Is it bad to constantly retune a guitar to different tunings

[Amberience]

Does if you nail it to a tennis court.

[Hink]

mechanically speaking that can't be, when something stetches it removes tension, it slackens...

Okay, *that* I can certainly agree with. As I said, I didn't view this stretching as a permanent state, which would equate to "tensioning" in your terminology.

But speaking of furry friends, when one of my cats "stretches", it doesn't stay that way!

- m

it's a cat so I know it's a slacker

[Markleford]

Does if you nail it to a tennis court.

Then that would be *tension*!

it's a cat so I know it's a slacker

Ba-da-dump!

- m

[CrownRoyal]

Hey guitarists... forgive the ignorant question.

Is it bad to switch between string tunings a lot? I recently had to have my intonation problems ironed out by a shop (couldn't quite manage it myself) and the guy in the shop mentioned that tuning to different tunings can cause the intonation to go out.

How serious a problem is this?

What's "a lot"?

I change from standard to DADGAD all the time on my acoustic. I break strings on occasion but it's usually due to rough playing.

If you're going to do it, make sure that have a few extra windings on the tuner and that the tuner hole (where the string passes thru) has no sharp edges. Once you get a little bend in the string and start working it, back and forth, with tuning to different keys, it will break due to work hardening. Just like a paper-clip.

If I break a string during tuning, it's usually tuning down from B to A.

I knew a guy that used to boil his strings (in water) before putting them on. He SWORE it helped keep his guitar in tune. Whatever!

Cheers.

[Samb]

The string does stretch, just not much.

See here http://www.shodor.org/~jingersoll/weave ... node5.html

[Stupid American Pig]

The string does stretch, just not much.

See here http://www.shodor.org/~jingersoll/weave ... node5.html

I feel vindicated somewhat.

[Hink]

In the context of material behavior, a structural component is said to behave elastically if during loading/unloading the deformation is reversible. In other words, when the loads are released the specimen will return to its original, undeformed configuration. On the contrary, if the material does not return to its initial undeformed state after unloading it is said to behave in-elastically.

how is that any different then what I said...what I'm trying so hard to say is that once nickle has stretched it will not returnd to it's original size, Nickle has very little elsaticity...or behave as in-elastically as it says here, it's just the nature of harder material, it becomes more brittle...

As loads are increased and the stress in the specimen continues to rise, the material eventually reaches the elastic limit. Beyond this limit, any additional loading will result in some permanent change to the specimen geometry upon unloading.

, the elastic limit is much higher with harder materials such as nickle

For many materials, this point is indistinguishable from the proportionality limit.

and guitar strings are made of one such material...in other words like I said to start, there's a name for stretched strings...broken...

[Amberience]

Perhaps you should say over-stretched things are broken, and just forget about it

[Hink]

Perhaps you should say over-stretched things are broken, and just forget about it

no that isn't true...you still don't get it the relationship between the tensile and elastic are so close (proportion) that once it's stretched it has been weekend too much to withstand the tension that is where it is at default...stretching fundamentally damages the integrity quickly with strings and for goes the stretch point and goes right to snap, if it didn't the guitar would not be able to hold it tune.

Now I'm not speaking absolutes here, sure some minute stretching could occur, but that would be virtually unmeasurable for the average person...perhaps under a magnifier (I'm talking huge) you might see it,...still structurally it would be flawed and wouldn't last long....

More like even the slightest stretch compromises the integrity of the string, not over stretching....though over bending can lead to over stretching...breakage...it's how strings are designed...high tensile strength and little elasticity... ... really I'm not banging my head...

[[derek]]

[quote=CrownRoyal]
I knew a guy that used to boil his strings (in water) before putting them on. He SWORE it helped keep his guitar in tune. Whatever!

Cheers.[/quote]
Never heard of doing it first, however, this is actually a good tip. Lot's of bass players do this. You tend to get all sorts of oil's and other sundry substances on the strings, giving them a run through the dishwasher tends brighten them up. Never heard of anyone doing it for guitar strings, but for bass strings, this is pretty common practice, especially considering a decent set is 8-10x more expensive than a set of guitar strings.

[Hink]

many people boil strings that are old.....most people here know that I rarely change my strings, I like em dirty...but I have boiled them...

EDIT and welome to a fellow new englander, though conn, is more like new york...

[Frippertronix]

Why did this ever deepening argument get side tracked to string stretching? Didn't it start as another argument about whether retuning a guitar string requires resetting the bridge intonation? That argument just boils down to whether the length of a given string needs to be changed relative to its tension and mass in order to be considered properly intonated, vs. whether mass plays a role in this but tension doesn't.

I'll accept Hink's position (that the tension or open pitch of a string doesn't affect intonation at all) if he can Google some actual references and post the links here.

[Hink]

Why did this ever deepening argument get side tracked to string stretching? Didn't it start as another argument about whether retuning a guitar string requires resetting the bridge intonation? That argument just boils down to whether the length of a given string needs to be changed relative to its tension and mass in order to be considered properly intonated, vs. whether mass plays a role in this but tension doesn't.

I'll accept Hink's position (that the tension or open pitch of a string doesn't affect intonation at all) if he can Google some actual references and post the links here.

I already did, read back to where I posted the link to transperformance http://transperformance.com/index2.htm ....truly an inovtive guitar designer, look at testimonials and who uses his guitars... http://transperformance.com/test/index2.htm .and read what he says in the faqs http://transperformance.com/news/index.htm (you'll jave to scroll down some....a guitar that can store myriad of tunings, a guitar that adjusts for weather conditions, a guitar that will tune a guitar extremely acccurately in less then a second...if he says that intonation is not effected and you know what? I believe him, even though I knew answer long before. But now I want you to prove to me that breathing on strings effect the intonation which is the first thing you said...show me some links...please also show me a link that says intonation is changed with different tunings.

[darcyb62]

Is that ever cool...

[GW]

In material science they describe this as the elastic limit and plastic limit. When you test a metal, it is in a huge vice like device with a scale rading out the tension. As you apply tension, the metal stretches (gets longer) and the tension meter goes up. In the first stage of pressure, when you release the tension, the material returns to its original state or length. This is within the elastic limit. If you continue to apply tension, the material exceeds it eleastic limit and enters it plastic region. This means that the material continues to stretch, but will not return to its original length when the pressure is released. When tensioning beyond the elastic limit, the meter may move slower, stop moving or even start to fall. Eventually, the material will break and this is called failure.

A guitar string is used in its elastic range. When tension is applied, it will stretch. If you tune up to pitch and then yank on a wammy bar, you are extending its length to raise the pitch. When you release the bar,it returns to its original length. When you stretch the string it will in theory get thinner, but I doubt you can measure this effect. When you stretch a stubby sample piece of metal in a test machine, you can see it thin.