Originally Posted by
bruce.b
GDAE on both. I first found out about tenor banjos and tenor guitars from Irish trad players and they were all tuned GDAE so that's what I used. It was only when I researched them that I found out CGDA was the original tuning. For Irish and fiddle tunes I think GDAE makes a lot more sense and it also gives you a more useful range. I love playing tunes that stay on the two lower strings a lot and seek them out. I tend to often use the G string for harmony on the tunes that don't go down there. I'm not sure what tuning I'd prefer if I started with CGDA, perhaps that would then feel and sound best to me.
I know a lot of people coming from Ukulele are using DGBE so they can use the same chord shapes. Makes sense, and tenor guitars do sound nice tuned that way.
I just got a Kala tenor and I'm leaving that in CGDA for now. I doubt I'd be happy with it tuned GDAE as the body is really small and there's no way the G string is going to sound great, IMO. Plus, there would be no reason to ever play it if it was tuned the same as my "good" tenor, except maybe as a travel guitar. I'm getting it set up this coming week to lower the strings at both the nut and saddle. It's been fun playing it in the high tuning even with the high setup that pulls it slightly out of tune.
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