How would you define a "balanced" string set?

**Peter C** · 03-09-2020, 07:06 PM

My Strat has a dual rail neck pickup and standard (80s) Japanese Squier flat pole pups in the other positions. I recently replaced a .024 gauge G with a .022 and the drop-off in volume is very noticeable: the plain .015 B sounds about 50% louder than it. (String type is D'Addario nickel-plated rounds). I made the change as I prefer to feel a difference between the Strat and my archtop, strung with a .024 G.

Thing is, I've read lots of people saying how they love their (e.g) Thomastiks with their hyper-skinny Gs and all, and kind of wonder about volume issues, especially with non-adjustable pickups....

Am I going to have to revert to a plain G to achieve balanced volume after years of eschewing this option?

I used a certain Dean Markley "jazz" set I used years ago, it being the only set of 12s available locally at the time.

This round wound, standard nickel-plated "JZ" set was gauged .012/.015/.026/.034/.044/.054 and the thing is, I have no recollection of needing to make any special adjustments in pickup pole heights on my old LP to address volume imbalance between the strings when I first used them. So this set was balanced volume-wise, but it's pretty obvious that there's an enormous step-up in tension between the B and G strings. Didn't bother me too much though, as I remember.

Then I discovered Thomastik Infeld (it's difficult to avoid them if you frequent jazz guitar forums!) with their "balanced tension" mantra and eventually tried them out. I actually don't recall whether I experienced any string-to-string volume issues because they didn't last more than a few days on my archtop: great quality strings but I just couldn't get on with their floppy feel compared to most other known sets.

So, what's your defintion of "balanced"?

**neatomic** · 03-09-2020, 07:13 PM

since you don't have adjustable polepieces, have you tried lowering the pickups into the body on the treble side?

other thing might be to try a stainless steel wrap string...the extra gauss from the ss wrap might even things out a bit more...

cheers

**Peter C** · 03-10-2020, 08:34 AM

It may turn out that a .024 (wound) is as low as I want to go. A .026 eventually becomes uncomfortable for me on any guitar, so a bit of a conundrum! A single stainless steel wrap G is worth trying, though.

....I wonder how many players put a wound G on their Strats/Teles.

**mr. beaumont** · 03-10-2020, 09:08 AM

Originally Posted by Peter C

....I wonder how many players put a wound G on their Strats/Teles.

I do! (tele) Have for years. Flatwounds, too. Never had a problem with balance.

**Peter C** · 03-10-2020, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I do! (tele) Have for years. Flatwounds, too. Never had a problem with balance.

OK, so if that's 12-52 Chromes, they were fine on my Strat when I was putting the darn things

on everything when I first discovered them. .024 G and stainless steel.

Curious about the smaller, nickel TIs....

**mr. beaumont** · 03-10-2020, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Peter C

OK, so if that's 12-52 Chromes, they were fine on my Strat when I was putting the darn things

on everything when I first discovered them. .024 G and stainless steel.

Curious about the smaller, nickel TIs....

Yes, that's exactly what I use. Actually, I have .011's on there now, but I replaced the high E and B with those from a set of .012s...so my 3rd string is skinnier..

**neatomic** · 03-10-2020, 09:24 PM

the chromes are stainless steel... that's why they work...as i recommended ^...the extra magnetic strength evens 'em out

better to lower the pups a bit...most jazz guys are using guitars with pickups that are set up for modern highs...in olde days they didnt have eq pedals...and overdrives...everything came from guitar..and that was pup height and rollin back controls..and type of strings...all the basics.but still valid!!

droppin a pickup into the body does more to change tone than any new strings or pickup can ever do!!

cheers

**JaxJaxon** · 03-10-2020, 09:35 PM

I use a EQ as my first effect and that is why I use it to balance out the volume between each string, I can get real close.

**Peter C** · 03-14-2020, 02:19 PM

I took neatomic's advice and lowered the pickups. It seems to have improved matters...

Edit: Not sure if a stainless steel round wound set with a .022w G even exists, btw.

**marcwhy** · 03-14-2020, 03:20 PM

Watch the video here, and then play with the calculator!

Marc

**MarkRhodes** · 03-14-2020, 03:23 PM

I have played flatwounds for a long time now, with a wound G string. Switched to a Tele at Christmas and thought the unwound (plain) G string would be an issue for me but it's not. I like it fine. Will experiment with other brands of strings but for now, the plain G suits me fine. I hadn't thought that it would.

Like your Strat! I played one for many years before switching to an archtop. In terms of playing---just playing---I never found my home on an archtop. (Mind you, I didn't try many of them: been playing the same one since 2002) But that's me.

**MarkRhodes** · 03-14-2020, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

Watch the video here, and then play with the calculator!

Marc

I ordered a set of those. They arrived while I was sick and I thought, "I'm gonna wait till that's all gone before changing strings." The cold is all gone as of today. (Hung in there nearly two weeks---either it was an unusually potent strain of cold or I'm getting old: perhaps a bit of both!)

I look forward to trying them out.

**Peter C** · 03-14-2020, 03:33 PM

In the link the guy says, "You almost always want more tension on your wound strings than on your plain strings". I know a buncha jazzers who think otherwise.

Not what I was asking.

**neatomic** · 03-14-2020, 03:41 PM

first off it's usually recommended that you can step up a gauge when using thomastiks...so if you usually use 12's, you can go to 13's with thoms...

a balanced set has to do with the way they design the strings...how thick the core of the string is, is crucial!!..the outer wrap thickness matters less in determining overall tension..thomastik uses thin round inner cores..and double wraps the soft pure nickel outer...this is why the tension is so low

ghs has a string that is the exact opposite..they are called big cores...the core is thicker than usual...giving them a bigger toned higher tension sound and feel...

a balanced set is when all the strings have an appropriate tension and feel between the six

hard for a string maker to determine it's sound...because of the myriad of variables in their use...kind of guitar, pick, pickups, pickup height, polepiece height etc etc...so they can't balance by sound, but use tension and feel

cheers

**deacon Mark** · 03-14-2020, 03:50 PM

Balance for me has to do with size and feel. I need at least a .24 third. I don't like .22 they don't ring as well. The B string is another problem and I like a 16 but .17 works too. I need a .12 on the top.

I find .52 to be nice for the bottom E but on shorter scale guitar say 24 3/4 a .54 is better. Strings actually should fit to the guitar as they are different scale lengths. I don't know about anyone else but my hand strenght can vary from day to day. Not that they are weak or old age issue just differences in each day. Some days we go to the gym and can press xx amount of weigths and other days we have to back off.

I find that happens when I play the guitar. Sometimes I find that I can get so powerful in my left hand that I either have to raise action, or in my case I just get a different guitar that has a bit more tension. Strings gauge is also used to solve intonation issues that cannot be done on bridges without tunomatics. The critical piece of puzzle is the height of the strings at the nut. You want generally the lowest possible height you can go without buzzing on the open string. This calls for splitting 1/2 hairs for sure.

I probably did not even answer the question but that is take.

**marcwhy** · 03-14-2020, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Peter C

In the link the guy says, "You almost always want more tension on your wound strings than on your plain strings". I know a buncha jazzers who think otherwise.

Not what I was asking.

Did you try the calculator with your guitar's scale length and the type of strings you use?? "Balanced" often refers to tension, not necessarily "sound from the pickups.|

**Peter C** · 03-14-2020, 04:40 PM

Ah, knowledgeable neatomic - I'm assuming Cali as in -fornia and not the city in SW Colombia. By now, I have noticed your liking for TIs

However, it always amuses me when TIs are recommended to people who are starting out, maybe coming from standard rock guitar 9s or 10s, with lower tension in the 1st-3rd plains than in the wounds. Must take quite some getting used to! Personally, in a 12-52 set I often sub the 1st for a 13 because I prefer the fuller sound it affords.

So Thomastik use thin cores: what is their voodoo to get things to balance out?

Thanks for your definition of what constitutes balance in your opinion.

---

deacon Mark, your post echoes a lot of my personal experience: there are days that I want a 13-56 set on there, especially when I've been playing regularly. I think you did answer the question in a roundabout way.

**Peter C** · 03-14-2020, 04:52 PM

That Strat has seen action! I stripped off a custom paint job a couple of years ago and treated it with linseed oil with the intention of repainting it ... at some time. The pup selector is atypical: bent over 90º and position 1 is middle, position 3 is bridge ... it's complicated

**JaxJaxon** · 03-14-2020, 06:52 PM

If Balanced means tension then what word is used to represent volume between strings. Especially on a acoustic guitar.

**sgosnell** · 03-14-2020, 09:03 PM

String manufacturers who offer 'balanced' sets sell them as balanced tension. Whether that's the best type of set to use is up to personal preference. I don't know of a term for balanced volume. That depends on the guitar as much as the strings, IMO, because different guitars vary in volume with pitch, at least carved-top acoustics do. That's why it can take experimentation to find the best string set for the guitar, best being what the player most prefers.