Live Steel Strings

Mike Johnson · Post by **Mike Johnson** » 23 Apr 2018 8:33 am

Hello Friends,
Just a little reminder, LIVE STEEL STRINGS are “STEEL” Great as Ever! Sid’s daughter, Jordon, who has been a big part of the company since day one, has taken over the company and is doing a great job!!

These are great strings and if you haven’t tried a set, I suggest you do. They only deal in steel guitar strings and they definitely have it figured out. These strings have a great tone and keep their sustain for a long time.

Give Jordon a call at 804-452-2019 or check out their website.
Thx
MIKE
http://livesteelstrings.com/

Larry Baker · Post by **Larry Baker** » 23 Apr 2018 10:22 am

What Mike said. They are great.

Carl Williams · Post by **Carl Williams** » 23 Apr 2018 11:03 am

Ditto Mike and Larry! Ordered strings last week and super quick service. Sid’s great strings and customer service live on...Carl

Torben Koch · Post by **Torben Koch** » 23 Apr 2018 1:54 pm

Yes I agre too, Live Steelstrings are awsome strings

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 23 Apr 2018 4:01 pm

I trust and rely on them to give me the sound I like.
Really super strings!

Billy Carr · Post by **Billy Carr** » 23 Apr 2018 10:32 pm

Live Steel Strings are all I use. Thanks.

Chris Templeton · Post by **Chris Templeton** » 24 Apr 2018 1:22 am

Live Steel Strings sells .O115 strings too!

Jack Ritter · Post by **Jack Ritter** » 24 Apr 2018 7:16 am

Been using the nickel wound sets for long time and for me are the best. Great tone and durability.

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 24 Apr 2018 2:01 pm

I was a faithful Ernie Ball, nickel wound user for many years. I have been using Live Steel strings on both necks for about 3 months now. I like the tone and sustain quality. Going to stay with them.

Billy Knowles · Post by **Billy Knowles** » 30 Apr 2018 2:17 am

Mike, Agree 100%, always use Live Steel in the shop and on my personal guitars. They are great.

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 1 May 2018 2:34 pm

They only deal in steel guitar strings and they definitely have it figured out

Some serious questions.

Just exactly how are they different from any other stainless steel guitar string (I assume they're stainless, but if they're nickel wrap how are they different from those?)?

Since there are only a few actual makers of strings and even fewer that "draw" their own wire I'm aware that almost every small-label string is a repackage of some major label string, sometimes with a different color ball end or wrap.

So if these are so different, how? Why? Who makes them and how do they make them into "pedal steel guitar strings", specifically? If they last/stay in tune longer - why?

Greg Thompson · Post by **Greg Thompson** » 1 May 2018 5:24 pm

Jim, Good Questions for them, will be interesting to say the least

Brad Malone · Post by **Brad Malone** » 5 May 2018 4:56 pm

Hey Jim, Some things you have to judge for yourself...try a set and see what happens..that is what I'm doing. THe service is great, I had my strings in less than a week

Greg Thompson · Post by **Greg Thompson** » 6 May 2018 2:51 am

Why not support this Forum and buy your strings through Bob???

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 6 May 2018 6:55 am

I have tried Live Steel Strings and they were fine. I couldn't detect any difference in quality from my usual Jagwires.

I use nickel, by the way.

I saw no reason to change brands.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 6 May 2018 9:32 am

Should this be in "Pedal Steel?"

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 6 May 2018 10:02 am

Barry Blackwood wrote:Should this be in "Pedal Steel?"

It is a PSG player's recommendation, not the supplier's, so I would think so.

As for my opinion on the quality of the strings: as I replaced Jagwires (LGSeries) with LSStrings (Custom Nickel) one by one, I found them almost identical in every way – tonally I can mix them despite one being steelwound and the other being nickelwound. The one slight difference I found was that the LSS needed "a hair" longer throw on the pedals than the Jagwires, but both brands needed shorter throw than SIT, D'Addario and other brands I have tested.

As shorter throw (less string expansion and contraction for a given raise and lower) means less string-bending over the changer, it may be one reason why LSS, and also Jagwires, tend to last longer than many other brands before breaking on the changer.

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 10 May 2018 6:39 pm

The one slight difference I found was that the LSS needed "a hair" longer throw on the pedals than the Jagwires, but both brands needed shorter throw than SIT, D'Addario and other brands I have tested.

You're talking about the wound strings only, right? Plain steel strings should vary enough to even notice - if they do I'd assume something's wrong with one or the other.

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 10 May 2018 9:11 pm

Jim Sliff wrote:You're talking about the wound strings only, right? Plain steel strings should vary enough to even notice - if they do I'd assume something's wrong with one or the other.

Fact is I noticed it on both plain and wound strings, or I would have written it off as difference in core thickness under the windings.
Not much difference, but I estimated up to 5 cents longer throw needed on the plain LSS compared to the same-gauge plain Jagwires. Not bad compared to other brands I have tried, and I'm still talking about plain strings.

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 11 May 2018 6:05 pm

Love live strings they seem to tune themselves like they no what note there meant to be.

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 11 May 2018 6:10 pm

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 11 May 2018 6:18 pm

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 11 May 2018 6:27 pm

Does that mean the rest of us should keep our opinions to ourselves?

Georg Sørtun · Post by **Georg Sørtun** » 11 May 2018 9:59 pm

Roger Rettig wrote:Does that mean the rest of us should keep our opinions to ourselves?

I for one sure want to read more opinions, on LSS and other – related – subjects.

Roger Rettig wrote:I saw no reason to change brands.

I had three…
1: Jagwires was not easy to come by for a while, and LSS was a very close second both tonally and otherwise, and available.
2: Ordering LSS Custom sets for my odd Extended E tuning was very easy and quick. They e-mailed me once to confirm that I had ordered the right gauges (thicker 7th and 9th octave string), and then delivered what I ordered within days to my US address. Excellent service.
3: the nickel-wound LSS are almost as bright-sounding as the steel-wound Jagwires they replaced, but less bar-slide noise.

My old favorites are D'Addario E9 steel guitar strings – with extra strings for my particular tuning, and I would still choose D'Addario for tonal qualities (livelyness) if it hadn't been for the fact that top strings didn't last very long – about 1/5 the time of LSS – maybe because they needed a longer throw which expose the strings to more bending on the changer. As I both raise and lower the 3d string (along with the 6th (and extended 7th)), I appreciate the longevity of the .0115 LSS (and Jagwire).

I also appreciate that the LSS can take the hammering-scratches from my narrow steel picks quite well without breaking or changing tone. I have had some string-brands break in the "pick-zone" – which with my picking style goes from on top of the PU to the bar (wherever it is), and while I can see the pick-marks on my LSS strings after only a few hours of playing, they have never failed there. I haven't been so lucky with some other string-brands.

So, I have no problem recommending the Live Steel Strings to anyone for their overall quality. They may not fulfill my wishes in every way, but they sure sound good on my PSGs, and they are extremely reliable. I hope they will be available, in the same quality, for years to come.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 12 May 2018 6:13 am

Mr King has now edited the contentious remarks from his posts so my response above appears to make no sense.

But I do take issue with the oft-repeated: "If it's good enough for - (insert the name of a top-gun steel-player here) - then who are we to argue?"

I have nothing but the greatest respect for Mike Johnson and I think he's a wonderful player but I've learned much on this Forum from all sorts of contributors, be they highly regarded or not quite so well known.

I've been lucky, I suppose, and have been able to get Jagwire strings consistently over the years.

The Steel Guitar Forum