As a guitarist I find I am having trouble with new strings and getting
them to a stable point where they have stopped stretching (and
therefore stay in tune better). I was wondering about the physics of
this process. When stretching a wire (in this case 'drawn, high
carbon steel', some axially wound with phosphor-bronze wire), will the
string ever reach a point of stability ? - i.e. it's not going to
stretch any further ?
...or do the physics dictate that it will eventually reach a stable
point (i.e. stop stretching) for a specified tension - T kg and will
remain stable from zero kg to T kg tension, only stretching further if
T kg tension is applied ? If this is the case then all I need to do
is to stretch the strings with a tension slightly greater than thatencountered in normal use.
...or will it just continue to stretch linearly until it snaps ?
I'm trying to work out the best way of stretching new strings so that
they remain stable at normal 'operating' tension (i.e. stay in tune
!), but without affecting it's 'oscillation qualities'. I exceeded a
threshold of some sort earlier with one wound string by
over-stretching, rendering it useless.
There are many theories in the guitarist community on how best to
stretch strings, all of them apparently based on nothing more
scientific than 'I do it this way and always have'. I'm just
wondering what the science is behind it.
Many thanks in advance !
Cheers,
Kev.