Gauge Tension
0.0100 in. 19.60 lbs
0.0150 in. 19.65 lbs
0.0240 in. 19.83 lbs
0.0360 in. 19.45 lb
Hi Guilhem, that is a nice looking little guitar, I think Hucks suggestions are very good especially as a starting point.
Buying single guitar strings and making up your own sets is a great way to go.
Just make sure the guitar is in sound condition with no cracks or loose bracing, I would go with the suggested strings, you may find a .032 or .034 C string suits your playing style better but that is the benefit of making up your own sets.
I had a very similar guitar, it seemed quite lightly built and I found it played very nicely with light strings, 10 14 20 32 but a lot will depend on you own preferences.
As a general rule, sticking to around 20lb of tension on each string is a safe and good place to start but with vintage guitars you need to be sure everything is in good condition.
D'Addario EJ66 Tenor Guitar String set @ 21 inch scale:
0.0100 in. 19.60 lbs
0.0140 in. 17.12 lbs
0.0220 in. 16.74 lbs
0.0320 in. 15.62 lbs
fox's recommendation:
0.0100 in. 19.60 lbs
0.0140 in. 17.12 lbs
0.0200 in. 13.60 lbs
0.0320 in. 15.62 lbs
Results are using String Tension Pro calculator.
Good luck with your new tenor guitar.
I went back and calculated a more balanced "light" set:
0.0090 in. 15.88 lbs
0.0135 in. 15.92 lbs
0.0220 in. 16.74 lbs
0.0320 in. 15.62 lbs
As fox mentioned buying single strings is a great way to go.
If it were my guitar. I'd put on the EJ66's and swap out the 10 for a 9. Then you can experiment from there. That's the string gauges I use on my 23 in. Bonne chance!
Last edited by Huck; Nov-05-2019 at 4:50am.
Thanks for the string gauge recommandations! Today I tried to replace my thin sounding 010 a-string with an 011-inch one to fatten up the sound a little bit. It broke when I tried to tune it higher than g# just short of a. I tried another one and gave it some time to get used to the tension tuned to g. It also broke when I tried to reach the a. I went back to a 010 and tuned it without any problems. Guess I'll have to live with thin sounding higher notes...
Years ago Ry Cooder published a chart for string gauges and tunings for lots of instruments. The link I have no longer works. Could someone send a working link,or, better yet, a copy of the chart? I would be eternally grateful.
Fred Carranti
Carranti @syr.edu.
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