I will not run out of third strings.. I will not run out o..

[Dean Holman]

I use 12's as well. I have to change it before I break it meaning that I never break a third plus I like the sound of a 12 better.

[chris ivey]

i used 12s alot and they do sound good. 12s and 10s don't break like 11s. 12s will hurt you when they break.
now i just use 10s. you can wind them right up to pitch and play with no problems.

[Lane Gray]

.022s sound good too. I used one by accident. Went to pitch, pedalled in tune. The last hike from F# to G# was a bit stiff, though.

[Matt Dawson]

I'm not trying to be funny..... I genuinely do work as an astrophysicist for my day job, (I'm in the field of Near Earth Asteroids).
My colleagues are always talking about super-string theory. None of 'em seem to be able to put it to any practical use on those pesky third strings that always break though..... THAT would be a Nobel Prize winner

[Stephen R. Feldman]

If "practical use" includes getting
the grant money, then...

[chris ivey]

lane..you used .022 on your 3rd string? G#-A? (which is what this thread is about) ...
other than a mistaken moment that you immediately corrected, that could kill you if it broke in your face.

[Tony Prior]

My colleagues are always talking about super-string theory. None of 'em seem to be able to put it to any practical use on those pesky third strings that always break though..... THAT would be a Nobel Prize winner

BUT..just sayin'..the 3rd string would never break if everyone had the theoretical lifespan with regard to physical tension and stress figured out and changed the string ahead of the calculated breakage point.

Me ,I just guess and change it every other week !

[Lane Gray]

Chris, it was a mistake. I brought it up to pitch, tuned the pedal and then noticed it was thicker than the B string. I rechecked the envelope. Oops. I then changed it for a 12.

[Willie Sims]

Richard, I don't know if you can make the third string repair. If you broke it while you were playing a song. It would probably depend on how good you are at doing the repair procedures. If you had the brass ball and a pair of the little locking pliers, like the surgeons use to sew stitches in surgical procedures, to put through the little brass ball to hold it and put the string around the ball where you could twist the broken end of the wire a round like you were making hangman's knot, provideing you had enough string to unwind from the tuning key.
You might be able to do it under fire , Possibly
When I break a third I just switch to the C6 neck and finish the song.

[Tony Prior]

So I guess the practicality of it all depends on few options... 1) learn how to repair a string, have all the parts you need at your disposal, 2) have a few spare strings handy or 3) change the string after a couple of gigs or two weeks of practice and odds are it will not break on a gig.

The only question I have for Willie is , what happens to the tuner post end where the bend as already occurred . Is the bend now part of the string below the post once the new ball end is attached, ? It seems to me the string would now be shorter in total length. I'm not trying to be funny , I am trying to imagine the repair.

[Willie Sims]

Tony to answer your question a bout the third string bend/if you initially put serval turns on the tuning key shaft. You will have plenty of string to let out. I have at one time, put almost a complete string on the tuning key, you can let it out a long way then. It's no different from putting on a new string, you can even take an old spring-loaded clothes pin and can snap it on the tuning key shaft to hold the excess string in place while repairing the other end.
I'm not trying to be funny, because I've done it many times and it does work . Willie Sims

[Ron Pruter]

Willie,
I do this trick on my classical guitar D string, which due to it's thin core ,is always breaking.
On a steel, I would think with all that extra string, there might be a detuning, stretching, issue.
Yes No?

[Dean Holman]

Putting enough string on the tuning key to go past the hole a few turns will keep the edge of the hole from cutting into the string. If the string rests on the edge of the hole and tuned to pitch, the edge kind of cuts into the string. If you wind the string past the hole, the tension will be on the area past the hole. I swear I use a 12 with the string wound past the hole and I never break strings. Unless I just get a bad batch of 12's it seems like the strength of the 12 and how I put them on, I never break a third.

[Willie Sims]

Ron your question a bout a repaired third string detunin , and stretching is not a problem. The string has already been stretched, I have never had a problem with the tuning after you tune up to pitch and worked the pedals a few times.

[Gene Jones]

I may have mentioned this before, but several years ago I had an opportunity to buy the entire pedal steel string inventory from a bankrupt music store for an unbelievable price. I have never bought a string since and still have a formidable inventory in my pack seat.

To those who contend that strings will deteriorate with time, I have never noticed any problems with my new (old) strings.

My lifetime supply of strings that I anticipated when I made my purchase has become reality. I have now retired from playing and will never need to buy a string again.