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Topic: Heavy gauge strings on Fender Deluxe |
Tim Tweedale
From:
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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Posted 9 Oct 2007 4:27 pm |
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I have a 22.5-inch scale Fender Deluxe lap steel, and I'd like to put heavy gauge strings on it. However, I have heard that the tuner pans (or tuners) can be damaged by the stress and tension put on them by heavy strings. Is this true?
I use the following string gauges on my other lap steel (a student model Silvertone with a 23-inch scale), and these are what I would be putting on the Deluxe if it would hold the tension.
D - 18
A - 20
F#- 28
D - 45
A - 56
D - 72 |
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John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 9 Oct 2007 4:59 pm
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Well I'm scared. Even at 22.5" of scale if you were to take a .056 and tune it up to A you would probably squeeze sweat out of the brass gears on the tuners. It might work if you got it there and didn't mess with it ever, but I would not chance those gauges. I don't really see what is to be gained by those numbers over a standard set with .056 as the low D. That's pretty beefy sounding and has plenty of tension for feel.
_________________
Time flies like an eagle
Fruit flies like a banana. |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 9 Oct 2007 5:47 pm
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I'll give you a good price for the tuning pan after you've stripped the gears off the tuners. LOL
Baz
_________________
Steelies do it without fretting
CLICK THIS to view my tone bars and buy——> |
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Tim Tweedale
From:
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 12:52 am
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| John Dahms wrote: |
Well I'm scared. Even at 22.5" of scale if you were to take a .056 and tune it up to A you would probably squeeze sweat out of the brass gears on the tuners.
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An "A" on a 22.5" guitar with a 56 gauge string is under about 39 lbs of tension. That is actually less tension than a 56 gauge "G" on a dobro with a 25" scale (about 40 lbs of tension).
My Silvertone handles the tension just fine; my question is more along the lines of "Is there something different about Fender Deluxes which makes them more susceptible to damage from string tension?"
As far as what is gained by the added tension, simply put, it's the ability to play hard on the strings without them going out of tune; I like to hammer on, strum and pick pretty hard. I also enjoy the sound of a nice fat power chord on the bottom three (very heavy gauge) strings.
-Tim |
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basilh
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 3:54 am
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OK Tim, joking aside, I own a few fenders and even the ones that are made with the nut and machine heads gauged for an octave lower tuning, (which is most of the stringmaster triples and all of the quads)would be slightly unhappy with the gauges you want to use.
BUT, the standard Klusons used on the Mk2 Tuning pan are repairable if the gears strip.
Don't think that you can just "pop in" another SINGLE tuner, it's harder than that and a replacement tuner has to be stripped down and some of the parts used for the repair of the existing mechanism, as I said, doable but not for the fainthearted.
A .072" is right for a low B or C at the very highest, your pushing the limits somewhat using one for a D. Personally I'd use a .070" for D.
And don't forget to 'lube' the tuners occasionally, I use a PTFE based lube drizzled down the shaft. |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 10 Oct 2007 4:42 am
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Hi Tim,
For what it's worth, sacred steeler Henry Nelson (Aubrey Ghent's father) played a Stringmaster-type DeLuxe 8 (circa early 1960s) fitted with six strings. He used gauges heavier than a standard Dobro G tuning set and cranked that 1-3-5-1-3-5 tuning up to B-flat! He liked a lot of tension on those strings and played agressively in church. He played the same instrument for about 30 years, or more. I don't know if he ever had any problem with the tuning machines, but if he did it was not enough to make him change gauges.
You obviously have done your homework concerning string tension.
Good luck!
Bob |
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