The Steel Guitar Forum

There was a recent post concerning strings. My question is who keeps fresh strings on their lap steels, and how often do you change them.

On my Gibson acoustic and my Tele electric I find myself changing strings fairly often as they tend to deaden or 'die' from hand sweat and just plain over-use, not to mention just plain breaking. My local music store expects me weekly buying new strings. To this end, I generally find myself playing with at least three spares of each on the side for insurance.

On my Br-9 I've had the same strings on for about three years and they still sound as good if not better than when they were new. I don't even carry spares when I play out with my lappy, probably should though.

I've not been at it that long but if you want to see me on my BR-9 do a google-video search for "Theo Goodtime Patterson", I'm coming along slowly!

I too tend to like fresh strings on my MusicMan but don't feel the need to change all that often on my steels.

I enjoyed you video Theo,

I also have a BR9 which sounds the same as yours. I also am coming along slowly...listening to you reminded me of the sound I make!

What tuning do you use?

I swear by keeping strings fresh on all my instruments even ones that are rarely played.
Tone aside the well being of the gtr [of any kind ]is largely dependent on string condition.

After a period of time the inner core of a string is stretched to its max and the only option at that time is for it to pull on both ends of the gtr causing stress to the top,bridge,saddle, nut ect.

After years of owning a lot of gtrs and dealing with gtr's both owned by the store and customers I can't stress the importance enough of string changes.

Take Care, Pete

I change them when they break or rust thru !!! I like the mellow sound of old strings !! Eddie "C" ( the old non-pedal , no reverb , dead string , out of work old geezer )

Roger: I use E7th tuning. I find all my major, minor, and seventh chords in close proximity. I play mainly blues, R&B, and rock so this tuning fits my style. Plus, I cheat - I took a few years off the learning curve by using what I call 'Uncle Theo's Lap Map'. This enables me to readily find notes and chords that would've taken me years to memorize.

Eddie: I'm with you! No pedals, no effects and my strings have changed color. I dig the mellow, pure sound my lappy creates.

I rarely change strings on my electric. But I change my acoustic every time I play out with it. Right now that is maybe 3 or 4 times a year. If I was busy enough, I think I would change the acoustic strings about every 2 months.

i'm with you also, eddie. you're funny and i like your style!!

I change'em as soon as they break

Theo - what is it, can we have a look, please?

Cheers Bob

I too would like to see the "Lap Map".

I don't have any good pics of it but here's a photo of me playing with it. You may have to zoom in to see it well. It's such a simple idea I wonder why everybody hasn't done it.

Seems my photo is not downloading. Sorry about that! If you don't mind going through some of my regular guitar stuff, I just put the same photo in my Myspace photo album http://www.myspace.com/theogoodtimemusic

It's the last one and has a caption "..see Uncle Theo's lap map"

Sorry about the inconvenience

Where to zoom?

I see, Theo, you put stickers of the notes along each fret? I've seen a similar technique on upright basses.

Justin: Yes, and no! The problem with stickers on the fretboard is that you end up with junk on your fretboard, and if you want to change tuning, you have to clean off the old gunk to put on some new gunk, and it can be more of a hassle than it's worth. I have a fairly rigid clear vinyl sheet that has the notes, and a lighter vinyl sheet covering the first sheet to keep everything clean. These are held in place with clear vinyl 'straps' to hold everything in place so nothing slips up or down. My fretboard stays clean, and if I want to change tunings I make another map for that tuning. This way I can readily swith back and forth whenever I want. I dread the thought of actually gluing anything to my fretboard knowing that trying to clean it can damage it.

To me there's nothing like a fresh set of strings on an acoustic to bring out a lively tone. I can get away much longer on my electrics and actually prefer the slicker feel of the bar on the worn wound strings. Too long though and tone gets too dead.

Back in my playing days I changed strings on my D8 once a year or so. I don't recall ever breaking one or having a string go dead. I just thought they ought to be changed once a year or so. Like Theo I played many a gig with no spares in my case! I can also recall not needing to tune it very often.

Hey Theo... great idea on the Lap Map. It's like training wheels for the lap steel. I think I will try that for Open E Major tuning.

If you care to start a new thread on this subject, I will be happy to contribute. Using fret calculator software and CorelDraw, I'll try making one of these to scale for my 22.5" Rondo. In the meantime, here is a chart (not to scale) for Open E: