[Mind Riot]

Thanks again Wayne, for starting that thread with all the info and formulae for doing this. I'd wondered about it before, and you gave me the resources to do it. Thanks bro!

So I bought a set from juststrings.com. All told, the set cost about $7.50, which is fairly spendy but I don't really care, I don't have that many guitars so I can splurge just a tad on my number one.

I did some calculations, thought about it, and here's the set I came up with and ended up ordering. All GHS strings.

Tensions, rounded to the nearest hundredth, for a 26 1/2" Schecter seven string scale:

E: .009 14.17 lbs
B: .012 14.14 lbs
G: .016 15.84 lbs (considered a .015 at 13.92 lbs, but the .016 came in a set)
D: .028 23.01 lbs
A: .038 23.31 lbs
E: .052 23.75 lbs
B: .070 24.74 lbs


The .070 low B is a tad higher tension, but I figured it would help compensate for the increased mass of the string as well as keep the tension better when I was tuned down to A. I also would have preferred the G to be a .015, but GHS' 12-52 set had all the gauges I needed except the high E and the low B which made things cheaper and easier, so the .016 wasn't a hard compromise (I just didn't use the .019 that came with the set). An unwound G can be a problematic performer anyway, so I didn't want to exacerbate it with a too light string.

The 12-52 set was like $4.50, the high .009 was about eighty cents, and the .070 was $2.69.

The only problem I encountered was that the .070 would not fit through the hole on the tuning post. I had heard about this problem before, but rather than drill out the post I simply unwound the outermost winding of the string to get it to fit and then wound it as usual. Bass guitar strings are like this on purpose and it doesn't affect anything as long as the string is consistent in size from the nut to the bridge saddle. So no prob. I did have to very slightly and gently widen the nut slot for the low B.

Impressions: I was wondering if the bigger low B string would sound much different, but it didn't. The primary difference is in the playing FEEL. The string is taut and lively. I can speed pick, I can slam power chords hard, I can play open A notes hard, all without the string wowing out of tune. Simply put, it's as easy to play as all the other strings now, which is what I wanted and what I expected given the tensions. I'm very pleased.

I also lightened up the high end of things from my normal set, using a .009, .012, and .016 for the G instead of my usual .010, 013, and .017. Notes are easier to bend and less hard on my fingers, which feels wonderful. Should be about the same as .010's on a 25 1/2" scale, which is fine with me.

Other than that, the set is the same as what I used to use, which is a good thing because the only complaints I had were with the low B and the high unwound strings. This custom set addresses all the problems. It makes playing easier and more pleasurable when you don't have to compensate for the differing tensions of your strings. Your pick attack can be the same for everything, instead of having to lighten it when you switch from playing on the E to the B because if you hit it too hard it'll go out of tune.

Here's a few pics I took yesterday of my Schecter with the new set. That low B really is a pretty fat string!







I really dig it. I think everyone should at least give a tension matched set a try. You might like it as much as I do.

[Jason]

that b is pretty beefy looking

[darren]

I've been using a .070 low B (which i tune to A) on my Dean for a couple of years now. It's a great string.

[Cancer]

Where is the original thread?

[Mind Riot]

Originally Posted by psyphre

Where is the original thread?

We talked about it here:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sevenstring-guitars/5729-optimum-string-tension-part-deux.html

But the actual formula, the note frequency, and the D'Addario PDF file with the mass of various gauges of strings is in WayneCustom7's post about halfway down the first page of this thread:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sevenstring-guitars/5359-string-gauge-for-a-tuning.html

WayneCustom7 is the man.

[zimbloth]

That's certainly a cool experiment you got there. I don't think I could ever deal with playing a .052 gauge string tuned to E... too stiff for me.

[Mind Riot]

It's almost identical tension to a .038 A string. Wouldn't feel any different. I don't know how people can use a .036 A with a .046 E. There's got to be around four pounds of difference between those two. A typical .046 E string on a 25 1/2" scale feels like a spaghetti noodle to me, which is fine if you like lower tension, but having the tensions be so radically different within one set is really wierd to me.

[zimbloth]

It feels fine to me and most everyone else I've known. Doesn't negate the legitimacy of what you're saying, but it's never been an issue for me.

Perhaps I'll try that on the C7 Blackjack I just ordered and see what happens. I had a C7 Blackjack once before, to me when it was tuned to B standard with 10-56 it felt stiff as hell...I had to tune it to Bb to get it feel right.

[eleven59]

Interesting. I've been playing a 10-52 set with a 65 added for the low-A (I tune everything down a whole-step in my band) for a while now and have been thinking about trying something thicker for the low string. Though 10-52 with the 65 feels pretty sweet in standard on my 25.5"-scale 7-string.

[Karl Hungus]

Hmm... I don't know, a stardard pack of 10 guage feels fine on the low B for me. Although I do find it's hard to tune down to A, even with a set of 11s, or even B flat. So I might try a something heavier and see how I get on.