String tension

learner

At the risk of seeming an nincompoop, I am puzzled by the string tension comments on various threads. I am under the impression that an A=440 is just that. A string length of any material that vibrates at 440 cycles will create an A pitch. I am confused about the 'high tension' comments regarding Evah Pirazzis and other strings. While I can discern differences between string brands, I attribute them to the material being used and the feel they have under my fingers. A gut core and a synthetic core have different feels, while the metal used for the winding is also a factor in the strings I use.

I would appreciate an explanation what 'high tension' versus 'low tension' means.                

ada

The tension is simply the force level applied to the string by tailpiece and peg. The higher weight of the string (per inch) the higher tension (at the same pitch).

Try to tune any string say one third down. The tension of the string will decrease. The difference between high and low tension string is, that the low tension string is lighter and therefore has a lower tension at the same (original) pitch,

peg

The vibration frequency goes as the square root of the tension, so they are indeed highly related.