I got on the D'A website today to do some comparison shopping. The string tension specs are gone. I tried various links and pages that are supposedly there to help a person choose strings, and all it did was ask inane questions. WHERE ARE THE STRING TENSION SPECS? Thanks.
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What Happened to D'Addario String Tension Specs?
- Thread starter iiipopes
- Start date
Unless I’m misunderstanding the question, all you have to do is Google “Daddario string tension” and the links I’ve been used to come up - this isn’t what you’re looking for?
https://www.daddario.com/globalassets/pdfs/accessories/tension_chart_13934.pdf
https://www.daddario.com/globalassets/pdfs/accessories/tension_chart_13934.pdf
What he meant was that if you go to D'Addario's site and click on a particular string set, it would have a dropdown option with tension numbers. No need for a rigmarole to find that chart. That dropdown option isn't there any more.
To compare, I checked to see if GHS and Rotosound still had their tension specs. GHS still has their tension charts (though that file is from 2020) and Rotosound still has its tension numbers when you click on a particular string set.
Interesting thing... very few string sites even offer access to tension numbers. GHS, Rotosound, StringJoy, Kalium, D'Addario used to (until we noticed they went bye-bye today)... Is it because it's not something the majority of bassists care about? I mean, sure, that's a big deal here on TalkBass, but we only represent a small portion of the bass community. A bass I've often seen out in the wild is one that most people on TalkBass are lukewarm towards. I figure the majority of bassists out there simply pick their preferred string gauge from their preferred brand and then just go play.
Maybe clickthrough data showed that not enough people were clicking that dropdown menu for it to be deemed important? I dunno.
To compare, I checked to see if GHS and Rotosound still had their tension specs. GHS still has their tension charts (though that file is from 2020) and Rotosound still has its tension numbers when you click on a particular string set.
Interesting thing... very few string sites even offer access to tension numbers. GHS, Rotosound, StringJoy, Kalium, D'Addario used to (until we noticed they went bye-bye today)... Is it because it's not something the majority of bassists care about? I mean, sure, that's a big deal here on TalkBass, but we only represent a small portion of the bass community. A bass I've often seen out in the wild is one that most people on TalkBass are lukewarm towards. I figure the majority of bassists out there simply pick their preferred string gauge from their preferred brand and then just go play.
Maybe clickthrough data showed that not enough people were clicking that dropdown menu for it to be deemed important? I dunno.
The tension is listed on the back of the packet.
(Click on a particular gauge, and scroll through the photos on their website)
(Click on a particular gauge, and scroll through the photos on their website)
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^ This.
Also, D'Addario string tensions are still available if one uses their String Tension Pro online calculator, and clicks on the optional "select a string set":
Guitar String Tension Calculator | String Tension Pro | D'Addario
There's also a Rotosound general tension page (useful for comparing tensions between packaged sets at a glance).
Thomastik-Infeld, Savarez and Galli publish their respective tension figures, too.
FWIW, I believe Elixir strings still have the old D'Addario tension chart tension data for their (corresponding-gauge) sets, rounded to the nearest integer.
It's probably because the tension pro site is doing something now, rather than the perpetual 'under construction' thing it did for ages.
The tensions that were on the website were often different the tension specs in the pdf. A lot of variance. Maybe all too muddied and D'addario pulled due to the conflicting data.
Pick a set, then click on "String Tension Chart," on the right side of the page, just below the product description.
That's the point: that button isn't there anymore when you click on a set of strings.
I got the Tension Pro Site email, clicked on it, and it was not completely up and running properly; now I can't find it.
1) The tension calculator has some glitches in it still. I will keep trying using different web browsers to see if it finally comes up with the information desired.
2) Yes, some others also publish their tension specs, including the GHS tension guide, Kalium, StringJoy, and others, but that doesn't help if you are shopping D'A.
3) Rotosound uses different core/wrap ratios, as does GHS, so their published tensions are f***** compared to other brands.
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The point is it loads the same tension data previously available in the dropdown menus in each product page. Unless you've verified those data don't match those in the set backsleeves, it is irrelevant whether or not the calculator, when playing with different tunings and scales, works properly.
Thanks, cap'n. The person I quoted directly, over that sentence of mine, had already listed the same companies you do, and I just completed that list. It was an aside.
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Refresh your browser, dump your cache, refresh the page. It may be on that set, but it has gone away on other sets I browse, and is part of the general update of the website. The sets I checked don't have that button anymore, and it won't on this product page much longer.
Try and do the same yourself. When I first read your OP, the button indeed wasn't there in the page for one specific set I checked. Now it appears the button is indeed back in, on that same product page. Same browser, same result before and after dumping and refreshing.
Folks, I am no stranger to computers. I have been doing searches on computers since there were browsers. I have been researching string tensions before most of you started playing bass. There will be some leftover pages for sets that have not been updated. So all of these one-off examples do nobody any good because D'A is changing their website. When the link to Guitar String Tension Calculator | String Tension Pro | D'Addario gets sorted out of its glitches, that may have the string tensions, although it will be awkward to use.
If indeed D'A adds back the tension specs to the individual set web pages, I will check that in a couple of days, and if so, thank you.
If indeed D'A adds back the tension specs to the individual set web pages, I will check that in a couple of days, and if so, thank you.
