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Comment by Fomhorach on September 22, 2016 at 9:54am

Hey Thomas, where do you get that wire?
(I'm lucky I re-read that question, it originally said wife. Lol.)
Have you got a website?

Comment by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on September 22, 2016 at 8:45am

Thanks for the help guys. I'll try the "move the strings down one and replace the 4th method I think. That would be great and get me the open G I need to follow lessons. Great advice Mark so thanks again.

Knitting sounds fun Thomas. Problem is I'm even less likely to become a blues boss using wool and knitting needles. Enjoy your brownies. Seems like little things are getting you down so maybe have another just to make sure. Thanks for the help though :)

Comment by Jim Dickison on September 22, 2016 at 7:53am

Actually... those 2 websites that I posted let you enter whatever scale length you want. I was using them to figure out strings for a 17" scale electric ukulele!

Comment by Thomas "Duck" Petry on September 22, 2016 at 7:00am

Just amazes me how wound up in the technical some folks get.  Hell, I guess I got lucky with my string selection at the start and have gone with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" method.  I'm just happy with the fact that they go twang when I get done.  I have used stainless steel aircraft safety wire as strings and had good results and it comes in .020 - .025 - .032 - .041 & .051 diameter for less than $10.00 for a 1 lb can (probably about 500 feet per can).  Than again, I still tend to think of these things as just a stick in a box and don't get too technical with my builds.

Comment by Mark Bliss on September 22, 2016 at 6:34am

"It's handy to remember when using these that standard 6-string guitar tuning is:

E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 "

An that those charts are for typical/standard scale lengths.

"Anybody got some brownies?"

Exactly. While factual, my post was partially intended as "tongue in cheek"

Comment by Thomas "Duck" Petry on September 22, 2016 at 6:29am

Ol' Grey, maybe you should just take up knitting and eliminate the need for string tension.  I'm thinking that all of this high tech calculating and more than three strings is giving me a headache. Gonna have to put on some good slide blues and sit back and sip my coffee for a while to recover. Anybody got some brownies?

Comment by Jim Dickison on September 22, 2016 at 6:28am

Here are a couple of websites that I ran across recently that allow you to enter certain parameters and calculate string gauges and tensions... It's kinda fun to play with these... 

This first one is intended for acoustic guitars with steel or phosphor bronze strings, but there are notes included for adjusting the results for electric guitars with nickel plated steel strings. It will even warn you when the string is likely to break!

https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_guitar_string.htm

The second one is for D'Addario steel and nickel wound strings, and calculates either tension or gauge.

http://hikkyz.net/misc/stringassembler/

It's handy to remember when using these that standard 6-string guitar tuning is:

E2  A2  D3  G3  B3  E4 

Comment by Mark Bliss on September 22, 2016 at 6:06am

Pitch, tension, tone, etc are inter-related. Knowing the gauge of the string alone wont tell you the whole story, but you can guess pretty close.

Bottom line, different string materials and constructions can have different tensions at the same pitch/scale length. Sometimes it can be taken advantage of for desired player preferences, slide use, etc.

Simple answer, think of it this way: In general a heavier gauge string adjusted to the same tension as a smaller gauge string will provide a lower pitch. (and vice-versa)

There are charts and guidance available for various common scale lengths, but this case isn't typical, so you would need some information and a calculator if you wanted to get very scientific about it

You need three pieces of information: the Unit Weight, the Scale Length, and the Frequency of the string. Then you can use the formulas below to calculate the exact tension for any string using the scale length of your particular instrument.

UW= Unit Weight. unit weight is expressed in pounds per linear inch (lb/in), as found in manufacturers specifications.

L= Scale Length. This is the vibrating length of the string. The distance from the nut to the bridge of the instrument in inches (in).

F- Frequency or pitch. The pitch at which you will be tuning the string expressed in cycles per second (Hertz).

Calculate the tension of a string by inserting the three variables described above:

T (Tension) =  (UW  x (2 x L x F)2) / 386.4

If you know what tension you want the string to have, you can calculate the string unit weight. You can then use the manufacturers spec charts to locate a string with approximately the same desired unit weight.

UW (unit weight) =  (T x 386.4) / (2 x L x F)2

ETC.

Doesn't this look like fun?

Try moving your strings down 1 position and get a slightly heavier string for #4, discard the existing #1 and see if that's close maybe.

Tweak to taste.

Comment by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on September 22, 2016 at 3:53am

Lol thanks again Wayfinder. The ultimate answer is to read the bloomin for sale listing properly! I feel like a right wombat. Not to worry. It actually sounds really soothing and relaxing. Just not what you'd expect a big bear to play. Or sing to. I guess I could always go for castration to get my voice higher but that MIGHT be a bit drastic ;)

Comment by Slow Blues Dani & Ol' Grey Bear on September 22, 2016 at 3:47am

Morning Robert. I'll try the heavier gauge and tune it down then. It's got a super skinny neck too so I'll have to be careful. I'll take a look at my chart that gives the notes in order then figure out what strings would give me something lower. I suspect it's already strung adgb and tuned dadf# so not sure what to try next but maybe just tune it down further with the current strings and see what open c (if there is such a thing) or open a sounds like with them. Your help and advice is much appreciated.

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