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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Having broke 4 strings over two perfromances this weekend (one was a new string I just put on, broke the next day), I'm goign to try moving to medium gauge (I have two sets I won at Matt Smith's Chop shop).
As Trboy pointed out to me at the tour the G and D strings have the most tension (longest!) and of course these are the ones that get broken the most.
I was looking at the D'Addario sets and the tensions are listed right on the package.
What I was wondering was, do the different gauges have different tensions? Do lighter gauges have more tension or is it the other way around?
I will say that on Saturday we were playing outside and it was partly cloudy and everything was behind schedule and my Legend sat up on stage for a couple of hours in the sun, clouds, sun clouds. So I think the temperature nioght have been a factor... |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 265
Location: Warrenton, Virginia | Paul
I think you're dead on it. I would believe the heavier guage has more pressure on the neck. I believe the sun and humidity while waiting to perform may have caused some expansion/swelling and may have led to the breakage.
I use light guage strings
Sam |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | There's more to tension than guage or overall string length. The guage of wound strings is determined by the size of the core & wrap wires. Say you make a string with a .015 core and a .010 wrap giving an overall gauge of .035. This string will have a different tension and feel to a string of the same gauge but made with say a .017 core and a .009 wrap. Using strings with a heavier wrap wire can prevent breakages on the D & G strings |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Thanks Paul! |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | All the tensions are listed on the D'Addario website |
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Joined:
December 2002
Posts: 939
Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Upate to this thread.
I switched from Martin Phosphour Bronze Light gauge to D'Addario Phosphour Bronze Medium gauge and have not broken a string over 3 rehearsals, one performance and several sessions playing on my own (trying to get "Crackerbox Palace" down!).
Think I found my strings. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | "Crackerbox Palace".
GREAT choice, Paul! Love that song!
I've been using the D'Add PhosBronze's all along,
but I've been using lights. Used to break D's & G's CONSTANTLY (still do). Switched to mediums for a while, but it didn't really help. Switched back to lights as they seemed to feel more "comfortatable" after 4-hour gigs.
Thinkin' about trying mediums again in the hopes of making my sound less "thin" and "buzzy". Especially some of the more "aggressive" finger-picking tunes. Maybe I just need to get "used" to playing with them. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15682
Location: SoCal | Any string gauge change takes time to get used to. I've always used mediums and am very comfortable with them. To me lights don't sound as full. I've got lights on my old Deluxe Balladeer but may go back to mediums. They just don't sound as full or feel right. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 23
Location: Perth Amboy, NJ | I recently bought 6 sets of strings from webstrings.com for about $15 total and free shipping. 3 sets of different gauges in two formulations. To my surprise, I found the 'Bluegrass' gauge provided the best sound on my Collectors O shallowbowl. This gauge uses the E,A and D strings from a medium gauge set, and the G,D and E from the light gauge set, all phosphor bronze. The heavier lower strings offset the lack of bass punch on the shallow bowl, and yet seem as easy to play as the light gauge, expecially since I tend to bend on the higher strings. Other companies also make Bluegrass gauge - you might want to give them a try or try webstrings. I used to use D'Ad's and these seem comparable in quality and tone for about half the price. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Gene B
That's like the Ernie Ball "heavy bottom" electric sets that I use on my solid body Viper, great for country.
Bailey |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I prefer heavier strungs. You get more sound that way. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Being a solo performer, I like to de-tune by guitars 1/2 step to preserve my voice over a 3 or 4 hour set. I have used medium gauge strings on all of my six strings to prevent buzzing while de-tuned. My new Legend LX plays just fine with lights on it even while de-tuned. I think that I may try a set of mediums just to see how they sound on the LX. I swear by D'Addario Phosphur Bronze strings myself. I find that they hold up very well and are available in three set packs which save some money (which is important to those of us with way too many guitars).
By the way Cliff, as one who has seen you perform many times, I've never found your sound to be "thin and buzzy". Sometimes things sound different from the listener's point of veiw and in my opinion, everthing sounds fine. I agree however, that fingerstyle stuff sounds much better on medium gauge strings. |
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String Tensions