The variables that pitch and
harmonics depend on are the same, and thus they are very similar in
concept. From a physics perspective, harmonics is the natural frequency
of an object, whereas pitch is just the frequency of an object based on
three factors: tension, density, and length. Frequency is directly
proportional to the tension and inversely proportional to the length
and
density.
Below is a diagram relating the pitch, mass and tension for a Dean Markley guitar with string lengths of 640mm.
One thing that should be observed is that the string tension is relatively stable (it doesn't deviate a whole lot). Not only does this show that keeping a constant tension while decreasing the string mass increase the frequency (as was speculated), but it also keeps the force that each string imparts on the neck fairly even, and this prevents the neck from becoming "warped".
Below is a diagram relating the pitch, mass and tension for a Dean Markley guitar with string lengths of 640mm.
| STRING | GAUGE |
FREQUENCY |
STRING MASS PER UNIT LENGTH |
TENSION |
|||||||
| f | P | T | |||||||||
| cycles/sec (Hz) | kg/m | kg | |||||||||
| E or 1st | .010/.254 | 329.63 | 0.401 x  |
7.28 | |||||||
| B or 2nd | .013/.330 | 246.94 | 0.708 x |
7.22 | |||||||
| G or 3rd | .017/.432 | 196.00 | 1.140 x |
7.32 | |||||||
| D or 4th | .026/.660 | 146.82 | 2.333 x |
8.41 | |||||||
| (.014" core) | |||||||||||
| A or 5th | .036/.914 | 110.00 | 4.466 x |
9.03 | |||||||
| (.015" core) | |||||||||||
| E or 6th | .046/1.168 | 82.407 | 6.790 x |
7.71 | |||||||
| (.016" core) | |||||||||||
|
TOTAL 46.96 |
|||||||||||
One thing that should be observed is that the string tension is relatively stable (it doesn't deviate a whole lot). Not only does this show that keeping a constant tension while decreasing the string mass increase the frequency (as was speculated), but it also keeps the force that each string imparts on the neck fairly even, and this prevents the neck from becoming "warped".