A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain" (consisting only of a single material, like steel, nylon, or gut). "Wound" strings, on the other hand, have a "core" of one material, with an overwinding of other materials. This is to make the string vibrate at the desired pitch, while maintaining a low profile and sufficient flexibility for purposes of playability.
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Depending on the instrument they are designed for, strings have either a loop end or ball end (actually a short brass cylinder) that attaches the string at the end opposite the tuning mechanism. Strings for some instruments may be wrapped with silk at their ends to protect the string. The color and pattern of the silk can be used to identify the size and denomination of the string.
There are several varieties of wound strings.
The simplest strings are roundwound. They have either a round core or a hex (hexagonal) core inside, and round wire wound in a tight spiral around it. Such strings are usually simple to manufacture and, thus, are usually the least expensive. There are several drawbacks, however:
Flatwound strings also have either a round or a hex core. However, the winding wire has a rounded square cross-section that has a shallower profile (in cross-section) when tightly wound. This makes for more comfortable playing, and decreased wear for frets and fretboards. Squeaking sounds due to fingers sliding along the strings are also decreased significantly. Flatwound strings also have a longer playable life because of fewer and smaller grooves for dirt and oil to build up in.
On the other hand, players frequently cite that flatwound strings produce a less bright sound when compared to roundwounds. Flatwounds also usually cost more than roundwounds; less demand means less production and higher overhead costs; manufacturing is also more difficult as precise alignment of the flat sides of the winding must be maintained (some rotation of the winding on roundwound strings is acceptable).[1][2]
Halfwound strings, ground wound strings or pressure wound strings are a cross between roundwound and flatwound. Such strings are usually made by winding round wire around a round or hex core first, then polishing, grinding (thus the name, ground wound) or pressing the exterior part of the winding until it is practically flat. This results in the flat, comfortable playing feel of flatwounds, along with less squeaking, with a brightness generally between roundwounds and flatwounds. The polishing process removes almost half of the winding wire's mass, thus, to compensate for it, manufacturers use winding wire of a heavier gauge. Because of the extra manufacturing process involved they are normally more expensive than roundwounds, but less than flatwounds.
Hexcore strings are composed of regular hexagonal core and a tight (usually round) winding. It prevents the winding from slipping around the core - a problem usually associated with round core strings. The hexagonal cross-section of the core provide pressure points that help secure the winding around the core better, to prevent unwanted slipping and subsequent rotation.
Bowed instrument strings such as those for the violin or cello are usually not described by their gauge. These strings are usually described by their tension. The discussion here primarily concerns fretted instruments.
The tone of a string depends partly on its weight, and, therefore, on its diameter or so-called gauge. Traditionally, a string's diameter is measured in thousandths of an inch (0.001 in = 0.0254 mm). The larger the diameter, the heavier the string is. Heavier strings require more tension for the same pitch and are, as a consequence, harder to press down to the fingerboard. If a fretted instrument is restrung with different string gauges, it may be necessary to adjust string height above the frets, (the "action") to make the instrument easier to play or keep the strings from buzzing against the frets. The action height of fretless instruments is also adjusted to suit the string gauge or material, as well as the intended playing style.
Steel strings for 6-string guitar usually come in sets of matched strings. Sets are usually referenced either by the gauge of the first string (e.g., 9), or by pair of first and last (e.g., 9-42). Some manufacturers may have slightly different gauge sequences; the sample data below comes from D'Addario string charts for regular, round-wound, nickel-plated strings.
(Note: strings in dark gray boxes are wound. All others are plain.)
| Name | 1 (E) |
2 (B) |
3 (G) |
4 (D) |
5 (A) |
6 (E) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extra super light (8-38) | .008 | .010 | .015 | .021 | .030 | .038 |
| Extra super light plus (8.5-39) | .0085 | .0105 | .015 | .022 | .032 | .039 |
| Super light (9-42) | .009 | .011 | .016 | .024 | .032 | .042 |
| Super light plus (9.5-44) | .0095 | .0115 | .016 | .024 | .034 | .044 |
| Regular light (10-46) | .010 | .013 | .017 | .026 | .036 | .046 |
| Extra light w/heavy bass (9-46) | .009 | .013 | .016 | .026 | .036 | .046
They are 9-42 for the higher unwound 3 strings and 10-46 gauge for the lower end wound strings 3 strings |
| Medium (11-48/49) | .011 | .014 | .018 | .028 | .038 | .048/49 |
| Light Top / Heavy Bottom (10-52) | .010 | .013 | .017 | .032 | .042 | .052 |
| Medium w/wound G string (11-52) | .011 | .013 | .020 | .030 | .042 | .052 |
| Heavy (12-54) | .012 | .016 | .020 | .032 | .042 | .054 |
| Extra heavy (13-56) | .013 | .017 | .026 | .036 | .046 | .056 |
(Diameter in mm)
| Name | 1 (E) |
2 (B) |
3 (G) |
4 (D) |
5 (A) |
6 (E) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extra super light (8-38) | 0.2032 | 0.2540 | 0.3810 | 0.5334 | 0.7620 | 0.9652 |
| Extra super light plus (812.7-39) | 0.2159 | 0.2667 | 0.3810 | 0.5588 | 0.8128 | 0.9906 |
| Super light (9-42) | 0.2286 | 0.2794 | 0.4064 | 0.6096 | 0.8128 | 1.0668 |
| Super light plus (9-44) | 0.2413 | 0.2921 | 0.4064 | 0.6096 | 0.8636 | 1.1176 |
| Regular light (10-46) | 0.2540 | 0.3302 | 0.4318 | 0.6604 | 0.9144 | 1.1684 |
| Extra light w/heavy bass (9-46) | 0.2286 | 0.3302 | 0.5334 | 0.7366 | 0.9144 | 1.1684 |
| Medium (11-48/49) | 0.2794 | 0.3556 | 0.4572 | 0.7112 | 0.9652 | 1.2192~1.2446 |
| Light Top / Heavy Bottom (10-52) | 0.2540 | 0.3302 | 0.4318 | 0.8128 | 1.0668 | 1.3208 |
| Medium w/wound G string (11-52) | 0.2794 | 0.3302 | 0.5080 | 0.7620 | 1.0668 | 1.3208 |
| Heavy (12-54) | 0.3048 | 0.4064 | 0.5080 | 0.8128 | 1.0668 | 1.3716 |
| Extra heavy (13-56) | 0.3302 | 0.4318 | 0.6604 | 0.9144 | 1.1684 | 1.4224 |
(Note: strings in dark gray boxes are bronze wound. All others are plain.)
| Name | 1 (E) |
2 (B) |
3 (G) |
4 (D) |
5 (A) |
6 (E) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extra light (10-47) | .010 | .014 | .023 | .030 | .039 | .047 |
| Custom light (11-52) | .011 | .015 | .023 | .032 | .042 | .052 |
| Light (12-54) | .012 | .016 | .025 | .032 | .042 | .054 |
| Light/Medium (12.5-55) | .0125 | .0165 | .0255 | .0335 | .0435 | .055 |
| Medium(13-56) | .013 | .017 | .026 | .035 | .045 | .056 |
Typical bass guitar strings come in the following gauges. Bass guitar strings are sometimes made for a particular scale length and come in short, medium, long and extra long (sometimes called super long) scale.
| Name | 1 (G) |
2 (D) |
3 (A) |
4 (E) |
5 (B) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light or "soft" (40-100) | .040 | .060 | .080 | .100 | .120 |
| Medium (45-105) | .045 | .065 | .085 | .105 | .125 |
| Heavy (50-110) | .050 | .075 | .095 | .110 | .130 |
Note that some manufacturers of strings produce other sets of strings, too; the figure above merely lists the most commonly used combinations.
Strings for violin family instruments are often sold in 3 gauges simply labeled heavy, medium, and light, which do not have a standard size associated with them. (These gauges are sometimes called by their German names, stark, mittel, and weich.)
With the advent of steel and synthetic core strings in the 20th century, most manufacturers of bowed instrument (violin, viola, etc.) strings have been marketing these products as light, medium or heavy tension rather than by their measured gauge. There is no standard of what these words mean. In other words, the medium gauge of one brand may have quite a different tension from the medium gauge of another brand. Based on available historical records, gut strings were sold before 1900 in a similar way. On the other hand, modern gut core strings with metal winding, typically have been sold either ungauged for the less expensive brands, or by specific gauge. The Gustav Pirazzi company in Germany introduced the Pirazzi meter, or PM, measurement early in the 20th century. One PM equals .05 mm. For example, a 14 1/2 PM gauge string has an actual gauge of .725 mm. Pirazzi (now known as Pirastro) to this day continues to sell its Olive, Eudoxa, and Passione brand premium gut core strings by PM gauge. Each string is available in 5 or more discrete gauges. Manufacturers of traditional plain gut strings, often used in historically informed performance, sell their products by light/medium/heavy, by PM, by mm or some combination thereof.
Steel forms the core for almost all metal strings. Certain keyboard instruments (eg harpsichord) and the Gaelic harp use brass. Other natural materials such as silk or gut, or synthetics such as nylon and kevlar are also used for string cores. (Steel used for strings, called music wire, is hardened and tempered.) Some violin E strings are gold-plated to improve tone quality.
Sheep and beef gut (called catgut, even though cats were never used for this purpose) were the original materials used as cores for strings for violin family instruments. Gut strings are subject to changes in humidity, which cause them go out of tune, and they also break more easily than other core materials. However, even after the introduction of metal and synthetic core materials, gut strings remain in widespread use because their warmer tone is preferable to some players. They are also desired in historically informed performances of music written before 1900. Modern gut strings are usually wrapped in metal. For players of plucked instruments, Nylgut strings are a recently developed alternative to gut strings - made from a plastic material, they offer almost exactly the same acoustic properties as gut strings, but with none of the problems of tuning caused by climatic variations. Many players of early music now use them in preference to genuine gut.
Silk was extensively used in China for traditional Chinese musical instruments until they were replaced by metal-nylon strings in the 1950s. Only the silk strings used for the guqin are still produced; the quality in ancient times was very high to the extent that there was a brand praised as 'ice strings' because of their smoothness and translucent appearance.[3]
At the present time, one of the most popular materials for the cores of violin, viola, cello, and double bass strings is stranded nylon, often sold under the trade name of Perlon.
Nylon guitar strings were first developed by Albert Augustine Strings in 1947.[4]
Today, most jazz and folk string players prefer steel-core strings for their faster response, low cost, and tuning stability, whereas most classical string players prefer synthetic-core strings (Perlon etc.) for their richer overtones and "warmer" tone. Most baroque string players still prefer gut-core strings.
By far the most popular string combination for a modern concert violinist is synthetic-core G, D, and A strings, with a steel E string.
Aluminum, silver, and chrome steel are common windings for bowed instruments like violin and viola, whereas acoustic guitar and piano strings are usually wound with bronze. Classical guitar strings are typically nylon, with the basses being wound with either silver or bronze. Electric guitar strings are usually wound with nickel plated steel; pure nickel and stainless steel are also used. Bass guitar strings are most commonly wound with stainless steel or nickel. Copper, gold, silver, and tungsten are used for some instruments. Silver and gold are more expensive, and are used for their resistance to corrosion and hypoallergenicity.
Some "historically-informed" strings use an open metal winding with a "barber pole" appearance. This practice improves the acoustic performance of heavier gauge gut strings by adding mass and making the string thinner for its tension. Specimens of such open wound strings are known from the early 18th century, in a collection of artifacts from Antonio Stradivari.
"Silk and steel" guitar strings are overwound steel strings with silk filaments running under the winding.
A string vibrates in a complex harmonic pattern. Every time a string is set into motion, a specific set of frequencies resonate based on the harmonic series. The fundamental frequency is the lowest (and loudest), and it is determined by the density, length and tension of the string. This is the frequency that we identify as the pitch of the string. Above that frequency, overtones (or harmonics) are heard, each one getting quieter the higher it is. For example, if the fundamental pitch is 440 Hz (A above middle C), the overtones for an ideal string tuned to that pitch are 880 Hz, 1320 Hz, 1760 Hz, 2200 Hz, etc. The note names for those pitches would be A, A, E, A, C#, etc. Due to the physical nature of the strings, however, the higher up the overtones go, the more out of tune (or "false") they are to the fundamental. This is an important consideration for piano tuners, who try to stretch the tuning across the piano to keep overtones more in tune as they go up the keyboard.
Metal strings offer a unique problem, as they are susceptible to oxidation and corrosion. Wound strings that use metals such as brass or bronze in their winding eventually corrode as moisture and salts from the player's fingers build up oxides on the string. As a result, the string loses its brilliance over time.[5] To help solve this problem, some string manufacturers apply a metal plating or polymer coating to protect the string from corrosion, and some companies sell special lubricating oils which may slow down oxidation.