![]() The simple act of playing different tensions of string brings to light some noticeable differences. ![]() In our quest to decide on the right string tension for our guitar, if facts and specs can’t get us there, talking about ‘feel’ just might. And if you’re coming over from the acoustic world, classical guitar strings are of much lower tension than steel strings by the way. Hannabach alone offers 5 tension variants.īroadly speaking, European makes like Savarez and Hannbach lean towards greater tension than US counterparts like D’Addario and La Bella. More so if you consider that some brands don’t stick to the 3 tension types but have extra options like Medium-Hard Tension, Extra Hard Tension and others. The other value, that of tension, ideally could have been of great practical value but unfortunately isn’t. The only heartening thing in all this is that the diameter differences between brands are so marginal that you should be able to get any MT string from any brand through the holes in your tie block. Tension Note Diameter (in) Tension (lbs) D’Addario EJ45 Normal Tension E 0.028”Ġ.711 mm 16.23 La Bella 2001 MT Medium Tension E 0.029”Ġ.737 mm 15.40 Hannabach 815MT Medium tension E. Let’s look at the first string alone once again, but this time of Medium Tension strings from the same popular brands. But you will certainly notice the tension numbers ‘jumping about’ as they please. If we add more brands to the list above (of only their first string HT variant) you may as a layperson conclude that the diameter range is not that wide after all. Tension Note Diameter (in) Tension (lbs) D’Addario EJ46 HT Hard Tension E 0.0285”Ġ.724 mm 16.81 La Bella 2001 Hard Tension E 0.030”Ġ.762 mm 16.61 Hannabach 815HT High Tension E 0.0283”Ġ.719 mm 16.53 Savarez 520J High Tension E 0. While it is instructive to look at the numbers behind the different tensions of string of the same manufacturer, the picture gets muddy and inconclusive when you compare tensions between manufacturers.įor instance, let’s take the first string alone of High Tension sets from some popular brands and compare their specs. You can see the extra hard tension string needs to be put under a greater force to generate the same note, the low E. The string gauge is 0.029” at a tension of 16.4 lbs. Now compare it with the low E string from D’Addario’s EJ44 Extra Hard Tension set. The low E string (6th string) has a string gauge of 0.0285” at a tension of 15.8 lbs. Take a popular set of strings like the D’Addario EJ46 Hard Tension. Experiment, experiment, experiment… Let’s look at some numbers.High Tension strings and your guitar bracing.High Tension strings and greater volume.We allow each manufacturer to tell us their considered opinion and we react the best we can. We will also discuss the other important aspect of choosing one type over the other: its playability.īut before we get to that, we must start by observing that there is currently no industry standard of numerical values that conclusively decide if a string is low, medium or high tension. We will take up the much-discussed issue of the loudness of high tension strings shortly in more detail. They produce a clearer fundamental note with clean sounding chords and harmonies that players of a more conventional repertoire prefer. Medium and light tension strings vibrate more loosely when played. They generate more partials for a complex sound that players of more modern repertoire prefer. Why would you choose high tension strings for your guitar over normal tension strings or vice versa? High tension classical guitar strings are louder and have a tighter vibration. Or to put it another way: if you have a string of a certain diameter and want to achieve a certain pitch at a certain scale length, you need a force to make it happen. Popularly referred to as ‘gauge’ in the acoustic/electric world, string thickness is simply the diameter of the string. Since the scale length of your guitar is a given and the pitch of a specific string is also a given, the only thing that really affects tension in a practical way is the string thickness. Tension depends on three things: scale length, pitch and thickness of the string. Guitar strings are grouped by tension values: light, medium and high tension.
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