Balanced tension

[Chrisk-K]

I'm considering creating a set of 035-050-070-095. That'll give each string roughly the same tension. Has anyone created a balanced tension set? Did you like the tone?

[knuckle_head]

I have. But then I manufacture them.



My set looks like;

.096 .072 .052 .040

Some say the tone on the treble side isn't to their taste, but I've been playing on balanced tension sets for 8 years and I am rather fond of the feel and sound.

[Execut1ve]

I recently bought a balanced set from knuckle head, I have to say the tone was definitely a step up. however the most noticeable difference was the even volume of all my strings rather than the D and G being significantly softer

[ixlramp]

Originally Posted by Chrisk-K

I'm considering creating a set of 035-050-070-095.

That's exactly the gauges I came up with to balance the tension. It's certainly worth it, a great improvement. Traditional sets are insane, and unfortunately people get used to them, I did at first, but then I learnt how to calculate tension.

[FunkMetalBass]

According to D'Addario's tension charts, many of their bass sets are balanced. I don't use them, but that's what it shows.

Balanced tension is what I've been doing for years, and the Circle K's hit them spot-on.

In a year or so, I bet that the bigger guys will start introducing balanced sets - they're really starting to get rave reviews from bass players.

[Execut1ve]

for your reference, my gauges are .166 .112 .084 .061 .043 ... though note that mine is a 35" scale and the .166 is drop tuned

[ixlramp]

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

According to D'Addario's tension charts, many of their bass sets are balanced. I don't use them, but that's what it shows.

Apologies for disagreeing, but their sets are not tension balanced. Their 6 string bass set is the worst I've seen:

Item# Note inches lbs
PSB030 C .030 40.6
PSB045 G .045 41.9
PSB065 D .065 47.3
PSB080 A .080 40.5
PSB100 E .100 34.4
PSB130 B .130 31.7

40 lbs for all strings would be good, but the D is almost 50, and the E and B flop around at 35 and 30 lbs. High tension where you don't want it, and low tension where it's needed most. This is traditional sets at their worst.

Their best set is 40-100, the tension goes 34, 44, 41, 34 lbs, still pretty bad.

[wyliee]

Originally Posted by Chrisk-K

I'm considering creating a set of 035-050-070-095. That'll give each string roughly the same tension. Has anyone created a balanced tension set? Did you like the tone?

I've had a set of the Circle K's on my Gecko 6 for a few weeks now. I had to tweak the truss rod a bit as I had previously used Ernie Balls.

My initial impress is positive. I'll definitely give them a try on my other basses. (Skip, did not realize you were part of Circle K. Cool!)

[knuckle_head]

Originally Posted by wyliee

Skip, did not realize you were part of Circle K.

The whole thing's my fault.....

[FunkMetalBass]

Originally Posted by ixlramp

Apologies for disagreeing, but their sets are not tension balanced. Their 6 string bass set is the worst I've seen:

Item# Note inches lbs
PSB030 C .030 40.6
PSB045 G .045 41.9
PSB065 D .065 47.3
PSB080 A .080 40.5
PSB100 E .100 34.4
PSB130 B .130 31.7

40 lbs for all strings would be good, but the D is almost 50, and the E and B flop around at 35 and 30 lbs. High tension where you don't want it, and low tension where it's needed most. This is traditional sets at their worst.

Their best set is 40-100, the tension goes 34, 44, 41, 34 lbs, still pretty bad.

Hmmmmm, that seems to vary slightly from what I was seeing, but then again, they have a rather extensive chart.

Oh well, I play only your strings anyway. Problem solved!