The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been using the bar that I had while playing a 10 string, but I was wondering if I should be using a longer bar....what do you suggest? Thinking about order a Cobra Coil bar too, anyone use one?

All a matter of preference, I guess.
I use a 7/8 10 string bar on my 12 string MSA's.
I don't try to cover all 12 at the same time.
I use the same bar on Dobro, 8 string lap steels.

my 2c

but I was wondering if I should be using a longer bar....

The question has come up before and my answer then, as it is now, is that no, you shouldn't be using a longer bar but yes, you certainly can be. When I went from S-10 to S-12 I figured that I needed to upgrade to the longer bar. Therefore that is what I've used and it now is what I choose. My assumption that I needed the longer bar was not quite correct but at this point it is what it is. I do sometimes utilize its full length so I don't regret having it but I doubt there would be any problem if I still had the standard sized bar.
If you wanted, you could put it on your list of things to try down the line but it does not need to be on your list of required gear.
IMO.

I use a 7/8" diameter bar. My zirc bar is the standard 10 string length, but my BJS is shorter than standard 3 3/8". I don't see it in his online catalog, but Bill Stroud had some of these shorter bars at his ISGC booth a couple of years ago. I bought one and I really like it.

I don't use a long "12 string" bar because I don't want string noise from the low strings when I'm playing the high strings.

Here is some good reading:

CLICK HERE

Brian , I have a Cobra Coil sitar 1" bar and it`s great. Go ahead and order one !
BTW, I play 12 string and I use a 10 string bar (a 7/8 and a 15/16)

thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll stick to a 10 string bar, seems logical from what I've read plus I'm already comfortable with it!

Olli - I'll try the Cobra Coil bar, thanks. By the way, love your Williams guitar!

The only reason to use a longer bar is if you want to play the first and last (one and twelve) string at the same time, And I can't imagine why one would want to do this!!!!!!!!!!!
Use a 10 string C.C. bar (bad name for it)3.25" in legnth, my personal choice, but then I get suprised all the time by players doing things that are strange to me, but still sound good.

I vote for staying with the 3.25 (Three and a Quarter inch) bar, no matter what you play,

Bobbe - Just ordered a BJS from your shop, I couldn't resist!

The "short" BJS I'm using now is 3" long, 7/8" diameter.

David Wright plays 12 strings, and his bar is the one of the smallest I've ever seen. It's tapered, too. Weird! But David's cool. He says that the smaller bar helps him play faster. That's what got me thinking and moving towards smaller bars.

b0b,

you know, after all the helpful responses, a smaller bar does make total sense. Not that I'm a fast player, but the standard bar size does feel comfortable, so why mess with it? Different strokes for different folks I guess!

I have played 12 string uni's off & on for 32 years, I have always used a regular 10 string bar, as far as length goes, I am partial to the 1" diameter though. I never could see a need for a longer bar, as Bobbie said above, I never play the 1st & 12th string at the same time. I have a John Pearse & a BJS & like them both.

Ernie Pollock
http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm

My zirc bar is 3 and 1/2 by 1 inch, As far as I know, all the original Zirc bars were.

I use 2 bars. One is a standard 10 string bar (I think), and the other is a smaller grooved bar. I don't know offhand the sizes. Neither bar covers all 12 strings, and I don't think you want it to. Like bOb said, you can get the string noise off of the lower strings, if you use a longer bar. Just move the bar to where you're playing, that's all the bar you need.

There's a 7b5 voicing I use from time to time in blues and jazz stuff where I need to span the 1st to the 12th and a couple classical peices I fool with where I need that kind of range to play the parts in the correct octave. Plus as soon as you start slanting across 2 or 3 frets and 8 or 9 strings,you can eat up a lot of bar right quick and catch yourself wishing you had another half-inch to offer.Big long bars run very smooth and it's hard to sound nervous with one. They're easier to hang onto if you're doing much slanting and tipping and low string drag can be dealt with by left thumb blocking and blocking in general.I thought it was a real moment of personal sacrifice when I went down to a 15/16ths x 4" stainless Bullet bar but I find it's close enough to my GL 1" x 4" as far as ease of manipulation and is a little lighter but has proved to be just right for me. A close 2nd would be my BJS 12 string bar which is 15/16ths x 3 5/8ths but I mostly use that on 8 string console for the same technical reasons. I say don't take anyone else's word for it - just like everything else in life,explore the extremes and then work your way to your own personal ideal middle ground.

I have both 10 and 12 string BJS bars - I mostly use the 10-string bars, even on the 12-14 string unis. Once in a while I find I prefer the 12-string bar, but I doubt I'd ever "need" it except, perhaps, on the Sierra 14-string.

When I use the 12-string bar, I sometimes flip it backwards to reduce the string noise on the fat wound strings. It'd be nice to have a double-blunt end bar for that.

I agree with Michael J. - I like to try stuff, and if it works, it's good.

Michael Johnstone, I agree, there have been times when another half inch would have helped.


(I'm not signing this!)

there have been times when another half inch would have helped.

as the actress said to the bishop

I use bars that I made myself and are 15/16" with a 'blunt' .400" radius on their nose rather than the usual spherical radius found on all other bars. The string spacing on my Whitney's is parallel and therefore wider at the left end of the guitar than the tapered-neck configurations found on most commercial guitars today. My 12-string bar is 4-9/32" long, 15/16" diameter. I have been known to let fly with a full 12-string chord at times!!! A 3-octave, pedals-down 6th chord (2nd string dropped to C#, bottom string dropped to A on the G# to A pedal).
PRR