Classical guitars, however, should not be strung with steel strings. Thinner strings, like low or normal tension sets, tend to sound sweet with more rounded lows and mids than high tension sets. He graduated from York College of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in professional writing. He has written music- and writing-related articles for various websites. The Stringjoy Guitar String Tension Calculator is the easiest and best tool to build the perfect balanced tension set of strings for your guitar or bass. It works as follows: if you're happy with the tension and feel of your top string, and you want to find which gauges will approximate that for the rest of your tuning, you can use the Equalize button. Guitar String Diameter Calculator Creating Your Own Custom String Sets: With custom string sizes, you can easily tune your guitar to non-standard tunings and/or alter the loudness of the sound coming from each string (to eliminate, or create, imbalance from string to string). High tension strings, however, have a bright sound perfectly suited for flamenco music. Instead, nylon strings or mixed strings (nylon strings on the bottom end, steel plated copper wound strings on the high end) tend to be used on classical guitars. To calculate the tension of a string in pounds use the formula below, inserting the three variables described above: T(Tension) = (UW x (2 x L x F)2) / 386.4 To convert the result into Newtons,simply multiply by 4.45. Vibrato tends to sound better with thinner strings as well. However, the String Tension Calculator has a feature for helping you find the perfect gauges for even tension, which you may then use as a starting point. The most common materials used in the creation of guitar strings are steel and nylon. High tension strings are thicker strings that apply more tension to the neck than the other types of strings. It may also impact the performance of your guitar. This calculator helps you select an appropriate string diameter. Guitar String Tension Calculator Creating Your Own Custom String Sets: With custom string sizes, you can easily tune your guitar to non-standard tunings and/or alter the loudness of the sound coming from each string (to eliminate, or create, imbalance from string to string). The thickness of high tension strings digs into the fingers more than that of normal tension strings, potentially hurting a beginner's fingers. Although some nylon string sets also list the gauges of the strings, they generally use the terms light, normal or high tension. Normal tension strings apply what is generally considered a standard amount of tension on the guitar neck. Guitar String Tension Chart. Beginning guitarists may like the feel of normal tension strings better than the feel of high tension strings. Light tension strings are thinner strings that apply less tension to the neck than the other types. When changing string gauge, especially when going heavier, the string tension may be significant enough to require adjustment to the setup of your guitar. High tension strings tend to work well on an instrument with low action, so if your classical guitar is set up with low action, you may prefer the feel and responsiveness of high tension strings. Strings can be made out of several materials and in various thicknesses. Phosphor Bronze — 92% copper and 8% tin with phosphorous, introduced to string making by D'Addario in 1974.