String gauge experimentation

I’ve been toying with different string gauges again recently. For the last 8 years or so I’ve been using GHS Boomers GBH heavy strings with a 0.012″ first string and plain third string.

If you play guitar you probably get what I just said, but if not suffice it to say that string sets are typically sold according to their lightest (highest) string and the rest of the set is calculated from there to achieve similar tensions on all strings. In order to get reasonable tension values, the heavier strings are wound radially with another piece of wire to increase its mass. Generally there is a point where a string manufacturer will choose a wound string over a plain string, and for GHS this point is 0.019″. Beyond that, they will ship a wound string.

What is the problem then?

I’ve found that for my playing style I do a lot of big bends on the third string. A string that has a small core for its mass requires a lot of force to bend up the same amount relative to a plain string. I haven’t worked out the math for this though, what I’m writing here is purely anecdotal. I have, however used this spreadsheet compiled for creating consistent sets of strings according to the force it takes to displace the string a certain amount.

According to the spreadsheet, heavier plain strings bend with a smaller displacement than lighter ones. The force is pretty high, but I don’t really care about the amount of force it takes. My fingers are very strong. The issue is running out of room vertically on the fretboard.

My goal is to create a set of 0.013 strings with a plain third that is comfortable to play, especially when doing bends on the second and third strings. I also don’t really want to have to build the whole set myself from individual strings, so I’m going to start with a readily available set and just replace certain strings.

I’m using the GHS DYM 0.013 string set, which has a wound third string. I’m replacing the third string with something in the range from 0.020″ to 0.026″.

The burning question is, which gauge for the replacement string?

So far I’ve tried 0.020, 0.021, 0.022, and 0.026. I couldn’t really tell the difference between 0.020 and 0.021. I don’t know what that means yet, but I think I’d probably err on the side of heavier. The 0.026 is just beastly. It bends just fine, but it feels huge and barely fits through the groove in the nut on most of my guitars. It’s not very flexible either, and it doesn’t form a nice angle coming out of the nut. I think this might be contributing to some intonation problems I’m having with it.

I have a suspicion that the 0.024″ string is the ticket, but I’m saving the best for last.