Exciting News!----new Psg String Company—custom Made Strings

[Sid Hudson]

Yessir, I understand. I'm just trying to make a distinction between strings for the unique requirements for pedal steel guitars and other instruments.

Tooling costs etc. may raise the cost of the end product but in the end, I feel most players would be willing to invest a little more, if necessary, for a product that meets their needs.

After all that jabber, yes I like the reports on your product to date and will probably be placing an order in the near future.

Jerry, you sound like a very intelligent guy.

The reason I got into this whole string deal was to create a better string for pedal steelers, and
my wife wanted her own company now that all the girls are off to college and she doesn’t have much to occupy her time as before.

I agree with everything you have said.

So,,,, here’s my pledge to you. As sales continue to grow, I agree that I will shorten the twist on all of the plain strings. You are right! It needs to be done.

I’ll do it.

Sid

Oh,,,,,, one more thing Jerry,

Those strings haven’t been on your steel since the early 90s have they???

LOL.

[Richard Sinkler]

I just ordered a set of each for my guitar. I wish I had done it a week ago as I need to change my strings and have 3 gigs this weekend. They probably won't get here in time though. I am looking forward to trying them. This whole thing recently with Jagwire has left me wanting to try something else that might be easier to get. If they sound good (make that GREAT), don't break quick (like SIT), and stay in tune (unlike SIT), they will be my "go to" string from now on.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Wonderful Sid! I hope I don't come off as one of those "well, sounds like a pretty good product, but...." guys, 'cause that's not what I intended.

Any product for steel guitar has to be a gamble considering the limited market ...I applaud you for your research and insight on this product, catering to us steel pickers and wish you much success. The initial reports sound terrific and I'm very anxious to give 'em a try myself.

Oh,,,,,, one more thing Jerry,

Those strings haven’t been on your steel since the early 90s have they???

LOL.

No, I changed them last year.

[Ron Epperson]

i play a GFI ULTRA D10 i think ihave tried every string out there i liked SIT until i tried sids livesteel strings put themon and they brought my steel through GERRY WALKER sterio steel amp alive again i do order my own guages i had to turn the reverb down they brought all my effects to a sharper and crisp tone as long as they stay in business they will have my business you will feel less travel on your pedals which i think is a good thing i think it is to your benifit to try these i believe you will be pleased

[Doyle Mitchell]

Sid , I havent had a chance to put them on my steel yet but if your strings are as good as your speedy delivery it is some good strings ! I think my strings got here almost before you got the money ! Thanks for the speedy service.

[Larry Robbins]

So far....love em'
I am using the Stainless. Not tinny sounding right out of the pac like most other Stainless strings I have tried. Got there own full,rich tone...hard to describe other than to say I instantly liked it!
I also noticed a big difference in the feel of the the strings. No matter how hard I attack them they seem to stay with me so much better than some other brands. Nice sweet sustain on the E9 and Great Growl on the C6 stuff!! Its only been a few days but I have played the be-jabbers out of them..( had today off) I'll keep you posted on how they hold up after a while has gone by. But if these hold up like I think they may, I am sold! and I have to say that the customer service is top shelf. Thank you,Sid!

[Sid Hudson]

So far....love em'
I am using the Stainless. Not tinny sounding right out of the pac like most other Stainless strings I have tried. Got there own full,rich tone...hard to describe other than to say I instantly liked it!
I also noticed a big difference in the feel of the the strings. No matter how hard I attack them they seem to stay with me so much better than some other brands. Nice sweet sustain on the E9 and Great Growl on the C6 stuff!! Its only been a few days but I have played the be-jabbers out of them..( had today off) I'll keep you posted on how they hold up after a while has gone by. But if these hold up like I think they may, I am sold! and I have to say that the customer service is top shelf. Thank you,Sid!

Thanks for the compliments Larry!

Clean those strings after you set that bar down as I am sure they will last 3 times longer than your old brand.

The material we are using in the core of those strings has astonished me far beyond my expectations.
They are expensive as snot to make but, man what a string!

We have a jam session every Tuesday afternoon at my music house.
(Four thirty if you’re in the neighborhood)

I pieced together a set of Live Steel Strings for my 6 string electric last Tuesday and laughed out loud after playing a few songs. The string gauges on my 6 string are 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46.

The first thing I noticed was how firm the strings felt under my hands and I had absolutely no problems with my string bends including the whole tone bends.

I play a very old Tele. With my old string brand; every time we play a song where I do a lot of bends, as a force of habit I always check my tuning. Those string bends have a tendency to make the string not come back into position leaving the string flat to pitch. This problem was gone.

The number one thing that thrilled me the most and was totally unexpected?

On a 6 string electric, the 5th and 6th string have historically boomed out. Like most (if not all guitar players) the natural instinct is to turn around and roll some of the (BASS) off the amp.

Now most of the time this will correct the problem but; unintended consequences now occur.
When you roll the (BASS) out of the amp, this robs your smaller strings of that beautiful round midrange that so many of us love.

With the Live Steel Strings, my 5th and 6th strings didn’t boom out on me. The strings were shockingly more even all across the guitar.

This allowed me to roll more (BASS) in on my amp and WOW; listen to that great midrange I have been missing all these years.


Sid

P.S. I was using the Nickel strings.

[John Castelletti]

first off all i would like to thank Sid for getting the strings out in a ridiculously quick manner. so far i LOVE these strings. string separation is the first thing that jumped out at me, being a fairly new steel player (a little over a year) i need all the help i can get! the strings feel great too...i have never played the Jagwires but i much prefer these to the George L's i have used in the past.

Sid i am dying to string my tele up with your strings! please please please let me know when they are ready to go!

any chance for bass strings at some point? need a guinea pig?

[Al Miller]

So Far So Good!!! i just got a chance to put these strings on my guitar Sat and i played a Show with them on sat night and all i can say is WOW!! i have to echo all the chatter about the amount of difference in the way they feel under your Bar as well as under your pics . I really notice a difference in that floppy slappy feeling for lack of a better word. The tone is what i have been looking for in a string since the did away with the old EMMONS EXTRA LIVLEY's from the 90'S. I chose the Stainless E9 and C6 because i have been looking for that crisp bite i used to get with those Emmons Strings and nothing ever came Close until now. the customer service is top notch and couple that with a Musician of Sid Hudsons calibur at the helm i think these folks are on to something good here. I will be switching from my old brand and using these www.livesteelstrings.com strings on my Pre RP Mullen and my little Hybrid Sho-Bud from now on .. Also for what its worth im not a paid endorser of this product just a very Satisfied Customer !
Thanks Boo Miller

[Ray Thomas]

Got a set at Kannapolis and ordered two more sets today.

[Mike Sweeney]

Well I restrung my guitar last night with stainless Live Steel Strings. I can't remember ever being this impressed with a string in my life.
The first thing I noticed was the finish was so good. Stainless wounds, I have found as a rule to be real dark. These are not. They're not as shiney and light in color as nickels but close. So that tells me we will be getting fresh strings when we order. A great big plus.
Second thing I noticed was how well they settled in to pitch. These things are as stable as a rock! And they don't require as much pedal travel as other strings I've tried. Plus the intonation up the neck is spot on.
Third thing is the tone. They are the best sounding string I believe I've ever heard. And they have volume. Even acoustically you will notice it.
Sid, You've hit a home run here. Keep it up!

[Chuck Campbell]

I reluctantly ordered 2 sets of nickel Live Steel Strings, one for my Zum and one set for my new Russler. My thought was, what have I got to lose. Could there be that much difference in a string, it’s just a piece of wire. In the past I used SIT, Emmons, George L, Jagware or any other string that was the cheapest or that someone would give me. I also would use what ever I had even if they were of different brands as long as they were the right gauge. I first put a set on the Russler (haven’t stopped playing it long enough to put the set on the Zum) and what a pleasant surprise. Now I’m going to have to change my entire way of thinking about strings. I don’t care about the technical stuff or what makes them different or if Sid does some kind of ritual over them. I know they are the best sounding and smoothest strings I have ever used and the tone I get is noticeably better. This was reaffirmed when my wife, who rarely comes into my music room came in and asked what guitar are you playing, I said, the Russler. She said, better play that one all the time. Anyone want to buy a Pac A Seat compartment full of strings?

[Nicholas Ackron]

Great site, I might swing by the shop one day to get a custom pack!!!

[Sid Hudson]

Well I restrung my guitar last night with stainless Live Steel Strings. I can't remember ever being this impressed with a string in my life.
The first thing I noticed was the finish was so good. Stainless wounds, I have found as a rule to be real dark. These are not. They're not as shiney and light in color as nickels but close. So that tells me we will be getting fresh strings when we order. A great big plus.
Second thing I noticed was how well they settled in to pitch. These things are as stable as a rock! And they don't require as much pedal travel as other strings I've tried. Plus the intonation up the neck is spot on.
Third thing is the tone. They are the best sounding string I believe I've ever heard. And they have volume. Even acoustically you will notice it.
Sid, You've hit a home run here. Keep it up!

Mike Sweeney makes an important observation regarding the appearance of our strings looking shiny as if they are very fresh.

Factories that repackage and re label electric guitar strings for steel guitars make these strings in huge quantities at a time. Big runs are anywhere from 10 to 50 thousand of one particular gauge then they will move on to the next gauge and so forth.

After these factories produce these huge runs of various gauges they are shelved until needed.
How long is that? No way to know.

When the dealers place their orders to the factory for a supply of strings, they are packaged and mailed to the dealers where they (you guessed it) go on their shelf.

So, how old are your strings by the time you get them? No way to know.

At Live Steel strings, we place multiple orders (usually every couple of days). We do not want to order 2000 of every gauge just to have them set on our shelf until ordered.

By doing this, the customer receives a set of strings that just came off the machine 15-20 days before he or she receives them.

Our strings are made to our specifications, material type and tolerances.

Because of this, the factory can’t just pull strings off their shelf and ship them to us.
They have to do a special run when we order strings because our strings are different than their stock shelf electric guitar strings.

[Billy Murdoch]

Like many others I am pretty happy with the strings I use at the moment,however I am always looking to find something better and the new strings are getting a lot of good reviews.
If I am using the website correctly I am getting a very High shipping cost to the U.K. something like $37 for one set.I would also have to add import duty at this end which would result in a total cost of around $65.
I can buy 6sets of brand X for that amount.
I have in the past,purchased various items from the U.S. which are considerably heavier than a set of strings and the cost has been $5-$10,
Has anyone from outside of the U.S. bought strings?
Best regards
Billy

[Les Wright]

Billy, the postage calculator on the site for exports from the US does yield some strange results but Sid quickly rectified this by amending the charge to the actual cost (much less) when they were despatched. Be interesting to do the comparison with previous strings when received.

[Sid Hudson]

I have had many players ask me in recent weeks “aren’t all plain strings the same regardless of brand?”

Answer: No they are not.

Now with that being said, and not to get into any trade secrets;

Contrary to conventional wisdom, plain strings are manufactured in a variety of different ways.

Most plain strings are stainless steel in the core and plated with tin.

The tin plated plain string is more flexible as the tin will move with the stainless steel core in an acceptable fashion.

Many acoustic guitar strings have a stainless core and are plated with brass. The industry refers to these strings as bronze.

Others are solid stainless steel thru and thru. What’s the difference in sound between a solid stainless steel string and one that has been tin plated?

The solid stainless string is much louder than the tin plated string (acoustically speaking).

Sid Hudson
Live Steel Strings

[Billy Murdoch]

Already I am impressed.
I ordered a few sets to test these strings and within a couple of hours I received an e mail informing Me that My order had been despatched.I later received another e mail apologising for the error in the shipping calculator when sending overseas,I was credited with a refund.
A very good start indeed
Best regards
Billy

[Larry Robbins]

......still beating the tar out of these strings and I still Love em!!! BTW Sid...did I mention that
your my new best friend! ...Guys and Gals..try a set of these strings. You wont be disapointed!

[Sid Hudson]

Already I am impressed.
I ordered a few sets to test these strings and within a couple of hours I received an e mail informing Me that My order had been despatched.I later received another e mail apologising for the error in the shipping calculator when sending overseas,I was credited with a refund.
A very good start indeed
Best regards
Billy

Billy,

Thank you for the compliments.

The postage calculator on our store page is tied directly to the United States Postal Service estimator.
When the out of the country customers type in their address at check out, the USPC calculator determines the postage amount.

When shipping within the US it has proven to be very accurate.

Unfortunately when we get orders from Scotland, Denmark, Australia etc… it has proven to be very inaccurate.

So here’s what we have been doing:

When the girls get back from the Post Office they take the actual receipts, compare it to what the customer was charged and issue and immediate refund. This refund does not take 15-20-30 days like we have been told all our life. The refund is effective immediately when entered.

In the not too distant future I will be making an announcement and introducing to market our most recent improvement all plain strings with shorter twists.

I know you are going to love the strings. Thus far 100% of our feedback has been rave reviews.
http://livesteelstrings.com/gbook.shtml

Sid

[Terry Bethel]

When Sid told me about these strings, I immediately ordered a set to try. I have been using my current brand of strings for a number of years, but I am always trying to upgrade my equipment. I would have already had them except I didn't give Sid my guages (DUMB ME). oh well I am getting to that forgetful stage. Can't wait to try the new nickle strings.

Terry Bethel

[Roger Francis]

Ive been using stanless for some years and sometimes switching to nickel occasionally, i bought a set of the LSS nickel and they sound allmost as bright as the stainless of other brands ive tryed but have more warmth tone and clarity to them, atleast thats what im hearing, i didnt think the plain stings would sound much different than others but i was wrong, they seem to have more of a musical sound to them and if your guitar has a good seperation of notes these seen to enhance that too for some reason. this is just my observation so far.

[Whip Lashaway]

Sid, I totally agree with everything you say about what causes string breakage. I have used GHS strings for YEARS because my supplier orders them especially for me and when he gets them they are 3 days old. I can order a years worth of strings and at the end of the year still put on fresher strings than you can pickup at any music store. I noticed Mike Sweeney mentioned his wound strings looking dull, mine never look dull. It's because they are fresh. He is retiring but has continued to fill my orders the last 2 years. I've been wondering what I was gonna do when he retired completely. Only bump I have is - I need a .009 and don't see that on you site. Any plans to make some .009's in the future? I know most guys wouldn't dream of going that light. I can go that light on my Sierra's without sounding thin. It also makes for incredibly smooth pedal action. Anyway, not here to debate that. I also use what is called "even tension" tuning. Meaning every string is pulling the same tension when at the note it is tuned to. This makes the strings want to be in tune. I tune up when I replace strings and from then on I'm mostly just checking them. I rarely, I mean rarely break a string. When I start missing harmonics, I know its time for new strings. I will be trying out your strings for sure, even if I have to recalculate my tensions starting with .010 instead of .009. God Bless. Whip

[James Marlowe]

I had just put some new strings on my Zum when I ordered these Live Steel Strings. Well, I finally got around to putting on the LSS the other day. I figured I'd probably messed up doing this a day before a jam, but much to my surprise, there was very little stretching. They were up to snuff in no time with very little touching up along the way. I love the feel and the sound of them. I am well pleased. Sid, you've got a great thing going here!