22.5" Scale String Gauges

[Tim Weaver]

I recently picked up a 22.5" scale stringmaster D8. I had been playing a 24" Supro S8.

I had been playing an E13 (low to high):
[tab]
D E G# B C# E G# F#
36 32 26 19 18 15 11 13
[/tab]

In the excitement to get the new guitar up and running I forgot to take the shorter scale into account and get larger string gauges. I'm using the chart on John Ely's page, with the larger gauge in the range:
http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/graphics/p ... _chart.pdf
Which seems to be for a 24" scale.

For my new tunings, I'll have an A6 on the inside neck and Leon Mcauliffe's E13 on the outside neck. I was thinking that I would use the string gauge from two tones up. So the F#, i would use the A# string gauge:

[tab]
Tuning
24" scale gauge
22.5" scale gauge

A6
F# A C# E F# A C# E
52 44 38 32 26 22 18 15
58 48 38 36 32 26 19 17

E13
E G# D F# G# B C# E
58 46 36 26 26 19 18 15
64 52 38 32 30 22 19 17
[/tab]
Can anyone with a shorter scale guitar weigh in on if these seem reasonable. I don't want to put to heavy a string or anything that would potentially do damage.

Thanks

[Chris Scruggs]

That's way too heavy! Your gauges for your 24" are right on the money. Those are pretty standard gauges for 22" as well. I would even lighten a few of those up, personally.

Here is what I would setup a standard 22.5 with:

E..........015
C#........018
A..........022
F#.........024 or 026
E...........030
C#..........034 or 036
A............042
F#...........054 or 56

The alternate gauges I listed are for if you plan on maybe refining to C6 or not.

For the Leon E13 I would go with:

E.........015
C#......018
B.........020
G#.......024
F#........026
D..........034
G#.........042
E...........056

I personally use even lighten gauges on a 22.5 guitar, but that's because I pull a lot of strings behind the bar and occasionally do some extreme retuning (running my low A up to an F note). If I were to put a "standard" type set up on a 22.5 guitar in A6 and E13, I would use these gauges listed above. One area where you could go a little heavier would be if you used the same A6 gauges for E13. I'm sure this is what guys did in the old days before individual gauges were available, plus the slightly higher tension will give you a more solid feel if you plan on doing any "crash bar" type playing, ala Speedy West. Also, you don't want to risk stripping out those 60 year old Fender tuners with strings that are too heavy.


I hope this helps!

~Chris Scruggs~

[Tim Weaver]

Thanks for the response Chris. I'll go with the lighter gauges you recommended.
When I play standard guitar I prefer a heavier string and I think I transferred that idea to steel without really thinking about it.

The behind the bar bends are something I'm working on; I can make pretty good use of it in mimicking Mooney's intro to 'Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down', but other than that it's hard for me to use the bends consistently.
I will think about using the same strings between the two tunings in hopes of working up to the bar crash techniques.
That's a bit scary though. With this "new" guitar I'm still being very gentle! I want to be a good steward for the guitar and hopefully keep it in playable shape for years to come. I'd hate to break something with a boneheaded move.

I have to say I'm a bit starstruck from your reply. My girlfriend and I saw you and your fellow Fabulous Superlatives and Marty Stuart at the Fine Line in Minneapolis in April, and we've been talking about that show a lot since then. It was a great time. Got to hear you play one song on steel and of course the rest of the great show. The songs with everyone singing around one mic were really beautiful. And not to mention the smoking guitar playing all night.... I could go on!

Thanks again, Tim