What gauge string do I need for my musical instrument?

We often hear from folks that have "found an old zither in the attic" or "picked up this instrument at a garage sale" or had an instrument given to them by a well-intentioned friend or relative. There are a myriad variety of these old zithers, psalteries, ukelins, and other musical instruments around and most of them need some strings. Unfortunately, if you have ever brought one of these instruments into a modern music shop and asked for some new strings, you are not likely to get much help.

The purpose of this page is to help you find the correct replacement string for your instrument. This information could also be used as a resource for those that wish to design their own musical instrument and need to figure out how to string it.

In order to make good use of this information and find the correct string, it helps to understand a few concepts about strings on musical instruments and about how the chart below is set up. I'll start with a brief overview of these ideas and then give you a few scenarios where this table would come in handy and how to make use of it.

Note Names

The table below uses Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN). SPN is a way to identify a specific musical pitch using the musical note name and a number which identifies the pitch's octave. In this system, Middle C on a piano is C4. The number, or octave, changes occur on the C notes. So the C one octave above middle C would be C5 and so on. See the keyboard below.

Vibrating Length (VL)

This is simply the length of string that is allowed to freely vibrate when plucked. Usually this distance is measured from the bridge to a guide pin or tuning pin. It should be fairly straight forward to figure this out.

String Gauge

This is the diameter of the string. If the old string is still on the instrument you can measure the diameter with a digital caliper. Do a quick google search and you should be able to find a digital caliper for less than $20. They are also often sold at home improvement stores.

Some of the gauges in the chart below are highlighted orange. This indicates the use of a wound strings. Wound strings have a steel core and a bronze winding. A wound string is necessary to provide enough mass when the string tension for a given note and VL falls below 30% of its breaking point.

String Gauge Table

The table below contains a collection of several strings we use on our instruments. The table is sortable. You can click on the Header of each column to sort from smallest to largest. Click the Header again and the table will sort from largest to smallest. (The mouse may just look like a cursor when you hover over a column header but click anyway. It works.)

The Sort by Pitch column is there to easily sort the notes from low to high. If you sort the Note column you do not get all of the A notes together, then all of the B notes, etc. This can also be useful.

How to use this table

Scenario 1:

You have a zither that is missing a string. You know that the string is supposed to be tuned to G above Middle C and you have measured the Vibrating Length to be 18" but you don't know what gauge replacement string to use.

If you sort the table by note you can scroll down until you see all the examples of G4 (G above Middle C) You'll find six examples from different instruments. Look for the example that has the VL closest to what you need. Your VL is 18" which is right between the Autoharp (17.375") and the Hognose Psaltery (19"). Both of those instruments use a .016" diameter string. So it is safe to conclude that a .016" string will work for your instrument.

Scenario 2:

You are designing an instrument and need to know what gauge string to use. For example, let's say the vibrating length is 14" and you want the note to be tuned to a D. You can sort the table below by VL. You find a few D notes in the 14" range to chose from. The mandolin uses a wound .024" string for D4 (the D right next to Middle C). More common in that vibrating length would be a D5 (the D above the C one octave above Middle C). You'll find the Bowed Psaltery uses a .010" and the Kantele and Hognose use a .014.

A note about tension.

When you find you have a different gauge options to choose from - remember that increasing the diameter for a given note and VL will increase the tension. More tensions will generally result in a louder, clearer tone. You have to balance this against the additional stress you will place on the instrument. If you are concerned about the structural integrity of your instrument, it might be wise to lean toward the lighter gauge string. If your instrument seems overbuilt, it would be safe to lean toward the heavier gauge.

Sort by Pitch	NOTE	VL	Gauge	Instrument
01	C6	6.125	.012	Limerick Lap Harp
02	C6	8.25	.010	Bowed Psaltery
03	C6	8.75	.012	Hognose Psaltery
04	B5	6.75	.012	Limerick Lap Harp
05	B5	8.875	.010	Bowed Psaltery
06	B5	9.75	.012	Hognose Psaltery
07	A5	7.375	.014	Limerick Lap Harp
08	A5	9.875	.010	Bowed Psaltery
09	A5	10.375	.010	Autoharp
10	A5	10.75	.012	Hognose Psaltery
11	G5	8	.014	Limerick Lap Harp
12	G5	10.625	.010	Bowed Psaltery
13	G5	11.5	.010	Autoharp
14	G5	11.5	.012	Hognose Psaltery
15	G5	10	.012	Reverie Harp
16	F5	8.63	.016	Limerick Lap Harp
17	F5	11.75	.010	Bowed Psaltery
18	F5	12.5	.012	Autoharp
19	F5	12.75	.014	Hognose Psaltery
20	E5	9.25	.016	Limerick Lap Harp
21	E5	10	.012	Reverie Harp
22	E5	12.5	.010	Bowed Psaltery
23	E5	12.875	.012	Autoharp
24	E5	13.75	.014	Hognose Psaltery
25	E5	14	.010	Mandolin
26	D5	10	.018	Limerick Lap Harp
27	D5	11	.014	Reverie Harp
28	D5	13.375	.012	Autoharp
29	D5	13.5	.010	Bowed Psaltery
30	D5	14.25	.014	Kantele
31	D5	14.75	.014	Hognose
32	C5	10.75	.018	Limerick Lap Harp
33	C5	12	.016	Reverie Harp
34	C5	14.25	.012	Bowed Psaltery
35	C5	14.875	.014	Autoharp
36	C5	16	.014	Hognose Psaltery
37	B4	11.5	.020	Limerick Lap Harp
38	B4	15.125	.014	Kantele
39	B4	15.25	.012	Bowed Psaltery
40	B4	15.5	.014	Autoharp
41	B4	17	.016	Hognose Psaltery
42	A4	12.25	.020	Limerick Lap Harp
43	A4	12.75	.018	Reverie Harp
44	A4	14	.014	Mandolin
45	A4	16	.016	Kantele
46	A4	16.25	.012	Bowed Psaltery
47	A4	16.375	.016	Autoharp
48	A4	17.25	.014	Mandola
49	A4	18	.016	Hognose Psaltery
50	G4	13.125	.022	Limerick Lap Harp
51	G4	13.5	.020	Reverie Harp
52	G4	17	.016	Kantele
53	G4	17.25	.012	Bowed Psaltery
54	G4	17.375	.016	Autoharp
55	G4	19	.016	Hognose Psaltery
56	F4	14	.022	Limerick Lap Harp
57	F4	18.25	.016	Kantele
58	F4	18.25	.016	Autoharp
59	F4	18.375	.014	Bowed Psaltery
60	F4	20	.016	Hognose Psaltery
61	E4	14.25	.025	Reverie Harp
62	E4	15	.022	Limerick Lap Harp
63	E4	18.875	.018	Autoharp
64	E4	19	.018	Kantele
65	E4	19.5	.014	Bowed Psaltery
66	E4	21	.018	Hognose Psaltery
67	E4	25.5	.010	Bouzouki
68	E4	25.5	.012	Guitar
69	D4	14	.024	Mandolin
70	D4	15	.025	Reverie
71	D4	16	.022	Limerick Lap Harp
72	D4	17.25	.024	Mandola
73	D4	19.875	.020	Autoharp
74	D4	21	.018	Kantele
75	D4	21	.014	Bowed Psaltery
76	D4	22	.018	Hognose Psaltery
77	D4	25.5	.014	Bouzouki
78	D4	27.25	.012	Mt. Dulcimer
79	C4	15.5	.032	Reverie Harp
80	C4	17.25	.025	Limerick Lap Harp
81	C4	20.125	.020	Autoharp
82	C4	22.375	.014	Bowed Psaltery
83	C4	22.5	.020	Kantele
84	C4	23	.018	Hognose Psaltery
85	B3	18.5	.025	Limerick Lap Harp
86	B3	20.375	.022	Autoharp
87	B3	24.25	.020	Kantele
88	B3	25.5	.016	Guitar
89	A3	15.75	.032	Reverie Harp
90	A3	19.75	.025	Limerick Lap Harp
91	A3	20.5	.025	Autoharp
92	A3	25	.022	Mandocello
93	A3	25.5	.014	Bouzouki
94	A3	26	.020	Kantele
95	A3	27.25	.012	Mt. Dulcimer
96	G3	14	.036	Mandolin
97	G3	16	.042	Reverie Harp
98	G3	17.25	.032	Mandola
99	G3	20.75	.032	Autoharp
100	G3	21	.025	Limerick Lap Harp
101	G3	25.5	.018	Bouzouki
102	G3	25.5	.025	Guitar
103	F3	21	.032	Autoharp
104	F3	22.25	.032	Limerick Lap Harp
105	E3	16	.042	Reverie Harp
106	E3	21	.032	Autoharp
107	E3	23.5	.032	Limerick Lap Harp
108	D3	21.25	.042	Autoharp
109	D3	24.75	.032	Limerick Lap Harp
110	D3	25	.034	Mandocello
111	D3	25.5	.024	Bouzouki
112	D3	25.5	.032	Guitar
113	D3	27.25	.025	Mt. Dulcimer
114	C3	16	.056	Reverie Harp
115	C3	17.25	.048	Mandola
116	C3	21.5	.048	Autoharp
117	C3	26	.032	Limerick Lap Harp
118	A2	25.5	.042	Guitar
119	G2	21.75	.056	Autoharp
120	G2	25	.048	Mandocello
121	G2	25.5	.042	Bouzouki
122	E2	25.5	.056	Guitar
123	C2	25	.074	Mandocello