The Steel Guitar Forum

Which pedal steel has the least string breakage? I have had very good luck not breaking strings on my Mullen G2 guitars. I am not saying you can't, if you happen to get a bad batch of strings. It just seems that some guitars are more prone to breaking at the changer finger, is this due to the finger radius? Which pedal steel brands have a good record for being easy on strings. Any thoughts.

On my Mullen's I usually get 3 to 4 months use on a set and may break one.
I just changed a set last week and never broke a sting 1 string in 4 months.
I play a lot and don't change strings till they break or start to sound bad.

All guitars will break strings at some point. It depends on the string quality and how much you play on them. Some brands of strings are better than others. Some guitars seem to break them less. Fortunately through many years of playing, I can pretty much tell when a string is ready to commit suicide. I can change them before that happens. I play quite a bit, and probably only broke one string last year.

There could be a problem of some sort, but it's likely it's something other than the changer radius. I'd suspect a bad lot of strings if they're breaking a lot. Selling a guitar because it breaks strings is a little like selling a car because the tires go flat. You're making a rather major change to fix what's probably a minor problem.

Donny said:

Selling a guitar because it breaks strings is a little like selling a car because the tires go flat. You're making a rather major change to fix what's probably a minor problem.

Now you tell me. It's really tough selling a car with flat tires.

I haven't broken a string on my SKH Emmons in about five years. I play pretty well everyday.

Emmons push pulls
I play both guitars I have quit a bit and the strings went plumb dead and still didn't break.

On the other side, I think Sho Bud super pros are the worst. I've owned three of them and they all broke strings every other day. I just about had to put on new 3rds, 5th and 6th strings before I played a gig and they would sometime break any way.


This raises a question that I've often wandered. Do some guitars because of the make up and mechanics have to pull a specific string further to get it to pitch or are they all the same? This is of course being that the guitars are the same scale on the neck. I've owned guitars that seemed like the string had to be pulled a lot further to get to pitch and these broke strings at times. Maybe just me but it seems like my bolt on push pull just barley pulls string to get to pitch.

My Williams 700 series very rarely breaks strings because of the gentle angle of the fingers on the changer. I play an average of 3 hrs a day. I just changed strings on both necks after 7 months. I broke just 2 strings in that time. I use Live Strings, which I think helps also. My previous Sho Bud Professional broke strings regularly - I had to be careful to change the critical ones out every 2 weeks or risk breaking at an inopportune time.

we should expect hundereds of answers with all brands represented, each one better than the other.

String breakage historically is not related to brand but rather all multiple pertinent factors , stress, age, wear, natural oils, how the owner wraps it at the key head , how many B pedal mashes in 10 seconds etc..

It really gets back to, how long do we really want strings to last ?

I can count on NO fingers how many strings I have broke on gigs over the last 10 years, yeah it sounds like BS but I change 3 and 5 regularly on the working Steel which could be the Carter ( had 3 different ones) or the Pro 1 Sho Bud. OR Previous Sho Bud Professional , Sho Bud Pro III or Emmons Legrande.

My take, if someone is trying to sell you a Pedal Steel, one of the major brands, and they start by saying,"this brand does not break strings", ask them if they are also selling a bridge somewhere..

point in context..

when was the last time any of us complained about regular string breakage on the C6th neck ?

What ? no complaints on any brand ? How can that be ?

The E9th tuning, if tuned to 440 or perhaps 441/442, has two strings at the peak of stress point. IF you arr a regualr player, change them often,( 3 and 5 ) heck change the whole set often, there is no award for having the longest $10 string set life on a $4000 guitar.

It's the nature of the beast, not the brand.

If we have a Steel that breaks strings regularly "outside of our window" , there is another issue going on which has nothing to do with the name badge.

How long are strings supposed to last ? I dunno, how long do the exact same tires last on the exact same model of car for 200 different drivers and criteria ?

Buy the Steel that you really want because at the end of the day THATS what matters.

Hey Tony... When's the last time you bought a set of strings or a guitar? Those are some cheap prices. P.S. If you are serious, email me with your supplier. Thanks

I usually change the third string before the gig. That means about once a year

Had a situation whereby my 0.011 3rd broke frequently. Turned out to be too sharp an edge on the tuning peg through-hole. The strings always broke there. Eventually I sanded it down a bit but also now put on enough turns the string exits at place on the shaft well away from the hole.

Hey Jim Bob, I recently bought 6 sets of Cobra's at the Nashville store, they were like $10. I buy strings for all my guitars all the time in bulk. Vic is offering 10 sets of C6th or E9th for $95! thats less than $10/ set !

Why pay more ?

Everyone needs a box full of strings, no ?

I've never had any string breakage on my guitars. My Jackson Blackjack Custom, "Black Diamond" is doing a great job not breaking strings

Hey--buy a new EXCEL U-12 & forget breaking strings!
Lee Holeman