Tricks For Increasing The Tension

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Bassflute

you'd better get on the phone to Michael Tobias, Mike Pedulla, Furlanetto, Kinal, Lull, Dingwall, Turner, Cote, Citron, Maize, Ganz, Melnechenko, Beauregarde, Larivee, Klein, Taylor, Thompson, Morgan, Sigurdson, Manzer, and about 2 dozen other luthiers I've talked to over the years and tell them they're wrong because they all use it. It's a colloquialism, it's now in the vernacular, and I don't think you'll be able to stop it's use.

Sorry,
Cameron

I cast no aspersions; I have never talked to nor do I know any of those guys and I probably never will, but two things I do know.

One, there are folks who are very knowledgeable about music and musical instruments who are nonetheless ignorant of some points of basic physics and who therefore perpetuate myths simply because they don't know any better and others believe them due to their status as authority figures.

Two, there are those who are selling what amounts to snake oil in the form of "innovations" which they would have the buying public believe distinguish their products from their competitors' goods but which in reality make no difference at all or at least do not make the differences that they claim they do.

[markblasco]

Through the body stringing or a larger downward angle do change the tension of the strings against the nut and bridge, which will (in theory) add to sustain and help keep the string from jumping out of the nut. It doesn't change the tension of the strings from nut to bridge.

It has been pointed out several times that simple science will prove this.

This means that no change in headstock angle or through the body stringing will change the feel of playing the string if all other variables are kept the same.

Changing where you play on the string will have an impact on feel (as well as tone), so temporarily you can play closer to the bridge, which will make it feel like there is more tension (although the tone will change)

While I do respect the guitar and bass builders who make these lovely instruments that we play, they are just people, and if they were taught information that is not correct, they may continue to tell others the same thing.

At this point I don't think anyone is going to be changing their opinion, so here is a simple way one can test this out (to some degree). Take a string (the low E string works best if you are using a standard Fender bass) and string all of the excess on the tuning peg. Your string will now be coming up to the nut from the bottom of the peg (there will be a lot of string windings there), which is a fairly severe angle over the nut. Play the string. Now, take that string and restring it on the peg, but this time don't string the first 6 inches or so. Because there will be less string on the tuning peg, the string will come off of it at a higher point to reach the nut, therefor creating less downforce. This is the same principal as having a more severe headstock angle. You will find that the string tension feels exactly the same.

This example keeps everything exactly the same except for the angle of the string over the nut, which is what is affected by the headstock angle.

Now think about this: If the angle of the string over the nut changed the perceived tension of the string, we could all adjust that tension on nearly every bass in existence by adjusting the angle that the string comes off of the tuners (or by adding string holders like Fender uses on the higher strings).

Unfortunately, testing through the body stringing vs. bridge stringing for perceived tension is a lot harder if your bass isn't already strung through the body and doesn't have a bridge that can accommodate both.

[GlennW]

Les Paul guitars have a way to adjust the break angle at the bridge - the tailpiece can be raised or lowered. Doing so will effect the sound a bit, but not the string tension when tuned to pitch.