I knew light strings were floppy, but Geez!

[guitarjamman]

Shot this with my iPhone yesterday for your enjoyment. The iPhone's camera operates on a rolling shutter which captures images from left to right, not all at once. When in the direct sunlight the guitar string vibrations are captured in a horizontal fashion and when compiled looks like standing waves on each string.

Played on my 2001 Guild F-30R.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMoDDDiX ... f4GC4W6zHL

-Zach

 

[Geo]

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

George

 

[fronobulax]

Neat!

 

[southernGuild]

Enjoyed that one. Mighty fine pickin' too. It all works together with the video, and the result is pretty cool. Thanks Zach

 

[Ravon]

Very cool 8) Nice playing too!

 

[Ridgemont]

Love the floppiness. That guitar would make a fine politician.

 

[adorshki]

That's what I mean when I keep sayin' light strings compensate for less tension with a bigger arc of travel. In fact I think they can be even louder than mediums because of that.
It did just occur to me that mediums could be louder at lower "pressures" though, like when fingerpicking very gently.

 

[guitarjamman]

Now there is an experiment to try.

Step 1.) Buy a sweet/vintage Guild D-55. I will need a sufficient dreadnaught to perform an experiment of this caliber; a skinny guitar such as my F-30R will not provide a true tonal difference between string gauges. Plus, every man NEEDS a dread, despite what his better half may say.

Step 2.) Load it up with a set of medium strings and perform the same experiment with the iPhone. Capture the standing waves and using a computer program (such as AutoCAD), measure the deflection in a standing wave.

Step 3.) Remove medium strings and equip light strings said D-55. Perform the same exact chord progression and record, measure string deflections, compare notes.

In order to get true comparable data, I will need to bring a decibel recorder and capture the “loudness” of the specific note that I am measuring the string deflection of. Therefore I will have data for one note being played, have the string deflection measured with both light and medium gauge strings, and have the decibel level of that same note on both light and medium strings.

This sort of experiment can revolutionize the way we look at string gauges and finally lay to bed many of the myths that are floating around. I am accepting donations, grants, or materials to help perform this experiment (maybe a vintage, broken in D-55). Believe me, the results will be well worth the donations.

Hypothesis: The string gauge will have an effect on the “loudness” of a note being played. Light strings will provide a louder note when finger picking. The standing waves on each light string will have greater amplitude than if one were to fingerpick a medium gauge string. Mediums would require a lot more force (more of an unnatural amount of force) when finger picking to get a wave of equal amplitude. The wave’s longitudinal forces are transferred to the soundboard and begin to vibrate the whole top of the guitar. A larger standing wave would in turn transmit more vibrational forces to the guitar’s top. It is believed that the amplitude of the wave, under lesser forces, has the controlling factor over the thickness of the strings in regards to decibel levels. The inverse is believed to be true under greater forces (e.g. strumming a guitar). The standing waves will reach maximum amplitudes regardless of the gauge when strummed. With the amplitude being maxed out for each string gauge, the only variable still controlling the decibel level would be the thickness of the strings.

Now let the funds begin to roll in......

 

[adorshki]

Hypothesis: The string gauge will have an effect on the “loudness” of a note being played. Light strings will provide a louder note when finger picking.

I'm not an engineer but I think this assumption is flawed. I think mediums might turn out to be louder when finger picked due to higher stored energy in the string tension. Basically I think that for the same arc of travel of the string, the mediums will put more energy into the top (be "louder"), but it takes more force to get the same arc of travel with mediums than with lights. So my hypothesis is that it's a wash for volume for most players, and the lights are easier to play and easier on the guitar in terms of stress. If you got an ape's grip and ability to really pin mediums down on the frets like lights, then yes, you could get extra volume out of mediums whether strumming or finger picking.

It is believed that the amplitude of the wave, under lesser forces, has the controlling factor over the thickness of the strings in regards to decibel levels. The inverse is believed to be true under greater forces (e.g. strumming a guitar). The standing waves will reach maximum amplitudes regardless of the gauge when strummed.

I disagree here also. The variable is force of strum.
My point is you need less force of strum with lights to achieve maximum arc of travel of string.

With the amplitude being maxed out for each string gauge, the only variable still controlling the decibel level would be the thickness of the strings.

I think what's not being taken into account is the "stored potential" energy in the tension of a given set of strings. But someone else may know better than myself. I'm open to further explanations.

Now let the funds begin to roll in......

:lol: