The Steel Guitar Forum

It seems to me that the 3rd string volume on my new Carter Starter is substantially lower than the other strings.

The Lawrence pickup is smooth-faced, so I assume there's no way to adjust the relative volume of strings. Is there anything I can do? Is this a common problem? Is it just my imagination?

It is a common problem and it's not your imagination. The small string has a smaller sound.

Be sure that your string is no thinner than .011 inch. I like .0115 inch. Usually .012 inch is too thick (breaks too much) but may be worth a try.

Almost no steel guitar pickup has individually adjustable pole pieces.

The problem will eventually go away after you develop more technique and awareness of the response of each string.

Have you tried contacting Carter Guitar? It might be as simple as the kind of strings you are using.

It is a replacement 3rd string, since, of course, it broke first.

Earnest,

Why would a thicker gauge string break more rather than less?

Thanks!

Check and see if you can raise the height of the PU up near the treble side.

Birney--my personal experience with .012 (which I use) longevity is that it is pretty much a wash--doesn't break much more or less often than the .011. The reason it doesn't break less often is that for the same nut-bridge scale, the .012 requires more tension to come up to tuned pitch. So whatever you gain in increased strength you lose to increased stress. Even Steven.

Do what??

Use whatever strings Carter says. The Starter is balanced out very well and very carefully. If you mess with string gauges you might open a real can of worms.

After playing a Carter Starter I would say that your problem is not with the guitar or pickup. It is a well made guitar that has a surprizingly great tone.

There are some great players in Georgia that could help you out and if nothing else you should check out a Joe Wright or Jeff Newman video lesson on picking.

Bob

The lighter or thinner sound of the 3rd string has been as much a problem as the 3rd string breaking over the years. It's just one of those things. As you get more experience it will not be as obvious or a "problem" as it is when you start out. The .011 is a good compromise over other string sizes.

One thing, is the quality of the string. I don't know what you are using, but use a good grade of string. I don't believe in the use anything that's available or whatever the music store wants to sell you. I use George L's strings and try to keep a stock of single strings, such as the .011, but if I have to buy something I go for GHS as my first choice. The metallic content of a string will affect the tone.

Bob,

<SMALL>Use whatever strings Carter says. The Starter is balanced out very well and very carefully. If you mess with string gauges you might open a real can of worms.</SMALL>

Yeah, I've read that and I can see how it's important to stick with what the guitar was built for. As for brands, actually, b0b has Jagwire Carter Starter sets for sale on the forum! He recommends the nickel -- why would I want to switch to stainless? And would the Jagwire .11 single strings fit into the Carter set well? ('Course, I've got a bunch of 3rd's and a few 5ths laid in -- "Stay In Tune" brand stainless, so you know, 'til the endorsements start rolling in, I'll just use those!)

Could the trouble be that I've got that stainless 3rd replacement string, but nickel original equipment on all the others?

<SMALL>There are some great players in Georgia</SMALL>

Yeah, your friend John Neff has been a great help and very generous with his time so far! Only trouble is he lives four hours up the road, so "hands-on instruction" means picking up the phone! But he's been great!

The unwound strings are all nickel. The only ones that are "stainless" are the wound strings.

As far as which brand is better, or better for your guitar? there really isn't an answer. I have my favorite brand and then there is the brands that I think are terrible and I've seen posts from people that think those brands are really great.

The overall balance is just something that we all had to overcome to one degree or another as we got into the instrument. One of the things that will help is the way you adjust the EQ on your amp (and the Peavey Parametric EQ system has helped in that area). Breaking 3rd strings is another common problem that you will have to deal with. Tuning, etc. etc. All these (and more) are just part of the instrument.

<SMALL>The unwound strings are all nickel. The only ones that are "stainless" are the wound strings. </SMALL>

I always thought that the plain (unwound) strings are steel.

Birney,
You didn't mention if you had the problem before changing strings, I would strongly suspect the replacement string, all strings are NOT created equal.

Earnest,
I agree that all the unwound strings that I've seen in the last several years are "plain steel" or "silvered steel".

I have had tone and intonation problems with "SIT" strings.

I prefer nickel wound over stainless.

Is that $.02 worth yet? I think so.

Bob<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Knight on 02 February 2001 at 02:07 PM.]</p></FONT>

Jack,

<SMALL>One of the things that will help is the way you adjust the EQ on your amp (and the Peavey Parametric EQ system has helped in that area).</SMALL>

Oh, that's a whole 'nother story! My amp is an ancient, all tube Music Man twin (which I understand is basically the same as Fenders of similar vintage). Its "EQ" consists of bass, middle, treble, reverb, and tremolo! So I can't do much there, but if I ever need to play Crimson and Clover, I'm all set!

'Course the reverb is key, but that wasn't working at all until just a few nights ago when I confirmed my suspicion that a wire had come unsoldered inside the reverb unit. Meanwhile, I've gotten in some good practice sounding "clean" without any reverb! I still don't understand what the 4/8 ohm and ground switches do, and I don't know why only one of the speaker jacks in back has something plugged into it, but everything seems "right" now, and it sounds pretty good!

Bob,

<SMALL>You didn't mention if you had the problem before changing strings, I would strongly suspect the replacement string.... I have had tone and intonation problems with "SIT" strings.</SMALL>

Well, I think it is the replacement string. My right hand has b@njo picking abilities, but it's just learning PSG picking. So either it is the replacement string, or my right hand was too haphazard to notice the problem back when I had the original string!

Oh well. I'm several sets of strings away from it making any real difference anyway! As I said, I'll just use what I got until the endorsements start rollin' in! <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Birney Bull on 02 February 2001 at 03:15 PM.]</p></FONT>