Going to extra hard Tension?
 

I was thinking about trying D'Addario extra hard tension on my Cordoba Master Series Torres. Will I need a setup after doing this? Is there any risk to the guitar?

Thanks in advance!

Probably no risk to the guitar or set up needed, but first...what strings are currently on the guitar?

From the FAQs on the Cordoba site:

"The bridges of our guitars are built to withstand normal or hard tension strings. We do not recommend using extra hard tension."

Whether that's because of potential harm, I do not know, but I'd be hesitant to try. It's also interesting that I've seen several sources that claim higher-tension strings, on some guitars, can actually inhibit movement of the top, leading to diminished volume and responsiveness. I guess the tautness of the strings prevents the top from vibrating as much as it might otherwise. So you may not be missing out on much if you were to try X-hard tension.
-Bob

Thanks for the info, I'll go ahead and skip the experiment. The guitar came with savarez hard (or is it high) tension but they don't feel like hard tension... Maybe I just need to get used to them.

I've consistently read that one manufacturer's tension rating often doesn't directly correlate to another's. For me, it would be worth a try with the D'Addarios.

Even just D'Addario hard tension, as opposed to extra hard, may give you a different feel. They're cheap, so could be worth a shot at next changeover.

Agreed, D'Addario hard tension feel "fatter" and more stable under the fingers than the equivalent Savarez "hard" or "high" tension.

Savarez high tension sets such as 500CJ, which come stock on many Cordoba guitars, have considerably higher tension that D'Addario Extra Hard tension. Medium/nornal, high/hard, extra high/hard tensions are not uniform among manufacturers. Nedium tension for one manufacturer can have more tension that a high tension set from another, for example. Hope this helps.

The feel often has more to do with the stiffness of the soundboard than the tension of the strings. Torres/Hauser guitars in general have a softer feel to them. This is of course a generality, with plenty of variability between individual builders, but you may find that going to higher tension strings doesn't really change the feel as much as you might expect.

The tension of nylon strings is so much lower than steel strings, I seriously believe all the worry about hard, high (or what ever label you put on them) strings is looking for trouble that simply doesn't exist. Quit worrying over minutia and play. (smiley face goes here)

Dave

According to D´Addario's tensions, the extra hard strings ej44, still have lower tension than the normal tension carbon strings ej45ff.

I'm sure people put the carbon strings on their Cordoba guitar without problems. Otherwise, logic would tell us that we'd have unhappy Cordoba customers here complaining how Savarez Alliance strings had broken their guitar.

I imagine that Cordoba are just watching their backs. But, it's your choice in the end of the day. My Camps was built for carbons (it came with carbons anyway), and I keep carbons on it with no problems. I also imagine that most Cordoba guitar owners won't know that Savarez Alliance strings are not the traditional nylon. They see normal tensions strings and buy them.

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