Best low C string for crisp tone on C6th PSG???????
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- Brad Higgins
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Best low C string for crisp tone on C6th PSG???????
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.
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String
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
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- Jerry Overstreet
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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.
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
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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.
Last edited by Brad Higgins on 7 Jun 2017 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Brad Higgins
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This doesn't work because it makes the higher strings shrill sounding.Paddy Long wrote:You could always just adjust the EQ on your amp to brighten up the bottom end a bit - just sayin' !!
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.
Bob
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.Bob Hoffnar wrote:This doesn't work because it makes the higher strings shrill sounding.Paddy Long wrote:You could always just adjust the EQ on your amp to brighten up the bottom end a bit - just sayin' !!
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.
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
- Brad Higgins
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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
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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.
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- Brad Higgins
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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.
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.
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
More amps than guitars, and not many effects
- Brad Higgins
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- Location: New York, USA
Re: String
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 wrote: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
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String
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.