String Tension
*August 18, 2023
Not too long ago, I did a search for hard tension strings for classical guitars. Instead of a search result of packs of strings, I got results of articles about hard tension strings. I read through a number of them and had one of those moments where you realized something in which you “should have known”.
The articles I read pretty much said that the hard tension strings will give more volume on the classical guitar and because of the higher tension, the strings vibrates a smaller/shorter distance. This could be the difference of string buzz with a lighter gauge/lower tension set of strings with low string action.
Usually, I find new guitar players trying to go with lighter set of strings on a steel string acoustic guitar because fretting hurts their fingers. They might put on some 10’s or 11’s but the trade off you get is a thinner sound from the unwound strings. I’m sure that’s not in their minds when they are just starting off.
*note – even a Parlor guitar is commonly set up with 12-53/54’s. I have had some people inquire about what string gauge is on the Parlor. I think their belief was that because it is a smaller guitar, the string gauge would be smaller.
To an electric guitar, I wouldn’t really be able to say that there would be a volume change – we all know it will be the pick ups and pick up heights that will affect the output.
Not too long ago, I worked on a customer’s Fender Jaguar. I am pretty sure it was the first time I worked on a short scale guitar -24″.
When I did some research into the guitar, it was actually recommended to switch to 10’s or 11’s from the factory 9’s as buzzing was a very common issue with the guitar. The short scale on the guitar makes the tension lower compared to the more common 24.75″ and 25.5″ scale guitars.
The bigger gauge strings will have a higher tension when tuned to A440 (in this case) and therefore have less slack if strung with the factory recommended 9’s.
Those of us that go into the drop tuning on the guitars, need to go to a thicker set of strings for drop tuning: 12-56 for drop C tuning. This just means that when you are set up for drop C tuning, the string tension should be in the “normal” range.
I used to use D’Addario 11-49’s and used my guitars in standard tuning all the way to drop C for that System of a Down stuff. I didn’t know much back then, I was just playing and trying to learn how to play.
It is important to have your guitar setup for the string gauge and tuning you play in. You would want your guitar setup to be at it’s best playing condition without any extra stress or load. If you own mulitple guitars and switch guitars, the next guitar should be pretty much the same as the one you just put down.
There could and would be some factors that will change that such as the actual use of the guitar ie. strings may be set higher for a guitar you do heavy strumming on, lower for finger style playing.
Sure, this can result in you having a few more axes than you probably need but it’s the right way to go about it.
Another thing to mention is the scale length of your guitar. If you do a lot of bending, you would notice a 24.75″ scale guitar will bend easier than the 25.5″ scale guitar with the same gauge of strings. This goes back to the string tension: there will be less tension on those strings on the Gibson as opposed to the Fender.
Now, when you get to a 7+ string guitar that is not multi scale/fanned frets, you’ll run into the issue of the low strings buzzing. I haven’t had issues with 7 string guitars but this is more especially on 8+ string guitars – I owned an 8 string Ibanez RG8 long enough to find out it needed some surgery or a new tuning machines to accommodate a heavier gauge 8th string.
Multi scale/fanned fret guitars are not new, and not actually needed for a 6 string guitar but when you get into that 7th string, you will need the extra scale length that is given with the fanned frets. This obviously affects the string tension and the intonation – again, more especially when going into 8 string guitars.