Tenor string tension

kissing said:

As an interesting case study, the "Concert" D'addario Pro-Arte ukulele set strings are the same tension treble strings of their "Normal tension" Classical guitar set, and the "Tenor" D'addario Pro-Arte set are the same as treble strings on the "Hard tension" Classical guitar set.

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Which makes no sense if the aim is a consistent tension across the sizes. That tells me their aim was a really high tension on the tenor - which to be fair, is a goal of some tenor players to get the most volume and sustain.

Jim Hanks said:

Which makes no sense if the aim is a consistent tension across the sizes. That tells me their aim was a really high tension on the tenor - which to be fair, is a goal of some tenor players to get the most volume and sustain.

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Indeed. I wonder where Aquila strings fit with these various objectives. I know that they make attempts of creating balanced tension sets, and with their red rubino series for guitar even take it a step further with changing density for individual strings.

Hello guys,
what it is important for a player is not the tension in Kg but the feel of tension. The two things are very different
The feel of tension is subjective, exactly like the number of sugar's teaspoons one want in his/her coffee. Some want one, some two, three... and so on.
The feel of tension of ukulele sets is balanced by the makers to make happy, by statistic, 80-90% of players. Not possible to cover 100%.

If one install the soprano strings on a tenor, using the string formula, one will verify that the tension becomes higher. On can suppose that the feel of tension becomes as well higher instead not: it feels slack. Longer the scale lesser the feel of tension ( the Kg, instead, increase)

The general rule is that each player want to keep stable the same feel of tension across different kind of ukuleles (same sugar's teaspoons into the coffee) .

So, in order to compensate the difference about the tactile feel of tension the diameter must be done thicker of a certain amount. This 'certain amount' cannot be predict by a string formula but only by practical tests; oncemore it depends by the material employed to make the strings and the stretching ratio during the extrusion process. In short: it is complex.

So here is the rule of the thumb: longer the scale ticker the gauge in order to keep stable the same feel of tension (i.e. the same sugar's teaspoons in the coffee).

Our sets are exactly balance in that way so the feel of tension across the different ukulele sizes is almost the same.

Said that, there is a residual 20-30% of guys that prefers higher or lower tensions (i.e. less or more sugar into the coffee).
In the case of our set it is easy: if you have a concert and want higher tensions install the tenor strings; if you want less tension install a soprano set (the string length is enough for most of cases); if you play a soprano and you want more tension install a concerto set and if you want less tension install a soprano set Canadian tuning in B (i.e. designed for a tone higher so the strings are thinner).
What it is written (thicker strings on smaller instruments and vice versa) is a mistake: it is true for the string formula only (i.e. in order to keep the same value of tension in Kg) but it is a huge mistake in order to keep stable the feel of tension that it is what the players always wants.

Ciao
Mimmo, from Italy

I was just about to comment pretty much the same as Mimmo above. In short, the longer the string (scale) length the more tension you need to have in order to have the strings feel the same as with shorter string (scale) length.

If you have a soprano string set that has a certain tension when fitted on a soprano uke, the tension with those same strings on a tenor uke will be higher, yes, but the tension relative to the string length will still be lower than with a tenor string set which will make the strings feel floppy (at least relative to the tenor string set). You need to achieve higher tension for the strings on a tenor uke in order for the strings to feel approximately the same as with the soprano string set on a soprano uke, and you achieve that with the tenor specific strings that are either larger gauge or higher density.

It's very difficult for people to feel the actual tension of strings. You can try this with different types of strings. In general, black nylon strings generally have higher tension than most other types (for exampke, clear nylon or fluorocarbon) but you don't really feel the higher tension at all.

mimmo said:

Hello guys,
what it is important for a player is not the tension in Kg but the feel of tension. The two things are very different
The feel of tension is subjective, exactly like the number of sugar's teaspoons one want in his/her coffee. Some want one, some two, three... and so on.
The feel of tension of ukulele sets is balanced by the makers to make happy, by statistic, 80-90% of players. Not possible to cover 100%.

If one install the soprano strings on a tenor, using the string formula, one will verify that the tension becomes higher. On can suppose that the feel of tension becomes as well higher instead not: it feels slack. Longer the scale lesser the feel of tension ( the Kg, instead, increase)

The general rule is that each player want to keep stable the same feel of tension across different kind of ukuleles (same sugar's teaspoons into the coffee) .

So, in order to compensate the difference about the tactile feel of tension the diameter must be done thicker of a certain amount.

So here is the rule: longer the scale ticker the gauge in order to keep stable the same feel of tension ( same sugar's teaspoons in the coffee).

Our sets are exactly balance in that way so the feel of tension across the different ukulele sizes is almost the same.

Said that, there is a residual 20-30% of guys that prefers higher or lower tensions (i.e. less or more sugar into the coffee).
In the case of our set it is easy: if you have a concert and want higher tensions install the tenor strings; if you want less tension install a soprano set (the string length is enough for most of cases); if you play a soprano and you want more tension install a concerto set and if you want less tension install a soprano set Canadian tuning in B (i.e. designed for a tone higher so the strings are thinner).
What it is written (thicker strings on smaller instruments and vice versa) is a mistake: it is true for the string formula only (i.e. in order to keep the same value of tension in Kg) but it is a huge mistake in order to keep stable the feel of tension that it is what the players always wants.

Ciao
Mimmo, from Italy

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Yep, what he said! I'm never comfortable giving out more than the numbers on tension because everyone seems to look at (i.e. feel) this differently. However, Mimmo is the person who thinks and works with this all the time. This should somehow be made sticky!

Thanks for chiming in, Mimmo.

Ed1 said:

Yep, what he said! I'm never comfortable giving out more than the numbers on tension because everyone seems to look at (i.e. feel) this differently. However, Mimmo is the person who thinks and works with this all the time. This should somehow be made sticky!

Thanks for chiming in, Mimmo.

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Thanks as I stated earlier what the player feels is usually not tension in kg but thickness or elasticity. For example, Titanium strings are very elastic and stretch a lot, so even though they have higher tension than many fluorocarbon strings they "feel" a lot softer.