# Circle K Strings new gauges and sets. 69 gauges from .008p to .254. New tension chart



## ixlramp (Aug 1, 2011)

Circle K Strings - Circle K Strings

Plain:
.008 to .023 in steps of .001

Wound:
.025 to .029 in steps of .001
.029 to .067 in steps of .002
.067 to .082 in steps of .003
.082 to .106 in steps of .004
.106 to .142 in steps of .006
.142 to .190 in steps of .008
.190 to .210 in steps of .010
.222
.232
.244
.254

Number of wraps is minimised for flexibility, clarity and harmonicity:
.025 to .053 1 layer of wrap wire
.055 to .106 2 wraps
.112 to .190 3 wraps
.200 to .254 4 wraps

Single strings are now available with no cost penalty in comparison to the sets:
http://circlekstrings.com/store/single_strings.html

New sets:
Balanced piccolo sets for any number of strings from as light as .045 .031 .020 .014 .010
I counted 41 different sets of gauges for 4 string balanced sets alone ... amazing. 

New tension chart is up:
http://circlekstrings.com/CKSIMAGES/CircleKtensionChart.pdf
The tension chart is for a 34" scale, to calculate tension for scales other than 34", multiply the tension value by (your scale in inches / 34) squared.
The tension values are divided into diagonal regions, each diagonal region corresponds to a particular octave. Starting from the small triangular region in the bottom right corner and working upwards, the octave numbers are: 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.


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## Hollowway (Aug 2, 2011)

Holy cow! That's so cool! And if using a tension chart to compute an ideal balanced set wasn't OCD geeky enough, we can even do some math to get a custom scale length! (Ugh, I spent entirely too much time thinking about guitar. )

So I know that bass strings in general are supposed to sound different than guitar due to different core sizes, etc. Does that apply to these as well? Paging Skip...


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## Dayn (Aug 2, 2011)

Damn, I don't have a bass guitar so I can't spend an hour working out my perfect string set.

I wonder how these would work as guitar strings...


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## ixlramp (Aug 2, 2011)

Hollowway said:


> So I know that bass strings in general are supposed to sound different than guitar due to different core sizes, etc. Does that apply to these as well?



Apparently they're designed to be super flexible so perhaps they'll be better than other brands to use on guitar, plus they're nickelplated. Just remember the headstock-end taper will be in the wrong place which may be a problem for the fatter strings. Also the bridge-end tapered section is short at 1.625" if you insist on having the tapered section on the saddle. CKS suggest exceeding 30 pounds (the very approximate manufacturing tension) as a rough rule for best tone, although i suspect this refers more to the fatter wound strings. 

Oh i forgot to include the wrap information, I'll add this to the first post too. CKS minimise the number of wraps to improve flexibility and clarity.
Quoting knuckle_head: "one wrap to .053, two wraps to .106, and three wraps to .190 (though I still have some 4 wrap .190 stock). Four wraps beyond that."


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## Shannon (Aug 2, 2011)

Skip, the owner of Circle K, is top notch. A good friend of mine & highly recommended.


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## knuckle_head (Aug 10, 2011)

Ya know . . . I was just going over this with one of my partners.

It seems our bass designs are contenders as guitar strings - if your hardware can put up with it they ought to work.

You guys ought to be able to give me some awesome pointers if you're willing to lend advice. I stopped at A on my 28.5" bari, and I sorely miss my Bajo Sexto. Got a real sweet E out of her.

I expect to have to narrow the gap for guitar gauges to give me a bit more refinement - you guys are pickier than bass players. 

I've changed formulas so many times at this point that I have designs by .002s down to .033 and .001s to .023.

..... and before y'all go runnin amok, just 'cuz I got 'em doesn't mean I'll do 'em.


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## ixlramp (Aug 13, 2011)

I'm assume that guitar strings generally have thinner cores, since they are not tuned up as tight as bass strings, making them more flexible.

Also ... and i really am guessing here ... are wound at a lower tension to increase the possibility of them being used at a tension higher than the winding tension (which as knuckle_head has stated, improves elasticity) ? Seeing as guitar strings are used at tensions from 12 to 34 pounds (going by the D'Addario sets) i suspect that guitar strings are often used below their winding tension in the lighter sets such as 8-38.

I get the impression that bass strings are wound at 25-30 pounds tension, and guitar strings are wound at a lower tension, but not much lower as there must be a practical minimum.

When knuckle_head stated in another forum that Circle K Strings minimise the core diameter to maximise flexibility it occurred to me that they would be a bass brand more suitable to be used on guitar.


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## MF_Kitten (Aug 13, 2011)

I am looking at circle K strings once again now, for my new awesome bass... I just need to figure out wtf i am going for as far as tuning goes. The circle K strings are seriously awesome sounding, and i love balanced tension sets, so it's a no-brainer.


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## ZEBOV (Aug 14, 2011)

^I just bought a standard scale balanced 5 string set of .174's. Good for low F#. This will also be my first time tuning that low, so after I get the strings, I'll need to take my bass to a guitar shop to have the nut slots widened since I'm going from BEADG to F#BEAD.


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## 6and10 (Sep 1, 2011)

The concept makes so much sense, Mat. I promise when I get the ebony nut project ready to start I'll be calling up you and Skip to verify the gauges I came up with make sense.

Now that I think about it, I have a higher strung 6 string that I'd love to have set up too. All my money is going to go to Skip.


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