String Tension List

[gtrfinger]

Can anyone direct me to a site or thread on here which provides a near enough comprehensive list of tensions for most brands. I've read for example that Savarez mediums are high tension compared to d'addario hard.

I'm currently playing la Bella 850b which I much prefer to the D'addario hard I had on before, however I think I'd prefer something in the middle of the two in terms of tension for the trebles, whilst keeping the bass the same.

A list of all tensions would be very useful.

Thanks, mike

[adrouf]

Hello

i copied the below from this forum for my own reference (obviously, not everything but a lot of the popular ones are on there):-

String Tensions (Two Tables)

Table 1

D'Addario Pro Arté Tension Silver Plated
D-EJ45 Normal 37.92 kg Clear Trebles
D-EJ46 Hard 39.41 kg Clear Trebles
D-EJ44 Extra Hard 40.68 kg Clear Trebles

D'Addario Pro Arté - Polished Tension Silver Plated - Polished
D-EJ45LP Normal 36.91 kg Composite Trebles
D-EJ46LP Hard 39.92 kg Composite Trebles
D-EJ44LP Extra Hard 41.45 kg Composite Trebles

Hannabach Silver Special Tension Silver Plated
H-815SLT Super Low 37.00 kg Clear Trebles
H-815LT Low 39.70 kg Clear Trebles
H-815MT Medium 41.10 kg Clear Trebles
H-815HT High 44.30 kg Clear Trebles
H-815SHT Super High 45.40 kg Clear Trebles

Silver 200 MLT----- 6.80, 6.80, 7, 6.40, 6.20, 7.30 ------ 40.5


La Bella 2001 Series Tension Silver Plated
L-2001L Light 35.20 kg Clear Trebles
L-2001M Medium 35.60 kg Clear Trebles
L-2001MH Medium Hard 36.35 kg Clear Trebles
L-2001H Hard 39.25 kg Clear Trebles
L-2001XH Extra Hard 41.25 kg Clear Trebles

Thomastik N Series Tension Silver Plated
T-CR127 Normal 37.30 kg Clear Trebles

Savarez Alliance-Corum Series Tension Silver Plated
Red Card Normal 39.75 kg Alliance Treble with Corum Bass
Blue Card High 42.66 kg Alliance Treble with Corum Bass

Savarez Corum with New Crystal Tension Silver Plated
Corum with New Crystal Normal 41.93 kg New Crystal Treble with Corum Bass
Corum with New Crystal High 44.75 kg New Crystal Treble with Corum Bass
Corum with New Crystal Normal/High 43.74 kg High Tension Bass/Normal Tension Treble


Table 2

(E,A,D,G,B,E)-----[total]

D'Addario Pro Arte:
normal tension---(14.00, 15.00, 15.60, 12.10, 11.60, 15.30)-----[83.60]
high tension------(14.50, 15.90, 16.30, 12.40, 12.00, 15.80)-----[86.90]

D'Addario Composite & EXP:
normal tension---(15.20, 14.60, 14.30, 12.10, 11.60, 15.30)-----[83.10]-----comp.G (12.40)
high tension------(16.00, 16.60, 16.00, 12.40, 12.00, 15.80)-----[88.80]-----comp.G (13.10)

D'Addario T2 (G,B,E)
normal tension---(11.90, 11.60, 15.40)
high tension------(12.30, 11.90, 16.00)

Aquila Alchemia/Alabastro
normal tension---(15.21, 16.98, 16.31, 13.23, 14.99, 17.64)-----[94.36]
high tension------(16.53, 17.86, 17.20, 14.11, 15.87, 18.96)-----[100.53]

Savarez Corum Crystal 500CR/CJ
normal tension---(14.32, 15.75, 16.90, 13.11, 13.51, 18.66)-----[92.25]
high tension------(15.99, 16.76, 18.19, 13.62, 14.17, 19.71)-----[98.44]

Savarez HT Classic Alliance 540R/J
normal tension---(14.32, 15.75, 16.90, 11.20, 11.99, 17.29)-----[87.45]
high tension------(15.99, 16.76, 18.19, 11.75, 12.72, 18.44)-----[93.85]

Savarez Traditional
White 520B----(12.80, 13.77, 16.15, 12.36, 12.56, 15.73)-----[83.37]
Red 520R------(14.43, 14.54, 16.24, 12.85, 13.20, 17.40)-----[89.66]
Yellow 520J----(15.47, 16.06, 17.86, 13.35, 13.84, 18.66)-----[95.24]



Hannabach
Silver 200 MLT----- 6.80, 6.80, 7, 6.40, 6.20, 7.30 ------ 40.5

Silver 200 Medium-Low Tension
String Tension (kg)
E1 7.30
B2 6.20
G3 6.40
D4 7.00
A5 6.80
E6 6.80

[KeMe]

When we talk about the weight pull of the strings is the weight measured by adding up all of the weights or is the weight from the string with the highest tension and the rest of the strings just hang on?

Kay

[gtrfinger]

That's very useful. Thank you for taking the time to do that.

Mike

[adrouf]

hello

no worries - but we should thank the person who originally posted this who is on this forum somewhere (i tried to find the original post but was unable to)

take it easy
r

[adrouf]

hey

nearly forgot - i think they've been added up. So you get an overview of the tension of the whole set.
I've been on a bit of a string quest recently (tested about ten diff sets over a few weeks) and noticed that even though the overall tension figure maybe the same some sets feel different to others. I think this is because the individual strings have diff tensions but the overall figure is similar/same.

To digress a little here's what ive found i like on cedar top guitar, number 1 - hannabach Silver 200 Set 900 - medium low tension - esp like the trebles
number 2 - augustine black basses (low tension) with imperial trebles (medium tension). Also, hannabach 815 were pretty good

[Moderato]

hello

no worries - but we should thank the person who originally posted this who is on this forum somewhere (i tried to find the original post but was unable to)

take it easy
r

Table 2 is info that I posted.

[bon]

Thank you for such a wonderful string tension guide, you have saved us a lot of time, I will use this to help others make choices and conclusions too.

Cheers !

Bon Ruiz

[rojarosguitar]

Thanks for your work! Very useful...

[Matthew22]

that's weird.... I use Savarez Crystal HT and they are softer on my guitar the Pro Art HT... according to the table it should be the other way around... so, is it more than tension that makes a string feel softer?

[DLC]

When we talk about the weight pull of the strings is the weight measured by adding up all of the weights or is the weight from the string with the highest tension and the rest of the strings just hang on?

Kay

Same question, is there any one could answer it?

[es335]

... Table 1 ...

The one and only figure given is the sum of all string tensions in kg!

... Table 2 ... (E,A,D,G,B,E)-----[total] ...

Individual tension in parentheses and sum of all tension in square brackets.
The figures given are in lbs except for Hannabach, which are kg.

[Les Backshall]

When we talk about the weight pull of the strings is the weight measured by adding up all of the weights or is the weight from the string with the highest tension and the rest of the strings just hang on?

Kay

Same question, is there any one could answer it?

It is the sum of all the individual string tensions. You can try it out: hold your arm out straight with a weight attached to one finger. Now attach additional weights to the other fingers. What does it feel like? The first finger is still supporting the same weight, but what about your whole arm? Is that now supporting the total weight, or are the weights on the other fingers just hanging on?

Les

[Moderato]

Is it just me or does it seem weird the guitar can handle 90 - 100 lbs of tension without the bridge popping off or the sound board caving in? 100 lbs is a lot, try picking 100 lbs up off the floor and now imagine that the glue on the bridge and the thin sound board doesn't get destroyed from that.

[jos]

I would like to make a small correction to String Tensions Tables provided by Adrouf.

Tensions in Hannabach strings are all wrong: Hannabach Co. provides measures in daN (DecaNewtons) not in Kg (Kilograms).
Having in mind that 1 daN = 1,019716 Kp (Kp means Kilopond, i.e. Kilogram-Force, or just Kilogram) we have, for example,
in the case of Hannabach H-815SLT that 37.00 daN are in fact, 37.73 Kp (Kg).
Nothing very relevant, though.

That shows, by the way, that classification used by different companies are meaningless. For example:
Hannabach H-815SLT (Super Low Tension): 37.73 Kg
D'Addario D-EJ45 Normal: 37.92 kg