confused about gauge and tension

hanx · #1 07-12-2010, 11:16 PM

i'm thinking back to highschool physics and i've got confused.

for a light touch, it seems lighter-weight (narrower guage) strings would be better? Do they end up at a lower tension too to get the same note as well?

If i've had 45 - 105s on, going down just a bit to 40 to 100 shouldn't require a nut adjustment right?

Ski3223 · #2 07-13-2010, 12:30 AM

Yes lighter touch, yes lower tension, I don't see why you would need a nut adjustment to switch gauges unless you were going WAY bigger. Should be fine!

However, you MIGHT need a truss rod adjustment and an intonation adjustment. When I switched to flats (higher tension by nature AND higher gauge) I needed both of these. Be careful if you do the truss work on your own, go slow. It's kinda hard to mess something up doing intonation though.

Meatrus · #3 07-13-2010, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanx

If i've had 45 - 105s on, going down just a bit to 40 to 100 shouldn't require a nut adjustment right?

No, your nut will be fine.

**251** · #4 07-13-2010, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanx

i'm thinking back to highschool physics and i've got confused.

for a light touch, it seems lighter-weight (narrower guage) strings would be better? Do they end up at a lower tension too to get the same note as well?

If i've had 45 - 105s on, going down just a bit to 40 to 100 shouldn't require a nut adjustment right?

Check this out;
http://circlekstrings.com/store/Before_You_Buy.html

email your question(s) to their support address.

guroove · #5 07-13-2010, 09:43 AM

You might want to raise the action a little bit too, in addition to truss rod adjustment and intonation, depending on whether you get a lot of buzz with the lighter strings.

**pacojas** · #6 07-13-2010, 10:06 AM

i just went from 45-105 to 40-100 and only needed to adj the intonation. no need to adj truss rod so far. i was also able to lower the action, but this may change if the neck needs relief later. gl.

steve_rolfeca · #7 07-13-2010, 10:53 AM

Setup issues aside, you'll also experience tonal changes with a thinner, lower-tension string.

Heavier gauge strings give you a more prominent fundamental, and generally sound darker and "beefier" than lighter gauges.

Light-gauge strings and a low action also limit your dynamic range, because fret noise sets in so much earlier. Thicker strings can also be played gently, but leave room for a more aggressive attack, should the urge arise.

With that in mind, remember that action height and string tension work against each other.

Depending on how hard you pick/pluck (and how good the fretwork is on your bass), a good repairman can sometimes tweak the action to give you an easier action with 45's set close to the fingerboard, than you would get from a set of 40's raised high to avoid fret buzz.

hanx · #8 07-13-2010, 06:58 PM

ah, one of my basses has a very low action, which i like and don't want to mess with, so should i maybe steer clear of light weight strings on that one?

But on the basses with a medium to high action i can probably try some lighter strings without having to adjust much?

Can you adjust intonation on an acoustic? You adjust the bridge saddles to do that normally, don't you? but the bridge on my acoustic is solid, doesn't look possible to adjust.