# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Gold tone tenor guitar as octave instrument?

## scgc.om

I'm looking at a fairly reasonable Gold Tone tenor. Of course, it's made to be tuned CGDA. However, I'd like to turn it into a "4 single courses" Octave Mandolin.

My question: Is this possible??? I'm thinking it would involve restringing with different gauge strings.  Of course, I want to AVOID over-tensioning the guitar!

Thanks for all help.

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## Mike Herlihy

GDAE --.040w--.030w--.020w--.012p, like an octave mandolin GDAE tuning. Tension wont be an issue, I figured it out a while back

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## mandolooter

yea its possible and actually just a tenor guitar not a "octave mandolin" Mandolins have 8 strings unless your going electric. Embrace the tenor guit, you won't be sorry! (ok ya might be, I wasn't)

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## MDW

I've got a Gold Tone TG-18 which I retuned to octave tuning. I wasn't about the string gauges so I started with .40, .30, .20, and .10. That proved too light. Now I'm using 4 strings from a 6 string set of John Pearse 650 Acoustic Phosphor Bronze. The E string .012, the G string .024, the D .035, and the A .045. Obviously the E stays the same, the G tunes up to A, the D stays the same, and the A tunes down to G. Overall, this set has really improved the tone and sustain of the Goldtone (which I like very much).

Mark

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## mandolooter

yea the string gauges are very important to get that right sound...I just switched my kids tenor to GDAE tuning using .045, .032, .024, .012 and its sounding really sweet. i had to do something to get her rocking behind off my T-guit. She sez the CGDA sounds "whimpy"! I agree and like the deeper fatter tone of the lower register way better.

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## Griffis

I am having this same problem in reverse!

As others have said, GDAE is actually quite common for tenor guitars and banjos, especially in ITM and Celtic music.

My trouble is I have been learning on the tenor guitar and banjo in CGDA for a few weeks now, but have recently come down with a serious mandolin jones. I already play a couple of other string instruments and I don't want to keep having to re-learn chord shapes.

I realize CGDA and GDAE are the same as far as intervals go, but I'm wondering now if I should either:

A) Scrap learning tenor guitar and banjo in CGDA and start again with GDAE

OR

B) Stick with CGDA and try to acquire a mandola instead of a mandolin (though mandolas seem harder to find and quite pricey)--mandolas also being tuned CGDA

It's really a quandary for me. There are some things that run me in favor of GDAE, such as the ease of finding a mandolin rather than a mandola and the fact that the 'A' string, in CGDA tuning, is notorious for breaking on tenor guitars...on the other hand, I am already getting familiar with the CGDA tuning...

Hmmm...

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## EdSherry

Griffis -- If you've only been at it for a few weeks, I'd strongly recommend switching to GDAE, at least if you want to play Celtic, etc. #(If you want to play Dixieland-style tenor banjo, I'd suggest staying with CGDA.) #

All of your fingering, chords, etc., will be the same; it's just that they'll be in a different key. #The chord that you're probably currently playing as a "C" chord in CGDA tuning (0023) is a "G" chord in GDAE tuning. #So it's not a matter of learning "different chord shapes"; all of the shapes you've already learned will carry over.

I double on mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, and mandocello (and others). The mando and OM are tuned GDAE; the 'dola and 'cello are tuned CGDA. Every once in a while I have to think about which chord shapes to play in what keys, but it comes pretty naturally after a short while.

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## Griffis

> Griffis -- If you've only been at it for a few weeks, I'd strongly recommend switching to GDAE, at least if you want to play Celtic, etc. (If you want to play Dixieland-style tenor banjo, I'd suggest staying with CGDA.) 
> 
> All of your fingering, chords, etc., will be the same; it's just that they'll be in a different key. The chord that you're probably currently playing as a "C" chord in CGDA tuning (0023) is a "G" chord in GDAE tuning. So it's not a matter of learning "different chord shapes"; all of the shapes you've already learned will carry over.
> 
> I double on mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, and mandocello (and others). The mando and OM are tuned GDAE; the 'dola and 'cello are tuned CGDA. Every once in a while I have to think about which chord shapes to play in what keys, but it comes pretty naturally after a short while.


Well, that's kind of another problem. I AM very fond of early hot jazz (not Dixieland so much necessarily) and tenor players like Harry Reser and Banjo Ikey Robinson.

However, I'm also very into old stringband country (pre-bluegrass stuff), rural blues, ragtime music, etc.

I know the mandolin was very popular in those genres (even black country blues)...so I'm curious as to whether the tenor banjo would be more adaptable in GDAE.

If I may ask: I have heard tenor banjos with 17 fret necks tend to work better in GDAE. Mine's a 19 fret. If I decided to go with GDAE, would that work okay? If so, do you have any suggestions for string gauges?

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## EdSherry

I use a 19-fret Lange tenor banjo tuned GDAE for Celtic. The 17-frets are fine, but in my experience they are a bit "out of favor" among ITM tenor players these days, at least among the better players I know. But YMMV.

In my experience, GDAE is better for single-string lead work, which is what you'd be playing in Celtic tenor banjo. Reser, etc., were playing a lot of chord melodies, which (in my limited experience) are easier on a CGDA-tuned instrument.

I'd have to check my string gauges, but something along the lines of 12-22-32-42 is pretty close to what I remember using.

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## catmandu2

Grifis-

I am sympathetic to your problem, but I offer no solutions. #My own approach was to acquire several banjos, mandos, a 'dola and an OM to assuage my ADHD. #Changing between CGDA and GDAE isn't a problem...that is, once I figure out which instrument I'm playing; this sometimes requires staring vacantly at the fretboard for some moments while my brain catches up, but my associates usually understand.

My real issues stem from trying to remember 5-string banjo tunings, and ukulele fingerings--my latest habit. #I picked up an oud, but I'm not seriously pursuing it at the moment.

Really, the diverse incarnations of the mando family are a bane for the person who never met a stringed (or other) instrument they weren't compelled by. #Maybe they were invented by an ADHD sufferer  ..

PS- I completely concur with Ed's second paragraph.

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## Griffis

> Grifis-
> 
> I am sympathetic to your problem, but I offer no solutions. My own approach was to acquire several banjos, mandos, a 'dola and an OM to assuage my ADHD. Changing between CGDA and GDAE isn't a problem...that is, once I figure out which instrument I'm playing; this sometimes requires staring vacantly at the fretboard for some moments while my brain catches up, but my associates usually understand.
> 
> My real issues stem from trying to remember 5-string banjo tunings, and ukulele fingerings--my latest habit. I picked up an oud, but I'm not seriously pursuing it at the moment.
> 
> Really, the diverse incarnations of the mando family are a bane for the person who never met a stringed (or other) instrument they weren't compelled by. Maybe they were invented by an ADHD sufferer  ..
> 
> PS- I completely concur with Ed's second paragraph.


ADHD? Oh man, that's ANOTHER new tuning to learn. Argh.

(Just kidding.)

Yeah, I play guitar and ukulele also, and have dabbled in fiddle and 5-string banjo. I even tried my hand at mandolin for awhile.

I guess I'll try the GDAE tuning, just to see what works better for the kind of "old time music stew" I purvey. I really would like to pick up a mandolin (perhaps a banjo-mandolin) and while a mandola is CGDA, I just don't know--they are hard to find. Maybe I can get comfortable enough to transpose between the two, or just learn to sing everything in a different key!

PS-- what kind of ukulele do you sport? I'm mainly a soprano man, though my wife has a baritone (DGBE) that I play on sometimes. With my soprano I play the re-entrant gCEA. I've played uke for about 5 years now and love it.

But I am really falling for the fifths tunings.

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## catmandu2

Quite -- 5ths are great...and addictive.

I'm into concerts: I have a couple of standard woody's, a Johnson resonator w/ Nat. cone in low G, a Liberty resonator banjo-uke, a soprano Gretsch clarophone banjo-uke, and a tenor.#

But that's another forum...or, we could rename this CBOM...U # 

FYI- 
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Morgan-Monroe-Rocky-Top-Mandola-w-Case-No-Reserve_W0QQitemZ160183127459QQihZ006QQcategoryZ




623QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/Morgan-....iewItem</a>

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## stevebenn

Grifis: You could use one of Gerry O'Conner's tricks ... in CGDA tuning put your capo on the 2nd fret to get DAEB ...voila, bottom 3 strings are the same as top three of mando/octave mando, Do you know how many Irish fiddle tunes you can play without using your G string .... tons! And ... the high B note issue, stretch or shift, vanishes!

SteveB

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## MDW

I just put my string gauges (see message above) into a string tension calculator and come up with 99.65 lbs of tension for this setup. Standard CGDA set is about 81 lbs. It looks like a standard 6 string set runs about 135 lbs.

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## Griffis

> Quite -- 5ths are great...and addictive.
> 
> I'm into concerts: I have a couple of standard woody's, a Johnson resonator w/ Nat. cone in low G, a Liberty resonator banjo-uke, a soprano Gretsch clarophone banjo-uke, and a tenor.#
> 
> But that's another forum...or, we could rename this CBOM...U # 
> 
> FYI- 
> <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Morgan-Monroe-Rocky-Top-Mandola-w-Case-No-Reserve_W0QQitemZ160183127459QQihZ006QQcategoryZ
> 
> ...


I have that same Johnson concert-scale resonator uke. I know it's not a National, but I like it a lot. Keep mine in high-G though. I need to swap out the strings. Been happy with it though.

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## catmandu2

Yeah, I like the growliness of resos, amd the low G tuning accentuates this. I've got Aquilas on all of them--it's a great string.

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## Mike Herlihy

I know at one time, Gold Tone made a resonator tenor guitar. Anyone know why they stopped&gt;

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## catmandu2

Too bad they stopped--I'd like one of those..

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## Griffis

> I know at one time, Gold Tone made a resonator tenor guitar. Anyone know why they stopped&gt;


There is apparently a company called Amistar that makes metal and wood bodied resonator tenor guitars (among other things.)

I believe their factory is based in Czechoslovakia. I looked up US dealers for that brand once and only found one in Nashville.

It's been a while since I looked into it. Maybe someone could Google it up.

Incidentally, I did not know Gold Tone made a resonator tenor guitar. Has anyone tried the Johnson resonator mandos? Those pear-shaped ones?

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## mandolooter

[/QUOTE]All of your fingering, chords, etc., will be the same; it's just that they'll be in a different key. The chord that you're probably currently playing as a "C" chord in CGDA tuning (0023) is a "G" chord in GDAE tuning. So it's not a matter of learning "different chord shapes"; all of the shapes you've already learned will carry over.

Instead of 0230 for your C try 5530 in the GDAE tuning and you'll notice a huge tonal difference. 
In CGDA that'd b a sweet F

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## kmmando

Amistar are in the Czech republic. This is a separate state from Slovakia, actually.

Like Canada and America.

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## Griffis

I can't believe I made the Czechoslovakia mistake. I was actually in the Czech Republic and Slovakia back in late 2003. Sorry for the error. Old habits....

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## Griffis

Also, I realize I totally hijacked this thread. Apologies.

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