Best low C string for crisp tone on C6th PSG???????

[Brad Higgins]

I've tried I don't know how many different string brands and gauges, even a couple of bass guitar strings, and just can't seem to find a low C string that doesn't sound a little bit dead, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Ray Thomas]

Brad, I am a dealer for Livesteel Strings, What is the guage of the string you are having trouble with, I am at rayssteel@gmail.com

[Bob Hoffnar]

Might be the guitar. What steel are you playing ?

[Jerry Overstreet]

That's bass territory. We ask a lot of a guitar and it's electronics to reproduce the range of our tunings.

It may vary with your string alloy, your guitar's pickup or your guitar's characteristics. I've owned a dozen or so guitars and some of them have better, tighter, crisper 9 & 10 C6 string voicing than others.

A 68 or 70 is most common for the low C. I like stainless because I think they sound better longer, but a fresh new nickel string of one of those sizes should have a decent tone.

Experiment with your eq's too. An eq setting with a lot of bottom end will add to the dull thud. Try backing off the bass a bit for a crisper sound.

[Brad Higgins]

I currently have a .068" stainless, which surprisingly enough sounded better than the .070" that I tried, but it's still just a tad duller sounding than the ninth string, and I found the same thing with every steel I've ever owned. I guess it never really bothered me much before, because I removed pedal eight because I never really used it enough, and also very rarely used the bottom string at all. It's much more critical to me now, because these days I'm using the bottom string a lot more.

[Lane Gray]

Tonealigner pickup. Balance most of the strings equally between the poles, and the tenths string mostly on the pole closer to the bridge/changer.

[Clyde Mattocks]

I, too have sought a livelier, brighter sound for the 10th string C6th. I am currently using a Live Steel .068 stainless. I like a .066, too. It sustains better but is a tad floppy.

[Jim Palenscar]

I was surprised the other day when I substituted a ProPik thumb pick for my usual Golden Gate and the clarity of the bass notes popped out at me. The ProPik thumb picks are not unlike the Fred Kelly's where the tang part of it is quite small.

[Edward Rhea]

I am totally ignorant to c6 and it's string gauges, so please forgive me...but what about simply picking closer to the changer? I would have thought that by itself would make a floppy string sound a little crisper and dynamic?

[Brad Higgins]

I would like to thank everyone for your various and unique suggestions to my simple question, thank you!

[Jim Palenscar]

I just did a comparison and the ProPik QuikPik is brighter than the Fred Kelly's which are brighter than std thumb picks.

[Brad Higgins]

I just did a comparison and the ProPik QuikPik is brighter than the Fred Kelly's which are brighter than std thumb picks.

Thanks Jim, but I'm looking for a string NOT a pick, only one of my strings is a little dead sounding, not all of them. But again, thank you.

[Jim Palenscar]

I got that Brad- the ProPik thumb pick made all my bass strings sound new.

[Brad Higgins]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!! I knew that Buddy Emmons always had great tone with ALL of his strings, so I went out and bought a derby, that string sounds so much better now.

[Jim Palenscar]

That's one approach

[Paddy Long]

You could always just adjust the EQ on your amp to brighten up the bottom end a bit - just sayin' !!

[Bob Hoffnar]

You could always just adjust the EQ on your amp to brighten up the bottom end a bit - just sayin' !!

This doesn't work because it makes the higher strings shrill sounding.

That lowest string is a problem. It really wants to be longer to get the same tone as the higher strings.

The guys that have great sounding low strings on there C6 don't do anything special with the type of strings on there steel. I remember Buddy Charleton getting that low C string growling and ringing like a bell on his old Emmons. What he showed me was how to look for the sweet spot with my thumb, get as much of the flat part of the pick on the string as possible and then pick way harder then I thought was reasonable at the time. Later on when he was teaching out of Billy Cooper's shop he was playing a GFI and that low string was mud no matter what he did.

If you find a string that helps balance the tone between those fat strings and the thin ones let us know.

[Lane Gray]

You could always just adjust the EQ on your amp to brighten up the bottom end a bit - just sayin' !!

This doesn't work because it makes the higher strings shrill sounding.

That lowest string is a problem. It really wants to be longer to get the same tone as the higher strings.

The guys that have great sounding low strings on there C6 don't do anything special with the type of strings on there steel. I remember Buddy Charleton getting that low C string growling and ringing like a bell on his old Emmons. What he showed me was how to look for the sweet spot with my thumb, get as much of the flat part of the pick on the string as possible and then pick way harder then I thought was reasonable at the time. Later on when he was teaching out of Billy Cooper's shop he was playing a GFI and that low string was mud no matter what he did.

If you find a string that helps balance the tone between those fat strings and the thin ones let us know.

I still say your pickup helps: set the other 9 to be mostly on the neck-side coil, and 10 to be mostly changer-side.

[Brad Higgins]

I'm actually extremely happy with the tone, equalization, and crispness of ALL of my strings (EVERY SINGLE ONE) except for that one, and when I change that one string with other gauges and/or brands I get varying degrees of deadness, in other words, some of the strings that I tried sound better than others and I'm just looking for the best sounding string suggestions, and that's ALL. The string I'm currently using works, I'm just looking for one that will work just a little bit better. Also, I don't have adjustable polls on pickup.

[Brad Higgins]

The reason I keep saying STRING suggestions is because I know just how important the string's core, windings, and gauge are, and how they can drastically affect the crispness and tone of a string, because I did some part time consulting work for John Cavanaugh the owner of Super-Sensitive Strings, and helped him develop the proper string gauges for his Octave Viola string sets, and also tested numerous other string sets for him.

[Larry Bressington]

Roll on the volume pedal (a smidge) as you come down through the strings, should cut through just fine. I don't like flat wounds for that reason you describe but it doesn't sound you have them on anyway.

[Brad Higgins]

I'm going to try out one of Ray Thomas's .068" Livesteel Strings, and see how that sounds in comparison to the one I'm using now.

[Lane Gray]

OK, I've found the brightest tone comes from the Live Steel Stainless. I'd try the two common gauges, and the ones just outside of those two. Try a 66, 68, 70 and a 72.
Thrn also consider running nickel for the other wound strings, and stainless only on 10.
I've been told, but have never tried, that bright bronze (like on acoustic guitar) sounds even brighter than stainless.

[Brad Higgins]

Brad, I am a dealer for Livesteel Strings, What is the guage of the string you are having trouble with, I am at rayssteel@gmail.com

Ray, the .068" Live Steel String arrived today and I put it right on my steel, a BIG improvement, it's definitely the best low C string that I've tried so far, and I've certainly tried quite a few different strings in my 40+ years of playing steel. Though I do have one final question before I order some more, how does their .070" sound in comparison to their .068"?

[Ray Thomas]

Brad, I'm all E9th so no experience with the 070 plus I have not seen any comments on the 070 as compared to others. I will be glad to send you an 070, tune it up and run it thru the mill, I only have a nickle now but can have a stainless in a couple days or so.