Guitar string tension and scale length

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take a simple question. you have an acoustic guitar with a 20 inch scale and tune it to say E . now transfer the string to a a 25 inch scale and retune it to E . what percent would the tension increase ?

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edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

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up vote
1
down vote

favorite

take a simple question. you have an acoustic guitar with a 20 inch scale and tune it to say E . now transfer the string to a a 25 inch scale and retune it to E . what percent would the tension increase ?

guitar

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

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asked 4 hours ago

john

61

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john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

take a simple question. you have an acoustic guitar with a 20 inch scale and tune it to say E . now transfer the string to a a 25 inch scale and retune it to E . what percent would the tension increase ?

guitar

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

asked 4 hours ago

john

61

New contributor

john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

take a simple question. you have an acoustic guitar with a 20 inch scale and tune it to say E . now transfer the string to a a 25 inch scale and retune it to E . what percent would the tension increase ?

guitar

guitar

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

asked 4 hours ago

john

61

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john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

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asked 4 hours ago

john

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share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

edited 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

3,49011030

asked 4 hours ago

john

61

New contributor

john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 4 hours ago

john

61

asked 4 hours ago

john

61

61

New contributor

john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

john is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

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Check out our Code of Conduct.

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add a comment | 

1 Answer
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The square of the frequency of a vibrating string is directly proportional to the tension, and inversely proportional to the square of the length of the string. So, for two strings of identical composition vibrating at the same frequency:

T2 = (L2^2 / L1^2) * T1.

For L1 = 20in and L2 = 25in, we have L2 = 1.25 * L1, or L2^2 = 1.5625 * L1^2. This means that:

T2 = 1.5625 * T1 = (1 + 0.5625) * T1.

The tension in the 25 inch string is 56.25% higher than the tension in the 20 inch string. Hmmm, in retrospect, you probably should have asked this over at the SE Physics site.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
  – Neil Meyer
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
  – David Bowling
  1 hour ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

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1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
2
down vote

The square of the frequency of a vibrating string is directly proportional to the tension, and inversely proportional to the square of the length of the string. So, for two strings of identical composition vibrating at the same frequency:

T2 = (L2^2 / L1^2) * T1.

For L1 = 20in and L2 = 25in, we have L2 = 1.25 * L1, or L2^2 = 1.5625 * L1^2. This means that:

T2 = 1.5625 * T1 = (1 + 0.5625) * T1.

The tension in the 25 inch string is 56.25% higher than the tension in the 20 inch string. Hmmm, in retrospect, you probably should have asked this over at the SE Physics site.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
  – Neil Meyer
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
  – David Bowling
  1 hour ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

The square of the frequency of a vibrating string is directly proportional to the tension, and inversely proportional to the square of the length of the string. So, for two strings of identical composition vibrating at the same frequency:

T2 = (L2^2 / L1^2) * T1.

For L1 = 20in and L2 = 25in, we have L2 = 1.25 * L1, or L2^2 = 1.5625 * L1^2. This means that:

T2 = 1.5625 * T1 = (1 + 0.5625) * T1.

The tension in the 25 inch string is 56.25% higher than the tension in the 20 inch string. Hmmm, in retrospect, you probably should have asked this over at the SE Physics site.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
  – Neil Meyer
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
  – David Bowling
  1 hour ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

up vote
2
down vote

The square of the frequency of a vibrating string is directly proportional to the tension, and inversely proportional to the square of the length of the string. So, for two strings of identical composition vibrating at the same frequency:

T2 = (L2^2 / L1^2) * T1.

For L1 = 20in and L2 = 25in, we have L2 = 1.25 * L1, or L2^2 = 1.5625 * L1^2. This means that:

T2 = 1.5625 * T1 = (1 + 0.5625) * T1.

The tension in the 25 inch string is 56.25% higher than the tension in the 20 inch string. Hmmm, in retrospect, you probably should have asked this over at the SE Physics site.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

The square of the frequency of a vibrating string is directly proportional to the tension, and inversely proportional to the square of the length of the string. So, for two strings of identical composition vibrating at the same frequency:

T2 = (L2^2 / L1^2) * T1.

For L1 = 20in and L2 = 25in, we have L2 = 1.25 * L1, or L2^2 = 1.5625 * L1^2. This means that:

T2 = 1.5625 * T1 = (1 + 0.5625) * T1.

The tension in the 25 inch string is 56.25% higher than the tension in the 20 inch string. Hmmm, in retrospect, you probably should have asked this over at the SE Physics site.

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

answered 3 hours ago

David Bowling

3,49011030

3,49011030

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
  – Neil Meyer
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
  – David Bowling
  1 hour ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
  – Neil Meyer
  1 hour ago
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  @NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
  – David Bowling
  1 hour ago
  
  

  
  
  
  

does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
– Neil Meyer
1 hour ago

does a 25 inch scale exist on acoustic?
– Neil Meyer
1 hour ago

@NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
– David Bowling
1 hour ago

@NeilMeyer -- Stewie Mac shows some Nationals as 25" scale length, and some other acoustics as longer. I have a Taylor 12-string with a 25.5" scale length.
– David Bowling
1 hour ago

add a comment | 

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