Hi 12 String specialists,
Does anyone know the exact difference in string tension between the regular Rickenbacker 12string set and the TI Flatwounds 10 set? Or has anybody the experience of having used them both?
Thanks
Peter
String tension 12 String sets
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Medicus1963
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String tension 12 String sets
All you need is love and a rick !
Re: String tension 12 String sets
When I switched to the TIs on both my twelves I ended up loosening the rods maybe 1/4 turn but no other changes were needed.
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Medicus1963
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Re: String tension 12 String sets
This means, that TI flats have really less tension!
Thanks!
Thanks!
All you need is love and a rick !
Re: String tension 12 String sets
I'm not sure the difference is really big enough to matter. My objective at the time was vintage-sounding flats without all the tension that you had to fight with while playing on Pyramids. As an added bonus, the strings on my twelves were installed in 2008 on the 370/12 and 2010 on the 340/12, 2008 on my Hofner Beatle Bass and 2009 on my'69 Hagstrom 8-string. They get played a lot and all still sound great.
Re: String tension 12 String sets
If the gauges are roughly the same, they will have roughly the same tension, especially the plain strings, since the mass of plain steel strings is essentially the same irrespective of brand.
Considering the wound strings, the T-I's are pure nickel wrap, which may be a slightly lesser tension, even though they are flat ribbon wire wrapped, which would have marginally more mass than a roundwound string, so it about evens out.
As far as the overall tension, D'addario has a tension chart that will get you in the ball park. They publish their figures based on a 25 1/2 inch scale, instead of a 24 3/4 inch scale, so to get what the actual numbers are for a Rick 12, you multiply the given numbers by the fraction (24 3/4)^2 / (25 1/2)^2.
And since the mass can be determined by the scale length and the area in cross section of the string, given a "unit measurement," then if you want the equivalent tension of a six-string set on the instrument, well, without going through all the math, (A=πr^2 and all that), the rough tension of the 12-string set of 10's is about the same as stringing the guitar with a 6-string set of 14's, if such a set were ever made.
Considering the wound strings, the T-I's are pure nickel wrap, which may be a slightly lesser tension, even though they are flat ribbon wire wrapped, which would have marginally more mass than a roundwound string, so it about evens out.
As far as the overall tension, D'addario has a tension chart that will get you in the ball park. They publish their figures based on a 25 1/2 inch scale, instead of a 24 3/4 inch scale, so to get what the actual numbers are for a Rick 12, you multiply the given numbers by the fraction (24 3/4)^2 / (25 1/2)^2.
And since the mass can be determined by the scale length and the area in cross section of the string, given a "unit measurement," then if you want the equivalent tension of a six-string set on the instrument, well, without going through all the math, (A=πr^2 and all that), the rough tension of the 12-string set of 10's is about the same as stringing the guitar with a 6-string set of 14's, if such a set were ever made.