string tension questions

[Darkstorm]

Heavier gauge by same brand has more tension. Longerscale has more tension. With low B 5 string basses longer scale is more popular due to the small increase in tension that gives for less floppy sound. I find lighter gauge strings give better balance of treble to bass content. So besides better playabilty I find lighter gauge have better tone balance. The tone shift isnt major, its a small tweek,ut stil worthwhile. Main thing is better playabilty of lighter gauge.

[knuckle_head]

Originally posted by hasbeen ....lets say you start off with two identical .105 strings. Then, you compress the windings one. That string will now be a narrower guage but it will still have the same mass as the other and the same tension.

Altering manufacturing technique is cheating.....



The only manufacturer to my knowledge that has gone to the trouble of giving a value to the mass of their strings is D'Addario - and created a grand reference as a result.

I wish other string makers would do the same as it makes figuring out sets so much easier.

TI has the right idea imo; a balanced tension set, or even one with a tighter bottom than top performs better to me.

[hasbeen]

Originally posted by knuckle_head Altering manufacturing technique is cheating..... The only manufacturer to my knowledge that has gone to the trouble of giving a value to the mass of their strings is D'Addario - and created a grand reference as a result. I wish other string makers would do the same as it makes figuring out sets so much easier. TI has the right idea imo; a balanced tension set, or even one with a tighter bottom than top performs better to me.

yes, I agree. That's one reason I use DR. They take the time to make sets of exactly the same guage but in different tensions/stiffness.....accomplished by using hex vs. round cores and vice versa.