Is 16-56 strings ok for roundneck resonator?

[pnikola007]

I have a gretsch bobtail roundneck, and i want to put elixir 16-56 strings and tune it to open G. Do you recommend this gauges, or could they damage the guitar? I have tried with 13-56, but i play slide most of the time, and the high strings are to floopy for my taste.

[maxtheaxe]

Is that a spider or a biscuit? If the latter, I would be worried that gauges like that might squash the cone...or at least, prevent it from resonating correctly.

[Cameleye]

Unnecessarily heavy IMO.

[Silly Moustache]

I only have a National wood body (Estralita) and don't know about your guitar's structural strength or the cone, but I used to believe that bottleneck style needed heavy strings. I no longer believe that.

I now use standard 13-56 PB d'adds and a heavy, glass "Blue Diamond" bottleneck,made for me by http://www.diamondbottlenecks.com

I have two examples,thefirst withmy Style "O" sadly gone, but with the same bottleneck @



and a more recent example on my Estralita :



I think that the secret is to play with a heavy slide but as lightly as possible with your fretting hand and add in the power with your picking hand.

[Wade Hampton]

Try it, keep an eye on the neck and the cone and see what it does.

There are a couple of open G tunings in use, and the one you choose makes a difference. There is one open G tuning that consists of the notes you get when you play a first position G chord, from low to high: G, B, D, G, B, G.

If you're using THAT open G tuning, then no, using those heavy gauges is not a great idea.

However, if you're using the far more common open G tuning that goes D, G, D, G, B, D, using those heavier gauges shouldn't hurt a thing. That tuning drops the low E a step to a D, the A a step to a G, leaves the next three strings alone, and drops the high E a step to D.

So that G tuning has a discernibly lower tension compared to standard tuning.

The fact is that you can probably put a heavier low E string on there than a .056. A lot of resonator string sets have a .058 or .059.

The .016 on the first string might be a bit stiff, though. You might want to experiment with a .014 or .015 first.

Short version: if you're using the open G tuning that has a B note on the bass string, you don't want your strings any heavier. But if you're using the more common G tuning with a D note on the bass string, you can experiment with heavier strings. The only caution I would suggest is that you not play the guitar in standard tuning when you have super heavy strings on it.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[roylor4]

What Wade said.

I use 16-56 on my Boxcar and have for years with no detrimental effects. In open G (D, G, D, G, b, d) this gauge exerts around the same amount of tension as a set of mediums tuned to standard E.

[DanleyJ]

I would be careful with a round neck guitar. The 16-56 gauges for resonator are generally for the square neck type guitar with a spider bridge played lap style generally associated with bluegrass music. The solid heavy square neck can take the heavier gauges and the the spider versus biscuit bridge would probably have stronger support. I am also talking about the GBDGBD open G tuning for square neck. I can see why you might want to try the heavier gauge for bottle neck playing but I wouldn't want to try and fret those heavier strings for the most part if you combine that with bottle neck. I would stick with the 13-56 gauge medium strings for round neck resonators. Just my 2 cents worth.

[Diamond Slides]

A favorite over here in the U.K is to string up with a 13 - 56 gauge set ~ but swap the top E from the 13 to a thicker 15. This changes your set to 15; 17; 24 (instead of 13; 17; 24) - this will give you a 'stiffer' top E top string with a little more meat to enhance your tone

Slide On!

Ian.

Originally Posted by Diamond Slides

A favorite over here in the U.K is to string up with a 13 - 56 gauge set ~ but swap the top E from the 13 to a thicker 15. This changes your set to 15; 17; 24 (instead of 13; 17; 24) - this will give you a 'stiffer' top E top string with a little more meat to enhance your tone

Slide On!

Ian.

I agree with this. The only string whose tone really suffers when you use a 13 - 56 set is the high E. Beef that one up, and keep the others as they are.

[Black Nick]

For future inquirers, I agree with Wade Hampton. I use elixir 16-56s on my RK RM-993 (parlor) in Open G (D,G,D…), Open D, and D standard (and even E standard for a while) and I’ve never had an issue. Love the tone too!

[Kitkatjoe]

I’d move with caution on that 56. I’d contact the manufacturer and get their recommendations on string gauges. I’d probably make up my own set with a max of 53 tuned down at lest two cents. Learn to temper tune your guitar. It will sound better.

[Robin, Wales]

There is a little, very understandable, confusion running through this old thread. Some string brands sell string sets for "resonator guitar" - normally 16, 18, 26, 36, 46, 56 in gauges. In general, these sets have been put together for squareneck "dobro" players who play in high tuned G (GBDgbd) in bluegrass bands with their squareneck spiderbridge guitar lapstyle and played using a steel bar and thumb and fingerpicks. The term "dobro" is a trademark now owned by Gibson, therefore, string companies are a little shy of saying that they sell dobro string sets - even though the term dobro has become ubiquitous for squareneck spiderbridge resonator guitars like the term Hoover did for a vacuum cleaner.

You can use 16-56 resonator string sets on round neck resonators (single cone, tricone and spiderbridge) but I would suggest that their use is limited to low G and low D tunings (D,G,d,g,b,d' and D,A,d,F#,a,d') or similar.

Quite often bottleneck slide players like a little more "beef" from the 1st string when it is tuned down to a d'. A 16-56 set will give you this, but another favourite amongst bottle neck slide players is to fit their favourite medium gauge strings (13-56) and then swap the first string 13 for a 15. This seems to work well for many players. Others will stick with just 13-56 mediums and use their round neck resonator guitars in standard tuning and also dropped tunings for some bottleneck work. A light touch with a heavy slide will often facilitate a good tone using a 13 tuned down to d', particularly if the string is reasonably close to the fretboard edge and the nut and saddle have just a little "room".

Your resonator guitar is unlikely to "fold in half" if you use heavier 16-56 strings, as they tend to be pretty robust beasts, but you may need to adjust the truss rod.

Incidentally, a lot of the classic old dobro you hear on bluegrass records, from the likes of Brother Oswald and players of that era, were actually played on round neck Dobro spiderbridge guitars (which have thick plywood bodies) fitted with a nut riser and then tuned up to GBDgbd. I expect that there were quite a few banana necks after a couple years of the guitar being left like that - but that doesn't affect lapstyle playing so I doubt that it was seen as a problem.

[R22]

I have a 1933 Dobro. It has a big ol' fat v neck. I have it set up for lap style. I use the John Pearse reso set, 16-59. I've used these for years with no issues. Not sure if I would try those with a newer model, that may not be built for it. My '33 is built like a tank. I use the GBDGBD tuning mostly.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by R22

I have a 1933 Dobro. It has a big ol' fat v neck. I have it set up for lap style. I use the John Pearse reso set, 16-59. I've used these for years with no issues. Not sure if I would try those with a newer model, that may not be built for it. My '33 is built like a tank. I use the GBDGBD tuning mostly.

Oh, I would love to play your dobro, I bet it sounds fantastic!

[R22]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Oh, I would love to play your dobro, I bet it sounds fantastic!

Anytime Robin.

I put a Beard cone in it last year. Still sounds like my old Dobro, with just a bit more clarity.