Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar344
Why do bass strings have twice the amount of tension of guitar strings, even through they are tuned lower. What if the tension was the same?
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It's a complicated question, really, but the simple answer has to do with the mass of the strings. As a thought experiment, think about taking the high E string on a guitar and tuning it to B, the same pitch as the next lower string. You'd get the same pitch, but with the lesser tension the sound would be really wimpy, wouldn't it? And that's why the B string is thicker ... has more mass ... so it can reproduce that B with more clarity and volume.
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Yamaha FG-411-12 String
Oscar Teller 7119 classical (built in 1967)
and a bunch of guitars and mandolins I've made ... OM, OO, acoustic bass, cittern, octave mandolin, mandola, etc. ... some of which I've kept.
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