Beginner question about string gauges

[Tommy Boswell]

I just bought my first lap steel, an SX Lap 8. It came with string gauges .010 to .052 intended for an E9 tuning. But I want to use a 6th tuning of some type (B6, A6, C6, or other) that will allow me to learn licks that I can also play on the C6 neck of my Williams D10 pedal steel. It doesn't have to be C6, just any 6th tuning where the intervals from string to string are similar to the D10 back neck strings one through eight. String one being the exception since my Williams is tuned to a D on top.

That said, can anyone suggest a tuning for me to start with? And recommend string gauges for that tuning?

The scale length on the SX is 24 3/4 inches.

[Rick Aiello]

C6 (13) …

Gauges for 8 stringers :

E. 0.014
C. 0.017
A 0.020 plain
G. 0.026 wound
E. 0.030
C. 0.036
A (Bb) 0.042
C. 0.068.

To match up with your PSG … use a hi G (.012) or … most have a D (.016) now … for the first string and eliminate that lo C … but I personally prefer an E on top

[Michael Kiese]

Best advice I can give about strings is to get geeky about string tension.

Do a lot of experimentation with string gauges, and find out what string tension you like the best. Knowing the string tension you like will give you a baseline across various scale lengths.

You can use string tension calculators, which are cheap or free apps. Or you can find them online on websites for free.