Currently I'm using a Gibson SG (short scale at 24.75") with D'Addario strings
e 11 string tension 19.6
B 14 string tension 17.8
G 18 string tension 18.6
D 28 string tension 21.3
A 38 string tension 21.6
E 49 string tension 19.7
If I had another guitar and tuned it flat by one fret/half step/Eb tuning with these
e 12 string tension 23.3 (if not detuned)
B 16 string tension 23.3 (if not detuned)
G 20 string tension 19.4 (if not detuned)
D 32 string tension 28.1 (if not detuned)
A 42 string tension 26.3 (if not detuned)
E 54 string tension 24.3 (if not detuned)
Would the string tension "feel" about the same? Looking at the low E you see a 4 pound increase in string tension. Would tuning down offset that?
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
On this site : http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/stringxxiii.html
you can enter the scale length, string gauge and desired pitch, e.g. "Eflat" and it will calculate for you.
The initial calcs are different, but you can get a sense of the relative change.
Example: 24.75in scale, low E string at .049 wound (no flat option), gives 20.11lbs vs. D'addario's 19.7.
A .054 gauge wound string tuned to E comes in at 25.89lbs, while the same tuned to Eb shows 23.06. You have to go down to D on that string to get 20.55lbs, close to the reference 20.11.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Thanks Slej, I just input the values and it seems this gauge of strings is designed to be detuned to D or a whole step down to get pretty close to the tension I currently have on my standard tuned guitar. As such, maybe I'll just use "11's" on it and it will be a bit sloppier feel. I would ideally like to have the "feel" the same but that would likely take say
11-15-19-28-40-50
The program would not support certain gauges so this was the closest to the feel I want. How did you find this calculator? It's a pretty cool tool!
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
How did you find this calculator? It's a pretty cool tool!
I read on another site an article about "optimizing tension" or some other mumbo jumbo about how all the string makers have it wrong, and how it's easy to create a set of strings where the tension is balanced across all six. Of course, he was trying to sell his own "custom" string sets ... but anyway, I ended up googling for a tension calculator and happened to come across that one. There are a few out on the web, but that one has a bit more functionalilty, even if it doesn't support all gauges.
One interesting observation: when people talk about SRV and his 13-gauge strings, someone always chimes in with a comment on how he tuned down so there wasn't as much tension. But as the calculator shows, going down a 1/2-step to Eb doesn't take away much! Still about as beefy as a set of 12s, which most mortals would really struggle with for barre chords and bends.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
How does string tention affect the sound, or is it more about the fact that string tention comes along with bigger strings which are the true reason for a "fatter" tone?
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You sure you want to know?
Strings create a specific pitch by varying three factors: string length, string tension, and string mass. As you get longer/looser/lighter, the pitch goes down. In order to play in tune, we then vary another factor, like increasing the tension when the strings have more mass.
But the fundamental pitch isn't the whole story - the tone created by a string also depends on the overtones produced when a string vibrates. And that depends pretty strongly on another factor, string flexibility.
You already know flexibility affects the way a string sounds - you just don't think of it in those terms. When you adjust the intonation of a guitar, it's because thicker strings are stiffer than thin strings... the very end of a string won't move when a string vibrates, because there's not enough flexibility for the string to move in response to a wave before the next wave starts trying to move it in the opposite direction. As a result, the thicker the string, the bigger the difference between the string length and the "speaking" length - the part that actually vibrates. The less flexible the string, the shorter the speaking length will be - and the more you have to set the bridge saddle back in order to get it to play in tune with the next (more flexible) string.
So now that you've got your mind wrapped around flexibility/speaking length, let's turn to overtones... those are created by portions of a string vibrating at faster rates than the whole string. It's these overtone vibrations that make playing harmonics possible. When you play a harmonic, you're touching the string at a "node" - a point where parts of the string moving at a specific overtone aren't moving. That cancels all the vibrations where the string is moving at that point, and leaves the rest... the 12th fret harmonic allows all 2x multiples of the string to vibrate, but cancels all others; the 7th fret harmonic lets through the 3x multiples, etc.
But as the string gets less flexible, these node points get bigger. Just like the open string, the edges of the nodes can't respond fast enough to changes in direction. And that means that as a string gets stiffer the sections producing overtone vibrations get shorter, and the overtones produced will be progressively sharper than a perfect string would produce.
When we hear the sound of a string, our ears are responding to ALL the vibrations a string produces. Since flexible (thinner) strings are closer to perfect, the overtones are in nearly perfect agreement with the fundamental tone. As strings get fatter, the overtones don't line up as neatly, creating a 'fatter' sound.
The effect of this overtone shift is called a string's inharmonicity. It's a very tiny difference in overtone frequency, so we don't perceive the overtones as being out of tune - but they're big enough to affect the timbre, or overall sound of the instrument.
You can even hear this on thin, flexible strings. The difference between a 1st string G at the 15th fret and a 2nd string G at the 20th fret will strike your ears as a bigger difference in tone than the Gs at the 3rd/8th frets. Since the higher octave produces faster faster overtone vibrations, string inharmonicity has a bigger effect.
Now aren't you glad you asked? :)
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