gauge again

[Malhomme <malhomme@vete.ucl.ac.be>]

All those points are definitely very valid remarks.
"
Tone is the most subjective of topics" indeed!

"There may not be a perfect string, but if I read your message right, what
you mean is a string that played the infinitely highest harmonic content of
a string pluck/tap/hammer etc."

I don't pretend of course it is the explanation. The sound is definitely
different.

"When you tried the new 'light' set of strings, were they the same
age/cleanliness of the heavy ones, and had they had the same amount of use?
Any new set of strings is going to sounds much more 'alive' and 'tinkly'
than an old one. Are you sure that this was not what you were hearing?"

Well I used tons of different strings,  different steels, different alloys,
different gauge. The sound is clearly different to me, but more difficult 
to
manage. I mean, the lighter the string, the more pitch difference ther is 
when
the pressure of fretting is applied. Something you have to control. On a 
Stick,
where the frets are higher, it is enough to have a deep good vibrato.

"(...) but have noticed that a lot of a chapman stick's tone is caused the 
the
actual action of hitting the metal fret against the string, as opposed to
plucking the string with a plectrum or your fingers. Next time you have a 
stick
in your hands, try plucking the strings - it sounds a lot more like a 
guitar
that I thought it would."

Nice try :-)
But you can imagine I tap on guitars for years, and I also pluck my Stick 
very
often! The difference persist
Lighter gauge tend to me to give the sound I like and age quite less quick.
Besides, the lowest tension gives more pitch control, with the limitations 
I
exposed before. I must insist on this more..mmm... richer? sound. Richer 
doen't
stand right. More ringing perhaps?