|
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Do electic guitar strings exert the tension on the guitar as acoustic strings?
For example electic 11s vs acoustic 11s, which exert more tension?
And for that matter what about electic 9s vs acoustic 11s, which exert more tension? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 489
| If the scale length is the same, the .011" string doesn't know if it's on an electric or acoustic guitar. To tune it to pitch you're gonna have to apply the same amount of tension. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | But as they are made of different materials I figured they may have different characteristics.
Cooked spaghetti .011" thick will exert less tension than steel for example. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Depends on how long you cook it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | I think even raw spaghetti would have less tensile stregth than steel of the same thickness, perhaps not, maybe an Italian OFCer can verify this for us. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2007
Posts: 153
Location: New Jersey, USA | Clearly it is not the plain steel strings where the difference is felt. Nickel wound bass strings are more supple than bronze or brass. And most electric sets with an E lighter than 0.012" have an unwound G string, contributing to a looser feel. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 489
| Well, the plain strings are steel in either case. The wrapped strings use different alloys to increase the magnetic properties so they can be read by the magnetic pickups.
I am unaware of any change in mass as a result of the different alloys, any more than there would be going from bronze to phosphor bronze in a strictly acoustic application.
However, Rohrbacher Strings (which I have tried and didn't care for) claims that titanium can achieve pitch at lower tensions due to lower mass.
You might want to read what they have to say:
http://www.rohrtech.com/phys103.html |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Somewhere out there on the intarweb is a string site that lists total tension for the set.
Just going by feel I would have to say that acoustic strings have a measurably higher tension, but then that may be because electric strings tend to be a bit lighter gauge. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 489
| A couple of things, Fly. The electric string doesn't have to drive a top, just vibrate in a magnetic field. Consequently it doesn't need that much mass and you don't have to hit it as hard. So you can get away with a lighter gauge and the action can ride lower.
I often hear overly light strings on acoustics in what I suspect is an attempt at easier playability. The result tends to be loss of tone and intonation and lot of fretting out. No law against it, but it doesn't sound good to my ear. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Forgot driving tops and the like. Forget acoustic playing, this is about plugged in and recording...
I have something else in mind, I just want to know whether sticking electric 9s on my 1781 will cause unwanted strain. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | If anything the electric strings will have lower tension. How do I know? They're easier to bend. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Originally posted by TAFKAR:
If anything the electric strings will have lower tension. How do I know? They're easier to bend. So are you saying 'scientifically' electric strings with the same gauge as acoustic strings exert less tension OR are you saying the electric strings 'seem' to exert less tension based upon 'non scientific' evidence? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 489
| Originally posted by dweezil:
I just want to know whether sticking electric 9s on my 1781 will cause unwanted strain. Nah, you ain't gonna hurt anything, but you might not like the way it sounds. Then again, you might. Only one way to find out. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 582
Location: Denmark | Have two sets of D'Addario 11's. EXL115 electric and EJ26 acoustic. The back of the packing states:
EXL115 - 0.011 tension 19.6lbs (1st string)
EXL115 - 0.049 tension 19.7lbs (6th string)
EJ26 - 0.011 tension 19.6lbs (1st string)
EJ26 - 0.052 tension 25.2lbs (6th string) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | it could cause unwanted lack of strain. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Treble strings :
Hig E - B and ( Un-wound ) G are ALL Plain Steel !!
Both for Acoustic AND Electric Git.
Exept Classic Git. ( Nylon )
Bass strings are a MYRIAD of VARIETY ..
Depending on :
Material .. Core -Thickness.. Coil-Diameter
.. and in case of NEWTONE strings .. Amount of Coils..
http://www.newtonestrings.com/acoustic_page.htm
.. as I just received a set , I have no personal comment , but ..
Here a Review :
http://www.newtonestrings.com/Guitar%20mag%20review%20Jan%2007.pdf
Vic |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | tension is tension. Go to the D'addario website. Look at how much tension a particular set of strings pulls, then compare it to another set. Then you will know. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 1132
Location: NW Washington State | Download this D\'Addario String Tension Reference , or String Tension 101 . |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | Thanks, seems like it'll be OK. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | The lighter the string the less tension required to reach a specified pitch.
AJ |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | Originally posted by Losov:
Well, the plain strings are steel in either case. The wrapped strings use different alloys to increase the magnetic properties so they can be read by the magnetic pickups.
I am unaware of any change in mass as a result of the different alloys, any more than there would be going from bronze to phosphor bronze in a strictly acoustic application.
However, Rohrbacher Strings (which I have tried and didn't care for) claims that titanium can achieve pitch at lower tensions due to lower mass.
You might want to read what they have to say:
http://www.rohrtech.com/phys103.html |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | The reason I ask is because I want to experiment, but was just being (perhaps overly) cautious about the possible damage to the 1781.
They may well sound and feel like crap; then I'll take 'em off. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Dwez, There is one of the big string cmopanies that lists the tensions of each of the strings and sting packs they sell. Allstrings or something likethat. Try and find them on the web. I used them when I built an 8 String Bass out of a 4 string bass and neck and needed to know the tensions of the sets. There does seem to be tension differences depending on the quality of the strings. But they do not vary much from .000 Dia to .000 Dia.
Other than that try a set of electrics on the acoustic. They do not sound very good but they will work just fine.
As for the noodle theory you have............. buddy if you can get a .009 noodle to tune to a high E it will have a very similiar tension to a steel string. If you do get that to happen call NASA they will be interested in your Pasta....
Randy |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 698
Location: Cork, Ireland | I did try a 'medium gauge' nickel set in the Applause to see if they sounded better with the magnetic pickup (the balance between strings was slightly more even. Gauges were similar to an acoustic 'light' set and felt the same to play. Acoustically the sound was hard to compare though a friend said they didn't sound as good. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2336
Location: Brighty in Blighty | As I say it's an experiment started by the fact that Adrian Legg used to use electric 9s on his Adamas.
I would like to try it too. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 582
Location: Denmark | So, how do they sound? |
|
| |
Electric vs Acoustic strings tension