Tapered strings?

Matthew_Taylor

Do they exist? Seems like a good idea to having bright up top for chords and skinnier on the higher frets for lead? Would this even work?

Luminous

I've always wondered about this....mainly as heavy strings are great to pick on but not to bend

ICBM

No.

The intonation would change along the length of the string so they wouldn't play in tune.

Matthew_Taylor

I guess over the pickups it would be really thin so it would just be heavy up top with no tonal difference to thinner strings

english_bob

Can't say I've ever heard of them. I would imagine making them with any sort of precision would be expensive, and I don't know what (if any) effect they'd have on tone, playability or string life.

english_bob

ICBM said:

No.

The intonation would change along the length of the string so they wouldn't play in tune.

I thought there would probably be some sort of physics-y reason why it wouldn't work. Brain didn't want to figure it out.

Of course, to have them not play in tune you'd have to make them first, and I wasn't sure how you'd do that...

Sassafras

String has to vibrate in a regular wave pattern at a certain frequency so has to be same diameter along its entire length.

UnclePsychosis

Some bass strings are tapered, but only at the ends and not in the speaking length. Otherwise they don't fit in machine heads!

GuitarMonkey

Piano wound bass strings have no windings where they pass over the saddle, but this is compensated for when setting the intonation.

ICBM

Exactly - because the offset is only at the saddle. If they tapered along the rest of their length the intonation would be different at every fret.

I suppose in theory you could calculate by how much, and build a guitar specifically to take tapered strings, if you knew the taper ratio!

Chalky

You would also get a dampering effect as the energy from the plucked thin end transferred to the thick end, the latter's great weight would lower the frequency of the initial vibration as it would take greater energy to overcome its inertia and build momentum. Rather like the dampers used on some bridges.

Nitefly

In that magazine we all used to buy, there was once a brilliant April Fool about left-handed strings, where the wound strings had the wrapper wound on in the opposite direction - genius!