Savart Journal

Article

Initial Behavior of Nylon Guitar Strings

MARK FRENCH1, DEBBIE FRENCH2, AND CRAIG ZEHRUNG 3
AbstractPlayers have known about some of the quirks of nylon guitar strings since their introduction after WWII. In
particular, new strings tend to decrease in frequency and need to be re-tuned repeatedly in the first few days of use
as they stretch. This paper presents data on new strings in which the tension is held constant and the string length is
allowed to vary essentially the reverse of the condition on the guitar where the length is held fixed and the tension
changes. The frequencies of monofilament nylon strings were observed to vary cyclically. This effect is not clearly
explained by common expressions for resonant frequencies of stretched strings and may require a more
sophisticated model for nylon strings under tension.
I. INTRODUCTION
Nylon (polyamide) guitar strings were introduced in the 1940s to
replace gut strings [1]. One characteristic of nylon strings is that they
creep when they are new so that the pitch decreases when they are
installed on a guitar [2], [3]. This process typically continues over a
period of hours or days and requires the instrument to be retuned
regularly until the strings stop stretching. The effect is typically more
pronounced in solid strings than stranded strings.
The standard explanation of this effect is that the polymer chains
forming the nylon are not straight when the string is first installed on the
guitar. As tension is applied, the chains straighten out and the axial
stiffness of the string increases. This time-dependent stiffness is welldocumented in plastics, including nylon [4].
Nylon strings are furnished in two forms. The higher pitch strings are
made of monofilament and typically have diameters in the range of
0.025 in 0.042in (0.635mm 1.07mm). Lower pitch strings have
stranded cores and are wound with silver plated copper wire or, less
often, bronze wire. This winding increases the mass per unit length so
that the wound strings can be brought to the correct pitch at
approximately the same tension as the solid strings.

Photo 1 A wound classical guitar string

with a stranded core.

Stranded strings are less prone to pitch changes after being installed.
There are at least two possible reasons. The first is that the strings are
made of many fine strands of plastic and the polymer chains are
necessarily forced to be straighter. The other is that the strands are
placed in tension during the manufacturing process and may undergo
some plastic deformation before shipment. Photo 1 shows a low E
string partially unwound to reveal the stranded core.
A guitar is tuned by stretching the strings using geared tuning
machines. Photo 2 shows the headstock of a classical guitar with the
universally-used worm gear tuning machines. The gear ratio is typically
14:1. The translucent strings on the right side of the headstock are the
solid, higher pitch strings. The wound, low pitch, strings are on the left
side of the headstock.

Photo 2 Classical guitar tuners (Image is

from Wikimedia Commons and is in the
public domain).

Mark French, Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Purdue University

Debbie French, New Philadelphia High School
3
Craig Zehrung, Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology, Purdue University
2

Manuscript received November 11, 2012

Article published: January 08, 2013

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

The guitar is tuned by changing the pitch of the strings with the geared tuners. The fundamental frequency of an
ideal string is given by a simple relationship.

f =

1 T
2L

(1)

Where L is the length of the string, T is the tension and is the mass
per unit length. Frequency is, thus, proportional to the square root of
the tension [5].
Classical guitar strings are generally supplied in sets of six with three
being monofilament and three being stranded, wound strings. Table 1
shows the frequencies and string types for classical guitars.

String
1
2
3
4
5
6

Note
E
B
G
D
A
E

Frequency
329.6
246.9
196.0
146.8
110.0
82.4

Type
Plain
Plain
Plain
Wound
Wound
Wound

Table 1 String Notes, Frequencies and

Types.

II. TEST SETUP

It is a subtle, but important distinction that, when tuning, the player is not changing the tension directly, but rather
stretching the string (applying a strain) and assuming that the tension will increase proportionally. This is true if the
string is perfectly elastic. However, if there is any visco-elastic creep, the tension will decrease over time, even
though the end points of the string havent moved.
With this in mind, we performed a series of tests in which
the strings were loaded with a weight and allowed to
stretch as necessary. The general configuration is shown
in Figure 1. The pulley had a small diameter in order to
form an acceptable end condition and had very low
friction to prevent binding. The saddle was cut from a
piece of steel bar stock and had a distinct edge, also
in order to form a good boundary condition. The distance
from the saddle to the contact point on the pulley was
648mm (25.5 in). The same weight (69.0N, 15.5 lb.) was
used for each test and the frequencies were recorded
using a microphone placed very near the string. The
fundamental frequency was determined from the sound
produced when the string was plucked.

Figure 1 The test fixture uses a weight to keep the string

under a constant tension.

A. Test Fixture
The fixture is of a very simple design as shown in Photo
3. The load-carrying beam is of hard maple and much
stiffer than a guitar. The goal was for deformation of the
fixture to be negligible.
The string was attached to one end with a screw and
washer and passed over a steel saddle as shown in
Photo 4. There is a shallow groove cut into the top of the
nut to prevent lateral motion of the string. As in
conventional guitar nuts, the groove is at an angle to the
horizontal so that the high end faces the pulley. This is to
form a good end condition for the string.
The point of the fixture was to load the string with a
constant force rather than imposing a fixed strain, as with
geared tuners. Thus the string was passed over a pulley
and supported a weight. It is particularly important that
the pulley turn freely, without any binding. Photo 5
shows the setup.

Article published: January 08, 2013

Photo 3 Test fixture without string attached.

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

The pulley was made from a nylon sleeve through which a -20 bolt was passed. The diameter of the sleeve was
kept small (around 8mm) to form a clear end of the string. A shallow groove was cut into the sleeve to keep the
string aligned. The groove was wider than the strings to prevent binding. The portion of the bolt supporting the

Photo 4 String anchor screw and steel saddle.

Photo 5 Pulley over which the string passes.

spacer was smooth, with no threads. The spacer slipped easily over the bolt with no interference. The nylon
resulted in a very low coefficient of friction and the pulley spun freely over the bolt. We could find no indication of any
binding of the pulley. Photo 6 shows the string under load.

Photo 6 String installed in the fixture and under load.

Photo 7 Microphone used for frequency measurement.

It is worth noting that the fixed weight means that the strings were not tuned to any specific frequency. Since the
string was free to stretch and the tension was constant, the simple expression in Equation (1) suggests that the
frequency should be approximately constant, even in the presence of visco-elastic creep. Since the length of the
string increases slightly with time and its mass doesnt change, the mass per unit length could be assumed to
decrease slightly. The effect would be a very slight increase in the frequency of the string over time. The observed
behavior, however, did not conform to these assumptions.
B. Frequency and Strain Measurements
Because the frequency and strain measurements were made by high school students as part of a class, the
procedure was simple and, we think, robust. The string was plucked by hand to induce vibration. String motion was

Article published: January 08, 2013

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

observed using a dynamic microphone placed very close to the string. At very short distances, a microphone
essentially measures velocity of the radiating surface. Photo 7 shows the microphone near the string.
The microphone was connected to a PC sound card and the fundamental frequencies of the strings were identified
using a program called Soundcard Scope (http://www.zeitnitz.de/Christian/scope_en).
Measuring strain over short distances can be difficult, particularly on a light structure like a string. To avoid this
problem, two widely separated reference marks were put on the strings so that distance between them could be
easily measured with a steel ruler mounted on the fixture. Using this method, changes in distance between in the
reference marks were relatively easy to measure and strain was then calculated using the definition of strain,
=L/L.
C. Argon Testing
We tested some of the strings in an argon atmosphere to see whether eliminating oxygen changed the observed
behavior. To do this, the fixture was placed in a large cardboard box that had been coated to reduce permeability.
Corners and edges were taped and the box was slightly pressurized so that any leakage was outward. A rubber
glove was mounted in the side of the box so that the string could be plucked without having to open the box.
III. TEST RESULTS
Figure 2 shows frequencies measured from a monofilament nylon string as a function of time. For the first 20
minutes, the fundamental frequency is essentially unchanged. After that, however, there are two long cycles during
which the frequency exhibited a sharp jump followed by an approximately exponential decay. It is important to note
that they are not accompanied by a proportional change in strain. Strain increases monotonically after the first 20
minutes.
1.06

1.02
Normalized Frequency
Normalized Length

1.04
1.01
Normalized Frequency

Normalized Frequency and Length

1.05

1.03

1.02

1.01

1.00

1
0.99

0.99
0

50

100

150

Time (Minutes)
Figure 2 Normalized frequency, length vs. time for a
monofilament string.

200

50

100

150

200

Time (Minutes)
Figure 3 Monofilament flouropolymer string showed only
limited changes in frequency over time.

Successive tests on different brands and different types of strings established that this behavior is not anomalous. It
was found in strings from different manufacturers and in strings that had been ground by the manufacturer to reduce
diameter variation.
We observed some frequency cycling in monofilament strings made of a flouropolymer and sold as carbon strings,
though the effect was muted as shown in Figure 3. The strings are not made of carbon fiber as the name would
suggest. Rather, the manufacturers use the term because the polymer from which they are made contains carbon.

Article published: January 08, 2013

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

Cyclic behavior was not observed in wound, stranded

strings. Figure 4 shows the frequency vs. time behavior
for a wound low E string. It does not display the cyclic
behavior that the monofilament string showed. This was
typical of all the wound, stranded strings tested.

0.995
Normalized Frequency

While there is no cyclic effect as with the solid strings,

there is a steady decrease in frequency with time. This
suggests some time dependent mechanical change within
the string. If the ideal string equation above is applicable,
there is a bit of a problem. The test fixture is designed to
ensure that tension and vibrating string length are
constant, so the only remaining parameter is mass per
unit length. There is no obvious mechanism that would
explain such a change. The observed behavior would
require a reduction in mass per unit length of about 1.1%.
Equation (2) relates change in fundamental frequency to
change in mass per unit length.

1.005

0.99

0.985

0.98

0.975

f2
f1

T2

2 L2

T1

2 L1

50

100

150

200

Time (Minutes)

1
2

(2)

Figure 4 Wound strings with stranded nylon cores (this data

is from a low E string) did not exhibit the frequency cycling
behavior seen in monofilament nylon strings.

Solid strings are generally extruded and there it is possible for diameter to change slightly along the length of the
string. At least one manufacturer used an optical inspection method to reduce the diameter variation in strings.
Another approach is to precision grind the extruded
strings to reduce diameter variation. Figure 5 shows that
1.02
this grinding process does not eliminate the frequency
cycling.

The majority of solid strings exhibited cyclic behavior. We

saw variation in typical parameters like time of the initial
frequency jump, cyclic period and amplitude. However,
strings showing cyclic behavior exhibited some broadly
common behaviors shown in Figure 6. The first is that
the fundamental frequency increases in a stepwise
fashion and then decreases in a manner analogous to
relaxation. The three periods in Figure 6 during which the
frequency cycles are roughly equal in width, so the period
is increasing approximately logarithmically. This is also
broadly typical of the strings tested so far. Finally, on a
semi-log scale, the frequency tends to decrease in a
pattern closely approximated by two straight lines
(superimposed on the data).

Article published: January 08, 2013

1.01

Normalized Frequency

There are some general patterns in the frequency data,

though no simple relationships suggest themselves. The
first is evident when the data is viewed on a semi-log
scale. This is at least qualitatively consistent with viscoelastic constitutive models that include a velocity
dependent damping term. Figure 6 shows data from the
previous figure on a semi-log axis.

1.00

0.99

0.98

0.97
0

20

40

60
80
Time (Minutes)

100

120

Figure 5 Precision ground strings also display frequency

cycling behavior.

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

IV. POSSIBLE MECHANISMS

The data suggest that some micromechanical mechanism is at work. It is well-known that polymer chains straighten
under load until they fracture. After fracture, the new ends of the chain bind with oxygen. If this effect is present in
the stretched strings and is at least partially responsible for the observed behavior, testing them in an inert gas
should affect the behavior. Figure 7 shows results from a test in which the string was in an argon atmosphere.

Another facet to consider is that the behavior of real

strings varies slightly from that predicted by the ideal
string equation presented above. The ideal equation
makes several simplifying assumptions, including small
deformations (constant tension) and zero bending
stiffness. On most guitars, the saddle (the end support
on the body of the guitar) is typically offset, in part, to
account for these effects.

1.02

1.01

Normalized Frequency

The cyclic behavior is significantly attenuated, but there is

a significant frequency decrease over the first 20 minutes
of the test. This result is qualitatively typical of those from
a larger set of measurements. Since removing oxygen
from the environment around the string significantly
affects the cyclic behavior, it is possible that oxidation of
severed polymer chains contributes to the observed
frequency cycling behavior.

1.00

0.99

0.98

0.97

Only approximate expressions are available for the

frequencies of real strings [6]. One of the most widely
used is

10
Time (Minutes)

100

Figure 6 Periodic frequency cycling.

fn =

n T
n Er
1+
2L
4 L2T
2

(3)

where E is the elastic modulus that relates stress and

strain, r is the string radius and n is the frequency
number. The fundamental frequency results when n=1.

1
0.99
0.98
Normalized Frequency

If micro-mechanical phenomena are at work, this

equation suggests that either the radius or elastic
modulus may be increasing. An increase in the radius is
essentially ruled out by a positive Poisson ratio, , for
nylon; 0.35 for nylon, depending on processing and
formulation. By elimination, this suggests that the elastic
modulus may be changing. A change in elastic modulus
might be accompanied by a change in the strain rate,
depending on the nature of the visco-elastic behavior of
the material.

1.01

0.97
0.96
0.95
0.94
0.93

V. CONCLUSIONS

0.92

Frequencies from a pool of classical guitar strings were

measured while the strings were subjected to a constant
tension. The observed behavior was surprising and did
not conform to expectations based on the ideal string
equation and the known visco-elastic properties of nylon.
Rather, the solid strings exhibited a frequency change
that varied cyclically with time.

0.91

Article published: January 08, 2013

50

100

150

200

Time (Minutes)
Figure 7 Testing in argon appears to eliminate frequency
cycling.

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf

Savart Journal

Article

A. Future Work
This testing series was originally conceived as an experiment for a high school physics class wanting to learn
research methods. Since the results were so unexpected, we are now working to repeat the results using more
sophisticated equipment. The fixture will be made of milled aluminum and the pulley will be a high-grade ball bearing
with a v-groove outer face. Frequencies will be recorded with an audio data acquisition system and an
instrumentation grade microphone.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wish to acknowledge the contribution of a group of Debbie Frenchs physics students at New Philadelphia High
School in New Philadelphia OH. In Alphabetical order, they are:
Joel Borton, Zakk Boyd, Joey Clark, Jacob Heslop, Thad Marshall, Ali Maus, Scott Mizer, Natalie Neidig, Alyssa
Norman, Chris Perrine, Ben Potts, Nick Roth, Courtney Spears, Austin Smith, Zach Troyer, Kelsey Willoughby, Luke
Yurich, Joe Zalesky
We also wish to thank Fan Tao at DAddario Strings for providing test samples.
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. D.Martin, Innovation and the Development of the Modern Six-String Guitar, Galpin Soc. J. 51, 86-109
(1998).
2. P.M.Vilela, R.M. Moscosco and D. Thompson, What Every Musician Knows About Viscoelastic Behavior,
Am. J. Phys. 65, 1000-1003 (1997).
3. W. Browstow, Mechanical Properties, in Physical Properties of Polymers Handbook 2nd Edition, edited by
J.E. Mark (Springer 2006), Chap. 24, pp. 423-446.
4. H.F. Brinson and L. C. Brinson, Polymer Engineering Science and Viscoelasticity An Introduction, Springer
(2008).
5. M. French, Engineering the Guitar, Springer (2009)
6. R.W. Young, Inharmonicity of Plain Wire Piano Strings, J. Acoust. Soc. of Am. 24, No. 3 pp 267- 273
(1952).

Article published: January 08, 2013

url: http://SavartJournal.org/index.php/sj/article/view/17/pdf