Tension?

bellgamin

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I have several ukes. My only "problem uke" is a Cordoba 32T tenor, one of the so-called "Pepe Romero" models. Solid spruce top, solid indian rosewood S&B. Phd strings. 0.8 mm at the nut, 2.5mm at 12. Tuned C. It sings loudly & beautifully but is quite painful to play for any length of time. Possible reasons(??):

1-The strings bite when chording -- especially barre chords. (Even though my chording finger tips & my strumming finger are so heavily callused you can strike a match on them.)
2-The fretboard is almost 1/4" wider than any of my other tenors. (I wonder why they did that.)

I have loaned this uke out to several different folks over the past year or so, & they all hated it. I offered 2 of them the uke free for nothing, but they passed on the offer.

My only idea so far is to change to low tension strings &/or switch to Bflat tuning. Questions......

1-Do low tension tenor strings exist? If so...... which brand is low tension?

2-Might bflat tuning help assuage the pain?

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have several ukes. My only "problem uke" is a Cordoba 32T tenor, one of the so-called "Pepe Romero" models. Solid spruce top, solid indian rosewood S&B. Phd strings. 0.8 mm at the nut, 2.5mm at 12. Tuned C. It sings loudly & beautifully but is quite painful to play for any length of time. Possible reasons(??):

1-The strings bite when chording -- especially barre chords. (Even though my chording finger tips & my strumming finger are so heavily callused you can strike a match on them.)
2-The fretboard is almost 1/4" wider than any of my other tenors. (I wonder why they did that.)

I have loaned this uke out to several different folks over the past year or so, & they all hated it. I offered 2 of them the uke free for nothing, but they passed on the offer.

My only idea so far is to change to low tension strings &/or switch to Bflat tuning. Questions......

1-Do low tension tenor strings exist? If so...... which brand is low tension?

2-Might bflat tuning help assuage the pain?

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Can you lower the action? In my experience, tenors have higher tension than other sizes, but what you are describing sounds a bit extreme...
 
Have you tried nylon strings (such as aquilla)? I find that fluerocarbon strings feel thinner and more high in tension.
 
Sounds like it may be the distance between strings, as you say it is a wider neck, & the fact that no one likes playing it.
If that is the case, I'd suggest getting a new nut, with the normal spacing.

My solution to the higher tension of normal tenor strings is to use concert scale strings, flourocarbon, (in my case Living Water), I have these on all my tenor scaled ukes. :)
 
You might try South Coast for lower tension strings. they offer several tensions, or detune to dGBE and make it a Bari-Tenor. Fremont has a set for that. I've been playing bari-tenor, with just regular tenor strings actually, for a while and I really like it, but my voice is pretty low.

I just yesterday detuned a spruce topped concert to Bb which seems to work out pretty well and lowered the tension a good bit. I'm not sure I want to keep it that way as it makes playing with others weird. I was looking to lower the brittle sound of the spruce top and it seemed to help.
 
Um, to play easily with others, you could just capo your Bb uke at the 2nd fret. The string tension won't change.

True I just didn't think about it as I'm playing my bari-tenors mostly. My next door Uke buddy likes baritone and I can play my bari-tenors with him when he pays his C6 tuned tenors. And I can play my laminate concert in C6 too. Learning C chord forms and G chord forms make me a double threat! :D
 
Maybe the string-related info and links in my forum signature below will be of help to you...
 
Can you lower the action? In my experience, tenors have higher tension than other sizes, but what you are describing sounds a bit extreme...

I've heard from somebody who has setup a lot of them that they are often way too high at the nut.

-- Gary
 
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Sounds like it may be the distance between strings, as you say it is a wider neck, & the fact that no one likes playing it.
If that is the case, I'd suggest getting a new nut, with the normal spacing.

My solution to the higher tension of normal tenor strings is to use concert scale strings, flourocarbon, (in my case Living Water), I have these on all my tenor scaled ukes. :)

The distance between the strings is a totally independent factor so it can't possibly make any difference.

-- Gary
 
You guys don't have any calipers in the house!?

Yep some of us have digital calipers, and I use them all the time.

The link in my above post is for how to determine the diameters of strings as per the info written on the string pack from the manufacturer, which some folks happen to be somewhat blind to for some reason, despite it being printed clearly on the front, back or both sides of the string pack for MOST, but NOT all strings sold.

Some string makers like the keep diameters AND string tension a secret (and NOT print them on the string pack) and only indicate the string number or intended installed string positing with color coding and painting the colors on the tips of the strings....

This puzzles me, since it seems a hindrance in selecting strings based upon relationship to diameters (and linear density) vs. string tension.

All of which usually results in disappointment unless you wish to consult the Hive Mind here on UU. :)
 
Uke-relative, why might I profit by purchasing digital calipers?

Also --- I have a special ruler for measuring string height above fret, but I find it difficult to get very precise. Is there a better way?
 
Uke-relative, why might I profit by purchasing digital calipers?

Also --- I have a special ruler for measuring string height above fret, but I find it difficult to get very precise. Is there a better way?

Digital calipers are useful for measuring the string diameter in case you forgot which strings are installed, or are trying to compare sets of strings based upon diameter, when the string company has neglected to include this info on the string pack, or if you have a ziplock bag of random, unlabeled strings and want to identify them by diameter, so that you can install them in the correct position.

I cannot tell the difference by eye or with a loupe or head-visor-magnifier which string is a 0.0224" vs. 0.0244" vs 0.0260", but with digital calipers, I can tell the difference in about 1 second by measuring the string.

In my post above to another thread, there is a link and a photo showing a 'string action gauge' or 'string action ruler', as per most folks that do a pro setup on guitars and ukes, 2.5mm at the 12th fret is considered a minimum height (lower will usually cause fret buzz) and 2.65mm-2.75mm a nice sweet spot, while higher than 3.0mm is considered high action, and makes it harder to press strings down, especially for barre chords and tends to make intonation sharp as you go up the neck since the string has to stretch and bend MORE once it is fretted due to the distance above the fretboard.

Adjusting string height and play-feel is about the geometry from the string's vibrating length at the nut to the saddle, and the height of the endpoints will determine the relative non-parallel angle of the string above the fretboard, as well as it's height above the fretboard, both of which can also be mitigated by using an adjustable truss rod if available in said instrument...
 
I have a metal string action *ruler* -- is that *state of the art* or is there something for measuring string height that does not rely so heavily on my ability to discern MM differences?
 
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I have a metal string action *ruler* -- is that *state of the art* or is there something for measuring string height that does not rely so heavily on my ability to discern MM differences?

The string action ruler that I have in both the mm and inches scales has a stack of black lines, e.g.
1mm, 1,25mm, 1.5mm, 1.75mm, etc and I just line up the bottom of the string with the top of the stack of lines and it's pretty easy to see the level, but I;ve seen other similar device made where the printing is a single line, that in itself is less than 1mm thick, and difficult to see even in good light without the shadow of a string over it...

Another option is to use FEELER GAUGES, metric markings will be easier to deal with unless you are good with math using fractions in 64ths of an inch.

I will try to take and post a photo of the item I have, maybe tomorrow (WED AUG 9) if I get some time...
 
The string action ruler that I have in both the mm and inches scales has a stack of black lines, e.g.
1mm, 1,25mm, 1.5mm, 1.75mm, etc
My ruler is the same, but I'm quite sure that your eyesight is better than mine. Also, when I graduated Navy OCS, I wanted to be a line officer, but I flunked the spatial-relations test, so I had to go into Supply Corps instead. Ergo, I am *spatially challenged*.

Another option is to use FEELER GAUGES...
I have searched a bit for feeler guages. So far I haven't been able to find any feeler set that goes above 1.0mm. I'm still searching.

On Ebay I did find an interesting gadget at HERE. The product description indicates it might be a tad easier to use that a ruler. I ordered it, so --- time will tell.
 
...I have searched a bit for feeler guages. So far I haven't been able to find any feeler set that goes above 1.0mm. I'm still searching.

On Ebay I did find an interesting gadget at HERE. The product description indicates it might be a tad easier to use that a ruler. I ordered it, so --- time will tell.

Sorry for your eyesight issues, mine is getting worse. yesterday when I went to fill out the card for the Megamillions lottery for my mother, I could not read the numbers with the low contrast of the light-pink background, and faint-red numbers, and I felt silly asking a nearby teenager to write the marks for me, so I guess I qualify as disabled until I get a stronger or bi-focal prescription - sucks getting older...

anyway - that item on ebay looks great and very simple to use, either with ambient light or a flashlight, provided you have the visual acuity to see the light's 'wedge' and where it ends as it meets the bottom of the strings.

re: feeler gauges, I have a set that all together must be about 10mm thick with the full stack of gauges, something like this:

FB325A.jpg


and I'm pretty sure that one of the thicker if not thickest single blade is 1mm, but maybe you are not using them properly, as it was my understanding that you would stack the blades to make height that was in-between each gradation if needed, or stack the blades to make taller, and then in the end just add the values of the thicknesses of all the blades together, so if you used a 0.25mm + a 0.35mm + a 1.1mm blade, you'd add their values and end up with a total of 1.7mm...have you tried using them that way?
 
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