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Dumb question about strings

Sorry for the dumb question but can certain strings only be tuned within a certain range? I am planning on doing some diddley bows with my daughter's brownie troop and to save costs was going to use a couple of packs of strings and split them up among the girls. I don't know what the limitations are.

Thanks for any advice,
Mike

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on March 11, 2015 at 3:52pm

Short answer, yes. Each string , in most cases, can be tuned down or up one step. An E string can be D, D#,E or possibly F. The A can be tuned G, G#, A, A#. And so on for the others.

Each other string will have similar ranges relative to their root note. But, if you tune a string higher than its intended note, it can snap.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 11, 2015 at 4:16pm

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply. I am so clueless about all of this so appreciate the help. I'm trying to learn but have zero experience before I started all this.

Do the string packs say what each string is a (E G etc) or how do I know which is what?

Thanks again,
Mike

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on March 11, 2015 at 4:31pm

Mike,

Strings also come in extra light, light, medium, and heavy gauge designations,which refers to the ranges of string diameters for a given length and tension in each set. These are designed to give tones ranging from light and bright, to warm and "dark," for whatever a particular player needs; light strings are also easier to bend into whining "blue" notes. The string packs do say which is which. They give you a diameter in inches, say .052 for a medium, low E string, or .012 for a high E, and usually also label the standard note; some also tell you the string tension.

One thing you could do is order as many single strings of the same note, say a medium phosphor bronze A string, as you need for the number of girls in the troop. Most music stores can sell you singles, or you can order them from C.B. Gitty (see the ad in the sidebar to the right of each page here on CBN).

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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 11, 2015 at 4:46pm

Ron,

Thank you for the reply and help. Do you happen to have a recommendation on which strings if I went with singles would be best for the girls? I need to keep it as reasonable as possible on the cost as it all comes out of my own pocket which was why I was thinking sets might be cheaper but I could be wrong. I just wanted to do something fun with them and thought this would be a nice idea. I just started making one for myself so I could time it to see what I can reasonably do with them in the time allotted and what I need to do ahead. I already know anything involving cutting I am doing ahead as I don't want to worry about the girls getting hurt.

Thanks again,
Mike

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on March 11, 2015 at 4:40pm

and ... there's tradition ..

http://www.onestringwillie.com/id23.html

and you can get the clean usused reall stuff here

https://www.etsy.com/listing/48497004/broom-wire-for-diddley-bow-co...

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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 11, 2015 at 4:51pm

Thanks for the reply. I thought about that and watched a video of him building one with that but was concerned about the ends being too sharp and somebody getting hurt and a parent complaining. I saw on his site about different gauges he recommended but not sure which ones might be thin enough to bend easy and make sure the ends could be bent in and not be a hazard. Do you know which might be thin enough to do that?

Thx!

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on March 11, 2015 at 5:03pm

no idea .. youd probably be better off with guitar strings , but tossed this in the ring as an option to anyone reading ;-)

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on March 11, 2015 at 4:51pm

The greater the scale length, the greater the range of notes that will be accessible for a given string. Also heavier strings have a larger range to them than lighter ones.

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Permalink Reply by Mike on March 11, 2015 at 4:56pm

Thanks for the reply. How would I be able to tell when tuning that I am risking breaking a string and staying with the acceptable range?

Thx again!

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on March 11, 2015 at 5:07pm

Each String diameter will be labelled on the package. E A D G B E are the "intended" notes for each string. (starting from the biggest to the smallest) For your DB's if your scale length (the length of suspended wire) is between 23"-25" I would stick to the recommended note, or one up/down... your choice.

Go to your local music store and get the cheapest "medium" acoustic guitar strings you can find. Don't stress it. Should be $5 a set or less... The diameters will be listed on the package... If you go from biggest to smallest, and use E A D G B E, you will do just fine. The girls will have fun trading them around and trying the different strings.

If the girls want to play together, (and not sound too much like dying cats) you could use an open tuning: (aka Vestapol)

D-A-D-F♯-A-D On the same strings.

The lowest string (E) becomes D, G Becomes F#, B becomes A, and E becomes D.

This makes a chord, so 6 Diddley bows all playing the same note (Open, fretted at the third, whatever) are now in harmony... THis is all within the acceptable range for the strings... and well... they're diddly bows being played by kids... it's not rocket science.... have fun with it!

Take your smart phone and download a free tuning application: on my android I use Pitch Lab free... works great.