Question:
Can someone give an explanation of String Tension and Scale length. I like a loose, less tense string feel so I mostly play my electric a fender jazzmaster but I wonder is it possible to get a more bendable looser string tension feel on an acoustic? I am playing a Larrivee L 09 which has a scale length of 25.5
Answer:
There are are actually a couple of things that you need to think about here: the absolute tension, of course, but also how close the string is to it's breaking point (called '%Tension' or '%T') Both effect the feel and sound of the string. Tension gets most of the 'press', but %T has some noticable effects, too. You've probaby noticed that when a string is well below it's breaking pitch that a small change in tension makes a large change in pitch, while strings that are close to breaking are hard to tune upward. This is why short scale guitars 'bend' more easily than longer scale ones. This effect is solely based on the string length and material: any plain steel string at about 25 long will break right around G or G# above high E, no matter what the diameter is. A .020 will be at a lot higher tension when it does break than a .009, but at any given pitch they will both be at the same %T. Strings that are at a low %T tend to feel 'slack' for this reason, no matter what thier diameter. There are also some effects on the signal the string makes when it's plucked. Basically, the lower the %T the less 'harmonic' the overtone series is. All of the math that predicts a 'perfect' overtone series from the string is based on the notion that the string itself has no stiffness: that it's like wet spaghetti. Real strings aren't like that, and the stiffness of the string tends to make it vibrate more like a rod in the higher partials, where the vibrating segments are shorter. The tighter the string is the less the stiffness counts, and the more 'true' it's harmonics are. The bottom line is that even when using 'light' strings on a long scale guitar the 'feel' and tone will tend to be that of a long scale: the only real ways to get the 'soft' feel are to use a stronger string material or a shorter scale, at least for plain strings. There are tricks one can use on wound strings (generally, a larger core/winding diamter ratio) to make them feel 'slacker' at a given pitch and length, but that amounts to using a stronger material. Along with this rather excellent explanation (as per usual for Al!), the original poster should realize that steel-string guitars come in all different kinds of scale lengths....from less than 23 inches (Gibson's LG-2 3/4, a neat little thing) to some of the current modern builders up to 25.75 inches, on non-baritone guitars....and everywhere in-between. Most production guitars are in the 25.4 range and up, but Taylor, Martin and Gibson (and LaSiDo/Seagull?) all produce guitar with scale lengths less than 25 inches. The range from handcrafted builders can go whichever way you want, so if the 25.5 Larrivée is too long, there are many options....
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