company!), but I'm not a fan of the heavy plain strings in some of their lap steel sets. I make up my own from singles and use John Ely's string chart for gauges.
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D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

Yes. What Frank James Pracher said!

Mike Auman · From: North Texas, USA

Your ears don't lie! The diameter of the core wire in a wound string is much smaller than the diameter of a plain string of the same gauge. Depending on the type of wire used for winding, the core is responsible for some, most, or even all of the pickup signal. Signal is relative to core size, so wound strings will usually give less signal than plain strings of the same gauge.
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Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel.

Steve Lipsey · From: Portland, Oregon, USA

"These strings are made with GHS Dynamite Alloy, a highly magnetic nickel plated steel which delivers more volume than pure nickel strings."

so the wound strings should be as active, if not more, than the plain ones. Phosphor bronze strings are weak, but nickel is quite strong.

I'd think that the issue isn't the strings...
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Roy Thomas · From: Louisiana, USA

i am not a steel player but i can relate to the string issue.
although there is variety of string material out there, i would say that gauge and distance play a more important role.
also, there is the factor of magnetic coupling. i restored a harlen multi-kord for my father and he had issues with the sound quality. it turned out to be the pots as they were original. the guitar was stored in a wet basement and the body was split and the finish lifted. i had cleaned the pots and they were working well but time was not on their side so i replaced them, there were odd ball value so i used 250k since it was a single coil. what threw me off was i was trying to play it without the cover and some strings were good and some you could hardly hear. he used sit strings and i do too and they are top quality. i bend the day lights out of them and they can last a very long time.
on my strat, the super lights are very tinny and hard to get bass. on the les paul i have heavier strings and get a good compromise.
but one has to experiment, one size does not fit all. great artist sometimes do not use "SETS".
even on steel guitars, sometime a certain gauge will not tune up and break and you have to use a smaller gauge, sounds counter productive but steel mechanics are not the same on every guitar.

Lee D Kaiser · From: California, USA

Since you noticed this problem after you changed strings, I think the problem is with the strings.Â If you can't find a set you want to try, you can always buy single strings of the gauge you want, and get a wound 24.Â

I once tried replacing a plain G with a wound G on a guitar because of the intonation issues on low frets that this string has.Â With the wound string, the A two frets up was in tune, but I couldn't stand the reduced volume.
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