Is this true?
Dannycyc
either
hard tension or extra hard tension strings?
What is the benefit of the normal tension strings besides it is easier
on the fretting hand?
-- Danny
Stanley Yates
>Is it true that almost all the professional classical guitarists are using
>either
>hard tension or extra hard tension strings?
No.
>
>What is the benefit of the normal tension strings besides it is easier
>on the fretting hand?
They are more sensitive to rh nuance (which some view as a detriment)
and vibrato, and even sound louder than higher tension strings on many
instruments.
Stanley
Roger A. Cope
high tension string - therefore use quite a lot of them - but later step
down for performance or recording. rac ci...@mchsi.com
--
Roger A. Cope
Director of Guitar Studies
Brevard College
Brevard, NC 28712 USA
cop...@brevard.edu
www.brevard.edu/music/faculty.htm
"Stanley Yates" <sya...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3defb133...@newsgroups.bellsouth.net...
Todd Tipton
Dannycyc wrote:
In my opinion, one should experiment with many types of strings. I agree with
Stanley, having used the hardest tension strings for a long time. However,
with my Traphagen, I noticed over time that the sound was becoming a bit
choked. I merely say this to present an exception. Stepping down to a lower
tension string appeared to bring a new life to the instrument. I think
sometimes that an instrument will change over time and respond differently to
certain strings as a result. Sometimes the change may be permanent or
sometimes the instrument may just need a change: need to be "shaken" up a
bit. I don't know the science behind it, but only know what I hear. I suppose
many variables add to string choice: construction, age, climate, amount of
play, etc.
Todd Tipton
Cincinnati, Oh.
513-474-6195
http://toddtipton.com
Mark Lind
wrote:
>Stepping down to a lower
>tension string appeared to bring a new life to the instrument. I think
>sometimes that an instrument will change over time and respond differently to
>certain strings as a result. Sometimes the change may be permanent or
>sometimes the instrument may just need a change: need to be "shaken" up a
>bit.
Or perhaps it was your ear that needed the "shaking up".
>I don't know the science behind it, but only know what I hear.
Exactly. It's hard to eliminate subjective opinions from such a
subjective thing. By the way, I'm not trying to yank your chain, I'm
just pointing out my observations along the same line.
I play both the steel string and the classical guitar. Sometimes my
steel strings start sounding a little off their highs. Then, I'll
switch to the classical for about an hour, then go back to the steel
string. Like magic, the color is back!
I also have noticed that if I visit my parents house, and play my
mom's guitar for a while (an old Yamaha classical), then go home and
play my own usually humble sounding Raimundo 140, I'm blown away by
it's lutelike sound.
I do have one question. Do the superhigh tension strings give less
buzzing, and is that why pros use them? Why would you even want to
play with low tension strings other than to make the strings easier to
fret gently?
The reason I ask is that compared to even the lowest tension steel
strings (like the folk Silk and Steel I use), superhigh tension nylon
is nothing when it comes to being hard on your fingertips. I can't
imagine people are avoiding putting tension on their nylon strings to
save their fingers. Little kids often learn on steel strings, and
after a few weeks of playing develop caluses that make that easy.
Mark
----
Please remove NO and SPAM to reply by e-mail
Todd Tipton
I don't know the answers to your questions, but I appreciate your perspective.
Your experience is convincing enough to me to consider the possibility that it
-can- be the ears that need shaken up.
Although mt steel strings experience is in the distant past, I -too- can't imagine
(on -nylon-) that many folks would be avoiding extra tension in order to save the
fingers; I think the difference is marginal in my experience.
LVF
I asked my guitar instructor the same thing when I started taking lessons.
He told me the popularity of the harder tension strings is propagated
through instructors (and schools) who teach "harder, louder, faster =
better". He nor I subscribe to this theory. I (as Todd recommended) tried
many different string brands and tensions on my Esteve guitar. I was mainly
looking for a certain sound rather than volume, but here is what I found.
(to keep this post to a reasonable length I am only going to cover the sets
of strings I liked the most) Augustine Regals and D'addario Pro Artes both
were easy to play in the higher tensions. Aside from the strings being a
little thicker, my left hand didn't notice a difference. The Augustines
produced more volume in the high tension strings, but I did not notice a
volume advantage with the D'Addario high tension strings.The Augustine
Regals were my favorite of the two but neither gave me the sound I was
looking for. I ended up using Savarez Corum/Alliance (Corum bases with
Alliance trebles) to get the sound I wanted. Playability is great with the
normal tension (which is what I still use today). The high tension Savarez
C/A strings were an absolute bear to play. They gave great volume of buzzes
and thuds plus my left hand was completely worn out after a 30 minute
practice session. Had I not seen it myself, I would not have believed a
change in tension would have made THAT much of a difference in playability.
So to summarize: (sorry to be so long winded today)
Not all hard tension strings are harder to play
Not all hard tension strings are louder
Different strings will play and sound differently on any given guitar, so
try different brands/tensions.
Hope this helps
Larry
"Dannycyc" <dann...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20021205144939...@mb-mp.aol.com...
Ray Kelly
> I do have one question. Do the superhigh tension strings give less
> buzzing, and is that why pros use them? Why would you even want to
> play with low tension strings other than to make the strings easier to
> fret gently?
Choice of strings will also be dependent on the guitar's top. Some
guitars tops may be restricted from vibrating fully with high tension
strings, while other guitars may need high tension strings just to get
the top moving. I believe David Russell uses normal tension strings on
his Damann because he feels that high tension strings reduce the
sensitivity of the instrument.
Ray
Greg M. Silverman
and, low tension string allow you to do Terz tuning, i.e., tuned to G,
and according to several people on this NG, a tuning which makes the
guitar quite LOUD, and which is something I will attempt on my Tatay
when I get my new Oberg tomorrow! Yippee! Ya hoo! He Haw!
gms--
Todd Tipton
LVF wrote:
> The high tension Savarez
> C/A strings were an absolute bear to play. They gave great volume of buzzes
> and thuds plus my left hand was completely worn out after a 30 minute
> practice session. Had I not seen it myself, I would not have believed a
> change in tension would have made THAT much of a difference in playability.
>
Now that's very interesting. In my experience, it hasn't made much of a
difference. I suppose it could just be the guitars I have played as well. I
will say this now in retrospect: It wasn't too long ago that I played a
wonderfully sounding guitar by an up and coming luthier. I also know that the
guitar was strung with high tension Savarez. My only problem with the
instrument (and not everyone felt this way) was that it was a bear to play. The
possibility of the string tension being a significant factor never occured to
me. Ill tell you this much: I would like to play those guitars -again- with a
lower tension string and see what happens.
David G. Brown
@austin.rr.com:
When David Russell played for our guitar society a few years ago he was
asked what tension of string he used. His anwser was - as low as he could
get away with (or words to that effect). He didn't state his reasoning
but could very well have been what you stated above.
On a personal level. - I have some problems with my left hand as a result
of an old scaphoid(a bone in the hand) fracture that occurred in high
school over thirty years ago. Holding long barres have become a problem
as well as pain from arthritis. I have found that using normal tension
strings works much better for me than the high. They are much easier to
play for long periods of time without fatiguing, even when I factor in
the need to use a higher action (normal tension strings vibrate with a
larger amplitude).
Regardless, I feel string tension choice is highly individual, and one
needs to consider many factors.
David G. Brown
LVF
five different guitars test the same strings on each guitar and then change
the strings w/ higher tensions to see what happens. Based on former
discussions in this group regarding string choice, I would venture to say
that the same strings that are hard to play on my guitar may be easier to
play on another guitar. Of course you would want to set up each guitar with
the same action to make the experiment fair.
Makes me wonder if strings need to be matched to the guitars....dare I
say....personality? ;)
Larry
"Todd Tipton" <to...@toddtipton.com> wrote in message
news:3DEFF10A...@toddtipton.com...
Al Carruth
<<Makes me wonder if strings need to be matched to the guitars....dare I
say....personality? ;)>>
Bingo!
High tension should give more volume at the expense of being harder to play.
Raising the action is actually more productive in that respect: increasing the
action height 10% should put 20% more power into the guitar, which is the same
as raising the tension by 20%.
Guitars with heavier tops and/or bridges sometimes need higher tension strings
just to 'sound out'. OTOH, light guitars will sometimes 'choke' with heavy
strings. It has to do with the relative impedance of the strings and the top,
which gets sort of complicated.
Probably the best course is to find the strings that make the guitar sound
best, and then find the action height that gives you 'enough' volume. You may
find that raising the saddle will also change the tone, and call for lighter
strings to preserve the balance.
Alan Carruth / Luthier
http://www.alcarruthluthier.com
David Raleigh Arnold
You covered it really well except for one thing.
Nylon strings suck. I figured decades ago that
polyester would sound more natural, darker,
woodier, because it
has a structure like natural strings rather than
being a cooled liquid like tar, and sure enough,
when I heard a composite with polyester the
3rd string was remarkably better. I have been
bitching about nylon for decades, and now that
better strings can be had, I would think you
would be on them like white on rice.
I thought that polyester monofilament was
available, but maybe only composite. Those
crooked bastards at DuPont have avoided making
polyester monofilament for a very long time.
I would also expect that a slightly lower
tension would be appropriate. In any case,
it certainly is going to cause you to make
guitars that sound even better. :-)
DaveA
dra@ or http://www.openguitar.com
GuitarsWeB
>his Damann because he feels that high tension strings reduce the
>sensitivity of the instrument.
>
>Ray
I agree with David Russell. I just took a set of D'Addario highs off my David
Schramm double top, same as a Damann soundboard. I feel the normals feel better
and even have a bigger sound.
Paul McGuffin
Robert Carley
recently changed guitars, and was wondering what type of tension string to put
on my new one. It is lighter and more responsive than my other guitar, and I
was considering high tension, but I think I will try normal, based on the
characteristics of the instrument.
I hope normal tension will also be easier on my finger nails (right hand), not
just my finger tips (left hand).
Robert Carley
Jim McCausland
For experiment's sake, I ordered the string sampler from Guitar Salon
International
(http://www.guitarsalon.com/index.php?site_url=19&PHPSESSID=f7658a1f8c1537
cce74c4fee609ddd7e). It was $37 for five sets: D'Addario, Savarez, Hannabach,
Augustine, and La Bella. They have the same deal on now.
When I called last year, the sales guy told me that he'd sell me either normal
or hard tension, but he strongly recommended hard tension, so that's what I
got. I make notes about the sound of each set when I put them on the guitar,
and I suppose I should make notes when I take them off too, but I haven't
thought of it up to now. There were some surprises--I really liked the Savarez
composites, and was surprised at how squeeky one of the sets was (I think that
was La Bella). The Hannabachs were wonderful strings too. Anyway, it's been an
education, and I'd recommend it.
--Jim McCausland
ITMX925
Perhaps some of the luthiers might respond to this but its seems as if I heard,
perhaps more than 25 years ago, that the string tension and the instrument
scale can have a bearing on the response.
I tend to use extra high tension strings on my spruce top classicals and all
flamenco guitars and high tension on my cedar top classicals. Seems to work for
them - and me.
I couldn't tell you if the difference between extra and high tension would make
that much difference on the fingertips of your left hand.
When I would tell my students to relax their left hand, they would always
seemed stressed about properly fretting the notes. I told them in the overall
scheme of things, they are depressing a very thin string less that 3/32". That
should not take that much pressure. They then understood.
Best regards,
'JohnDowland'
GuitarsWeB
>flamenco guitars
Strange...most flamenco players I know use low tension. I believe, Adam
DelMonte for just one.
Paul McGuffin
Mark Lind
<darn...@cox.net> wrote:
>You covered it really well except for one thing.
>Nylon strings suck. I figured decades ago that
>polyester would sound more natural, darker,
>woodier, because it
Do you have any brands and models available? I can't seem to find
polyester strings anywhere.