Greetings from a new archery fanatic. I've spent about an hour reading through this entire thread and have found it to be a great read.  After I had got to page 14 I realized that some of you here might be able to help me with a string question.  I recently purchased a Herters Perfection Sitka 66" 28#  from **** and need to get a string for it.  What string should I get and where would I find it?   thanks..       I am making a 3Rivers order this week and was thinking of getting the bow string from them.

3 Rivers should be able to fix you up.  Just be sure to buy a string suitable for an older bow.  Look for descriptions such as B50 or dacron.  The newer low stretch strings can cut the tips off of the old bows unless they have been modified with stronger overlay material.

The string that you receive will probably be about four inches shorter that your bows listed length.  You will need to adjust the length of the string by twisting it tighter until it settles in.  Measure the brace height from the string to the deepest point in the grip.  Expect to see quite a drop in brace height in the first twenty five shots.  I do not kow the recommended brace height for your bow but you can use the search function for this forum and find it.  I usually start at 7 1/2 to 8 inches and just vary the length until I find the sweet spot.  I can't remember ever needing to untwist a new string to make it longer.  It usually takes a couple of days for me to get the string settled in and adjusted to the point that I do not need to measure very frequently .

I have posted this before but Lefties-R-Us (Allen) is all I'll use now. Have his B55 strings on 2 early 70's Bears.

Thanks for the suggestions. I ordered on from 3Rivers and I also did a search for Lefties but their site seems to be down.  I will try again later because I like the idea of buying, what do you call them?  custom? homemade? ....strings.

As I recall, those old Herters needed a rather high brace height. If the old decal is still on the bow I think they had the string length listed there.

mahantango, it does have the decal and it says "String length of 59 1/2".  That's not what I ordered from 3Rivers though.  I had called the technical advice number about another question I had and then asked his advice on what string to get.  He recommended B-50 Flemish String Recurve 15 Strand - 63" instead of the 59 1/2 that's listed on the bow.  If it doesn't work out I can always use the string on another bow.  Think I'm going to put in a quick order with Lancaster for the longer length string.  They seem to have more of a selection of strings than 3Rivers.  Adding on here.  I've spent the last hour digging up some online info on my new bow and yes I need a different length string from what I ordered.  I also was interested in finding out what I could about George Herter and I now am happier than ever that I bought this bow.  Anyone that says  "people who use considerable red pepper in their foods are almost immune to atomic radiation" are alright by me!

Measure the string when it arrives.  I may be mistaken but I think a 63" string will measure 59".  

I have never purchased a string as I build my own or I would be more certain.  If my memory serves me correctly you would order a 68" string for a 68" bow.  The stringmaker knows that a 68"ATA bow requires a 64 to 64 1/2" string and builds it to that length.

I just found a 1970 Herters Catalog...pretty obviously the way those bows were measured was a little different from the norm since the longest is called a 75 inch...sounds like the 59.5 inch string length is correct for the 66 inch Sitka...that would make it about a 62 inch bow by AMO standards..we sure would like to see a picture since depending on the actual year of manufacture that bow could be made with the no-longer-available Brazilian Rosewood

DDave

From the description of the limb tips in the catalog I would not hesitate to shoot that bow with a modern low stretch string

DDave

Damascusdave, The Sitka arrived today and the seller sent it with a 60"string.  Haven't had a chance to try it yet but it sure is a sweet bow.
I'm going to try adding a few pictures.
I tried Dropbox and Flicker, didn't work so I have to figure out how to add pictures.

Photobucket is the standard medium to use here to post pictures although lately it will not work for me with this computer

DDave

I figured how to add pictures using Flicker. Share image, BBCode then pull out code starting with  https://farm  and ending with jpg    :D

Here's my Herters Perfection Sitka 66  

 

 

Nice! Try Chad at Champion Bow Strings he is a sponsor on this site. Buy your string from a string maker.

Bjon,  Buying from a string maker is one of my latest archery discoveries.  I have found a few that I am planning on purchasing strings from, and yes Chad is one of them.