Studying or practicing Ear Training?  If you're a musician, you should be.  You'll find my Palm software Ear Trainer invaluable.  Also, I teach guitar lessons in Orange County, CA.  (See OCGuitarLessons.com)

 
 
This is an Excel utility that calculates the gauges for truly consistent six- or seven-string guitar string sets in any tuning.  First, the tension and force-to-bend-one-step are calculated for the gauge you choose as your thinnest string.  Then each other string gauge is calculated from the average in logarithmic space of the unit weights for the gauge with the same tension and the gauge with the same force-to-bend-one-step.

Download StringSets.xls (440 KB)

If you benefit from this utility at all or would like to see more progress in such projects, please consider contacting me/supporting my projects.

Note:  The accuracy of the results of this utility could possibly be improved by further measurements of the force-to-bend-one-step.  I have conducted measurements of such on diverse gauges of only round-wound strings, at one particular scale-length, without consideration of the full string-length (measured from tuning peg to tail-stop), which is a direct factor on the string's elasticity.  (This variable is also a factor in clang tone frequency and inharmonicity.)

I am prepared to continue my scientific survey of the force-to-bend-one-step, including bass strings and round- and flat-wound string types, and considering string-length, when my budget allows.  (The project would require a few hundred single strings and a digital fish scale.)  If you would be interested in seeing progress in this project, please consider contacting me/supporting my projects.

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