The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi, hope I'm posting this where it's supposed to go; I just got the Ultra a few weeks ago, had Billy Cooper add splits and a compensator on pedal A to control the drop on my 6th string; seems to work well; my question is with the 24" scale the string tension is less than I'm used to- if I bump up the string guages will that mess up the timing on any pulls; it seems the guitar could handle the extra tension, or should I just leave it and get used to it? thanks for any suggestions

Welcome.
If you increase the gauge of a string (which will, indeed, achieve more tension) there is a good chance you will need to retune the pedal or lever (at the nylon hex nut at the endplate.) It would be a small tweak--nothing major. The only string thing that could create the need for a major tuning (or rodding) change would be changing the 6th string from plain to wound or vice versa.

There are some string sets that are tailored to 24" scale that substitute an .018 for an .017 for the 5th string and a .038 for a .036 on 10. This is not essential but obviously someone before you has felt the desire for greater tension on their Sho-Bud or other 24" scale guitar.

Thanks for the reply- the guitar came with SIT stainless on it; I use Live Steel Strings nickel normally- I'll order a custom set and see how it goes thanks again John

The heavier strings will be more sensitive to pulls--the A pedal will pull them a bit sharp--so you will need to back off just a bit on the nylon tuner.
Seems to me that I've read some people say that they did not need to retune anything so although I don't understand this, maybe you won't need to do a thing.

I'm still on the fence about the plain vs. wound 6th- it's hard to hear the fundamental note when tuning; I use a wound .022 on the fessy, the drawback being the extra throw when dropping it to f#

I've been back & forth on my 12 string Fess but I'm pretty much committed to wound. Changing over, for me, isa a pretty big job involving rerodding to keep in sync with the 3rd string and get the lower right. Yes--the lower is a l o n g throw but the stability is so far superior. I use a .024 which, as a heavier string than the more standard .022 gives a little more advantage to the mechanical throw. Stainless also seems to give a little more pitch change per movement.
Wound strings are funny--it's all about the gauge of the core wire and this can vary from brand to brand. I've never seen a assessment of which labels are better for this.
I use Juststrings bulk strings.