Gauge suggest

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Gauge suggest#

We can use the API or the CLI to do this. For example, consider this Irish tenor banjo situation (also shown in the GitHub README):

  • target tension: 17 lbf

  • scale length: 23”

  • tuning: G2 D3 A3 E4

  • string types: D’Addario loop-end nickel-wound and plain steel (DA:LEW and DA:LE)

API#

We use the function stringcalc.tension.suggest_gauge().

from stringcalc.tension import suggest_gauge

T = 17
L = 23
pitches = ["G2", "D3", "A3", "E4"]
types = {"DA:LEW", "DA:LE"}

for pitch in pitches:
    df = suggest_gauge(T, L, pitch, types=types, n=6)
    display(
        df
        .style
        .set_caption(f'{pitch}, target T = {T} lbf')
        .highlight_min(df.dT.abs().argmin())
    )

abcjs loaded
G2, target T = 17 lbf
  id T dT
0 DA:LE038W 13.698612 -3.301388
1 DA:LE040W 15.228692 -1.771308
2 DA:LE042W 16.686664 -0.313336
3 DA:LE044W 18.214638 1.214638
4 DA:LE046W 19.811564 2.811564
5 DA:LE048W 21.477967 4.477967
D3, target T = 17 lbf
  id T dT
0 DA:LE023W 11.507611 -5.492389
1 DA:LE024W 12.828641 -4.171359
2 DA:LE026W 14.552597 -2.447403
3 DA:LE028W 16.909890 -0.090110
4 DA:LE030W 19.841442 2.841442
5 DA:LE032W 22.334620 5.334620
A3, target T = 17 lbf
  id T dT
0 DA:LE015 13.220580 -3.779420
1 DA:LE016 15.042919 -1.957081
2 DA:LE018W 15.923584 -1.076416
3 DA:LE017 16.981973 -0.018027
4 DA:LE018 19.037741 2.037741
5 DA:LE020W 19.316265 2.316265
E4, target T = 17 lbf
  id T dT
0 DA:LE008 8.444042 -8.555958
1 DA:LE009 10.683082 -6.316918
2 DA:LE010 13.190093 -3.809907
3 DA:LE011 15.959120 -1.040880
4 DA:LE012 18.996116 1.996116
5 DA:LE013 22.295128 5.295128

Most players would prefer a wound A string. The 018w is probably a better choice than the 017p here, tone- and balance-wise, even though it is farther from the target tension.

CLI#

On the command-line, we can do the same thing with stringcalc gauge --suggest:

stringcalc gauge --suggest -T 17 -L 23 -P G2 -P D3 -P A3 -P E4 -N 6 --type DA:LEW --type DA:LE --no-column-info
CLI gauge suggestion output for 23" TB for D'Addario loop-end nickel-wound strings

--no-column-info suppresses the descriptions of the columns, which currently are repeated for each boxed result. For a single string query, it looks like this:

stringcalc gauge --suggest -T 17 -L 23 -P D3 --type DA:LEW
CLI gauge suggestion output for 23" TB D string using D'Addario loop-end nickel-wound strings
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