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Quickstep192 - Posted - 01/03/2025: 11:20:26
You guys are a pretty creative bunch.
John Pearse makes guitar strings called “Folk Strings”. They are a braided steel rope core with nylon wrap.
They have an unusual sound that I can only describe as halfway between steel and nylon.
I put together a set for my open back and I love, love, love the sound. Unfortunately the strings are too short. I contrived a solution where I connect them directly to the tailpiece, but it’s really suboptimal.
I want to try them on my resonator where tying them to the tailpiece isn’t an option at all because it’s an Oettinger tailpiece.
I’m wondering if there might be a way to make string extenders to get enough length to make them work.
My pleas to Pearse for a longer version have gone unrequited.
I’ve seen you guys come up with some pretty out of the box ideas. Do you have one for this?
davidppp - Posted - 01/03/2025: 12:19:04
I once did something pooh-poohed by some purist, but it worked for me and lasted several years. The particular was to extend a broken Aquila string so that I didn't have to buy a new set. I figure that the crucial thing is to have the string you like be solid over its vibrating length, i.e., between nut and bridge. I used one of the standard fishing-line-to-fishing-line knots (the "blood knot," I believe -- netknots.com/fishing_knots/lin...ine-knots) between the nut and the tuner. Similarly available would be the real estate between the bridge and the tailpiece. The only requirement on the extender part is that it be flexible enough to make the knot.
davidppp - Posted - 01/03/2025: 12:40:03
The strings are long gone, but I remembered I had a photo.
Quickstep192 - Posted - 01/03/2025: 13:12:50
Thanks. Cool nut!!!
davidppp - Posted - 01/03/2025: 13:56:33
Quickstep192 : That's a Chuck Lee banjo. All his instruments are essentially perfect
tdennis - Posted - 01/03/2025: 14:53:46
I've done exactly what David P did & it worked. I did it in a pinch, but it has served me well for some years now.
martyjoe - Posted - 01/04/2025: 01:06:33
Likewise I have knotted strings a few times and on one occasion left the string on for months without an issue. Another thing that may work would be to run the string through the hole in the ball of another string. Those tape wound strings are great for flat picking short scale banjos
Brett - Posted - 01/04/2025: 06:21:03
Sounds like guitar strings made in “silk and steel”. You’d likely have to buy a cheap dial or digital caliper, and measure your current preference. Older music stores used to have boxes of singles. Sometimes you’d have to buy a whole set and couple singles, to make up some unusual gauge sets, decades ago. I think all silk and steel sets are ball end, and I’m unsure if you can buy individual strings any more.
Quickstep192 - Posted - 01/05/2025: 04:52:29
quote:
Originally posted by Brett
Sounds like guitar strings made in “silk and steel”. You’d likely have to buy a cheap dial or digital caliper, and measure your current preference. Older music stores used to have boxes of singles. Sometimes you’d have to buy a whole set and couple singles, to make up some unusual gauge sets, decades ago. I think all silk and steel sets are ball end, and I’m unsure if you can buy individual strings any more.
Thanks, these strings are actually nylon and a steel core that's kind of like braided rope. They're very unusual.
