Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Low D string on 5-string tenor?

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Poitou-Charentes, France
    Posts
    251

    Default Low D string on 5-string tenor?

    Apologies if this has cropped up before, but if so, I haven't managed to find it.
    I have a 5-string resonator tenor guitar with a 22 inch scale, set up in GDAEA tuning which works great. A potential buyer would like to tune it DGDAE as he's a bouzouki player and would like that low D. He's hoping to use flatwound strings with a 55 gauge D string. My instinct is that the scale length is too short to cope with that, even with a gauge heavier than 55, but I was wondering if anyone had tried anything similar?
    Thanks in advance for any input.
    Dean
    Last edited by Mandocarver; Oct-27-2013 at 6:38am.

  2. #2
    Cafe Linux Mommy danb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 1996
    Location
    Norfolk, England
    Posts
    5,813

    Default Re: Low D string on 5-string tenor?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandocarver View Post
    Apologies if this has cropped up before, but if so, I haven't managed to find it.
    I have a 5-string resonator tenor guitar with a 22 inch scale, set up in GDAEA tuning which works great. A potential buyer would like to tune it DGDAE as he's a bouzouki player and would like that low D. He's hoping to use flatwound strings with a 55 gauge D string. My instinct is that the scale length is too short to cope with that, even with a heavier gauge 55 but I was wondering if anyone had tried anything similar?
    Thanks in advance for any input.
    Dean
    On wood/bouzouki this would be too short to work. On a resonator, you have some different mechanics to work with. Strangely enough, I had a 22 inch scale resonator tenor guitar tuned GDAEA as well.. and in fact would down-tune the G to a D some times. It was floppy, but tonally it worked as a drone and was managed by the cone. Fretting it was not much fun.

    Crazy idea- do a neck with a multi-scale lowest string like the Aidan & Ekvall or Skandola designs used in Norway?

    I've mucked around with just about every 10-string layout there is. Vega made original cylinderbacks in mandolin, mandola, and mandocello scale lengths.. I found that the mandolin-scale ones have either a shrill top string or a floppy/weedy bottom string. The mandola-scale one worked better, but shrill on the top E and prone to breakage. Dropping the top E to a D worked much better tonally.

    The best layout I've found is the roughly 21" scale sobell "large body mandola" tuned GDAEA, where every string responds well up the neck etc. the only drawback is that it wants one more fret at the very top of the fingerboard.
    The Mandolin Archive
    my CDs
    "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead"

  3. The following members say thank you to danb for this post:


  4. #3

    Default Re: Low D string on 5-string tenor?

    That scale is pretty close to a normal Tenor CGDA so with a .008 for the top E string and tuning the C up to D it might work... Or drop the tuning an octave to Mandocello CGDA and add an E -but You'll have to use heavier gauges to prevent sloppiness...

    I have a 22" scale cittern (10-string) tuned GGDDAAEEBB -so you could use GDAEB and up the bottom G to A and drop the top B to A and have ADAEA which is a cool zouk tuning... And that top B/A is going to have to be an .008 or a .009

  5. The following members say thank you to Eddie Sheehy for this post:


  6. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Poitou-Charentes, France
    Posts
    251

    Default Re: Low D string on 5-string tenor?

    Thanks a lot to Dan and Eddie for their replies. I'm with Dan on preferring GDAEA for the lovely open sounding chording opportunities. i enjoyed looking at those Scandinavian builders' links you posted too, Dan.
    The buyer is going to experiment and see what he prefers. So I'm just left with my 4-string resonator tenor which I love, but that 5th string sure is nice to have too.
    Cheers,
    Dean

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •