3rd string dying very quickly on dobro

[James P Mitchell]

Hey all,

I have a Gold Tone Beard branded dobro. Sounds great when it's freshly strung up. However, I'm encountering an issue where the 3rd string (the highest wound string) goes dead oddly fast, and noticeably more dead than the rest of the strings. Volume gets way quieter and the string gets a lot of "mush" or just general noise around it. Also less sustain than the other strings.

I've been able to power through by just hammering that string harder but that doesn't work so well when recording. I put a new set on, everything sounded good - now have about 8 or so hours on that set and the G string is going bad. D'Addarios.

Can anybody advise me on this? Do I need a new bridge? Different string brand? I have a lot of other instruments and don't experience anything like this on any of them.

Thanks in advance!

[Howard Parker]

Sounds normal (Assuming a square neck). Aggressive players change (especially 3rd) strings after only a few hours of play time.
Phosphor Bronze strings are especially susceptible. Coated strings and other formulations less so.

Like many, I'm a P/B fan boy and buy .028 3rds in bulk. The string takes a beating.

Try other formulations. You may find something you like or be willing to perhaps sacrifice a bit of tone for increased longevity.

h

[James P Mitchell]

Wow I'm surprised to hear this. None of my other instruments (acoustic/electric guitars, mandolins, banjo, steels of all kinds, etc) suffer this problem. Any idea of why this would happen on a square neck dobro but not any of those other instruments?

I'll order some 28 strings.

[Howard Parker]

Yep...

It's the device you hold in your left hand

And that the 3rd string is often considered the root/home base of whatever key you are in and many folks play a (what I call) a "3rd string strategy".

I had 2 gigs this past Saturday, 60 miles apart with no time to change strings between gigs so.... when guitar #1 went thud after 3 sets. I opted to use guitar #2 for a fresh start.

Now the strings get changed on both.

It's the nature of dobro playing.

h

[Howard Parker]

I'll add that in my playing (bluegrass/Americana) I incorporate lots of hammer-ons in my technique. That 3rd takes a LOT of pounding and wear. Unlike lap/pedal steels you really have to "push" the guitar to extract acceptable tone.

It takes a beating.

h

[K Maul]

Yes, we all have that problem. The string gets a beating and starts unwinding a little bit even though you can’t see it right away. One of the reasons why Uncle Josh Graves with Flatt & Scruggs used an unwound G, I believe a 24 or 26. It doesn’t go so well with modern technique though. Sometimes I use a stainless steel wound third and it lasts a little bit longer. It can be a nice tonal transition between the first two unwound and the wound bronze strings. Try it - you may like it.

[Steven Wilson]

I switched to Nickle Bronze Addario's a while back when Rob Ickes recommended that. I believe they last at least twice as long as the Phosphor Bronze. My hands tend to sweat and I know that contributes to corrosion of the Phosphor Bronze. I don't see it with Nickle Bronze. I'm skeptical of the coated strings because I don't know what they are "coated" with. Nickle Bronze sets cost more but I think it's worth it.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Just an observation that when I broke that 3rd. string, I replaced it with what I had on hand. It is a D'Addario 80/20 Bright Bronze (BW) IIRC. It is a brighter string than phosphor bronze and has a little different timbre, but it is brighter and seems to stay such.

I'm not a professional dobro player nor very active anywhere but at home, so my situation may be different.

Just a note to say that might be worth a try and they're easy to find at music stores since they are sold for acoustic guitar. Nothing to lose other than a couple bucks.

[James P Mitchell]

Thanks guys. Ordered a bunch of 28s. Appreciate the input!

[Lee Rider]

I switched to Nickle Bronze Addario's a while back when Rob Ickes recommended that. I believe they last at least twice as long as the Phosphor Bronze. My hands tend to sweat and I know that contributes to corrosion of the Phosphor Bronze. I don't see it with Nickle Bronze. I'm skeptical of the coated strings because I don't know what they are "coated" with. Nickle Bronze sets cost more but I think it's worth it.

I went to nickle bronze strings about 4 years ago after talking to Trey Hensley about them. He used to change strings at the break in every show! I have found they last much longer. I chunk on the G string a lot and can strip one of the windings of phosphor bronze strings in a couple of hours playing. Nickle bronze also sound good with a magnetic pickup.

[Mark Eaton]

Adding to what others have said, I always think of the 3rd or high G string on the dobro as being in the middle of a very busy "intersection." It's highly possible that it is the string the gets plucked and barred more often than the other five.

That being the case, it's also the lightest gauge of the four wound strings so the combination of the two makes for the string that dies first in a set.

I've never been "married" to one brand and a specific set only, I like to switch it around. Differences are subtle, but it's kind of of a poor man's version of having a different guitar when you go with a different brand and formula on your next string change.

Though if forced to choose one brand/formula only, I have also become a fan of D'Addario Nickel (as opposed to "nickle") Bronze NB1656. The whole set definitely lasts a lot longer than the popular phosphor bronze EJ42. Even though nickel is part of the formula on the wound strings, the tone is dramatically different than straight nickel wound strings.

Though they are considerably more expensive, it's worth it to me because I'm not a fan of changing strings. I guess some people find it to be sort of therapeutic - I'm not that guy. I have purchased them from the D'Addario store on Amazon. Current price is $11.99 in comparison to the EJ42 set at $6.99. If you keep your eyes peeled they occasionally list them on sale for a discount, I bought several sets last year when they were running a sale.

[Glenn Wilde]

I see everyone recommending the 28 G string, Beard makes a set called 28s with it. I've been using them and they are fine strings.

[Mark Eaton]

I see everyone recommending the 28 G string, Beard makes a set called 28s with it. I've been using them and they are fine strings.

The vast majority of dobro sets these days come with a .028w third string. A number of years ago a bunch us were clamoring for D’Addario to change the 26 third to 28 in the popular EJ42 set.

It took a few years of complaining before they finally made the change to a 28. I don’t know if it was because there was enough of an uprising from us grassroots weekend warrior players, or if it was due to big dog D’Addario endorsers like Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes asking for it so they finally made the change.

Speaking of Beard, they also have a set with a .029w third string - but after trying a couple sets a number of years ago, for whatever reason I don’t care for it. It’s likely hard to believe to a non-musician that a thousandth of an inch is noticeable - but it is.

[Bill Leff]

I'm the outlier. I've had a set of Beard 29's on my Recording King Phil Ledbetter for at least 4-5 months. No dead strings. I must either not be playing hard enough or long enough. Ok by me. I hate changing strings.