Bach on tenor

[fox]

I came across this vid, interesting guitar, it looks like a classical guitar design with a big sound hole & four strings. Are those flat wound strings, nylon or steel?

[crisscross]

Interesting guitar indeed! The higher two strings are steel strings, so I suppose the lower two are too. Nylon strings would be thicker.
But the bridge design cries out "Nylon!". Normally, if you put steel strings on a bridge like this, it gets warped and flies off in the end.
So I suppose, the string gauge is ultra light, otherwise it wouldn't work.
Nice playing , BTW!
But you can also play Bach on an Ibanez

[fox]

Or a Gibson (my favourite)

[WillFly]

Here's a Bach gavotte I recorded about 6 weeks ago. I'd lent my tenor to a local guitarist called Richard Durrant to use on a 2-month tour. I went to one of the concerts on the tour, heard him play some Bach on the instrument, and got the urge to try my hand at it!

For this recording (Gavotte No, 1 from Cello Suite No. 6 in D), I wrote out a bass line to see how it would match up with the Bach lead line. I input the bass notes into Garageband because I wanted a strict tempo behind the Bach melody - which makes it less open to easing of the melody line - but there you go...

Bach cello stuff is great on the tenor tuned in CGDA - same notes, just an octave or so apart!

[fox]

Great playing Will

[fentonjames]

fox, in the first video, they are all nylon strings. thicker ones are wound, but with a nylon core. one way to tell what string goes on a guitar is the tuners, if they are wide, like these, they are for nylon strings. slotted headstock tuners for steel strings are thin, like non slotted ones. classical guitars have 4 wound and 2 unwound nylon strings.

[crisscross]

fox, in the first video, they are all nylon strings. thicker ones are wound, but with a nylon core. one way to tell what string goes on a guitar is the tuners, if they are wide, like these, they are for nylon strings. slotted headstock tuners for steel strings are thin, like non slotted ones. classical guitars have 4 wound and 2 unwound nylon strings.

You are certainly right in so far as the guitar was made to be used with nylon strings. Tuners, bridge, the large rosette...everything like a classic guitar. But the actual sound to my ears is more like that of steel strings.
Before I got an actual tenor guitar, I used an ukulele tuned CGDA, and the sound was much softer.

And there are those Cavaquinhos, that have the design of a classical guitar, but are strung with steel strings.

But then, the strings in the video look transparent, so they might be nylon...

[fox]

Thanks James, it is an interesting one for sure, I really cant tell, if you could see the bridge it might give more idea although I have ball end nylon on one of my classical tenors!
The bass string look smooth and not wound - maybe thick flouro carbon?
Anyway I have asked via youtube, if he replies I will let you know

[FatBear]

If you look at the fingernails of the right hand, he is obviously a classical guitar player. I wonder why he would use a pick?

[fox]

Hi Fatbear, how is the didgeridoo? Perhaps the pick give more punch and clarity on the bass line for that particular piece.
The more I look the more I think he is using a flatwound steel set.

[crisscross]

The more I look the more I think he is using a flatwound steel set.

That was my first impression. Maybe the instrument is a kind of large cavaquinho tuned like a tenor guitar.
They have a classic guitar design, but are built to stand the tension of steel strings.

Quite similar, only smaller.

[FatBear]

Hi Fatbear, how is the didgeridoo?

I built it with 1-1/4" PVC and the 30mm mouthpiece, but could never get it to drone. Then a couple of weeks ago we moved from the Winter Palace to the dacha - a floating home in a quiet marina on a river. Just as a lark I picked it up as I was loading the truck and blew on the big end and I could get it to drone. Maybe my lips are more flubbery than yours or something. I tried to practice a few times here in the marina but was asked to stop. Something about lining my esophagus with PVC. So I guess I'll have to try it again next fall. I think it's harder to play than someone would guess who has not tried it.

[fox]

Bach on didgeridoo, that would be a challenge but yes, most people don't realise how much practice it takes!

[FatBear]

Bach on didgeridoo, that would be a challenge

Be sure and post the youtube link when you do it...

[FatBear]

Perhaps Pachelbel's Canon in D for didgeridoo and tenor guitar. The music is available for cello and viola...

[pastorwasacop]

I am a new member and this is my first post so I'm still learning the forum. The four string guitar in question looks much like one I modified about three and a half years ago. A friend gave me a Cordoba C5 classical body with no nut, tuners, bridge, strings or saddle; however, the instrument was in excellent condition with only two slight dings in the top finish. I cannot play six strings, having learned four or five chords on a baritone uke in my college days (60's). It was tuned dgbe. While not the first instrument I have modified, I shaved down the neck on this Cordoba after wrapping the body in old tee shirts and securing them. I then reshaped the neck and sanded it and the headstock to the bare wood. I bought some cherry Min-Wax oil based stain and recolored the neck and used many coats of wipe-on poly to refinish it. The color of the neck is a perfect match to the body. I got a set of standard strip tuning keys and did some "creative" work to eliminate the middle two tuners and fill in the two unneeded holes in the slotted headstock. After a new bone nut, saddle and bridge I put the dgbe strings from a silk and steel set on it and had it set up. The Cordoba website shows a double truss rod which puzzles me since mine doesn't have one at all. The young friend who gave me the guitar body had seen an earlier project of mine and wanted to see what I could do with it. He is the guitarist in a rock band and was confident it would work without harming the instrument. I know about the tension difference between steel and nylon strings, with silk and steel falling somewhere in between. I consulted two other area music stores and, while not officially recommended, had no doubt that the neck could stand it. After regluing the bridge I drilled two small holes on either end, attached to small bolts and covered them with a decorative decal. I ordered a few decals through e-bay from an internet site in Japan to dress it up a little. I've played it a number of times in church since then and have played it for countless hours for fun with no problems. This "tenor" guitar or "giant" ukulele really sounds sweet with the silk & steels. I've also finished a dreadnought project and am working on a second one now. Can you believe a "dreadnought ukulele with steel strings?" The guitar pictured on this thread looks so much like mine that it's uncanny.

[fox]

That is interesting Pastor. (were you a police man?)
In fact, six string classical guitars are designed and braced to support around 80lb of string tension and that is about the same as four steel, tenor guitar strings. So they do make good candadates for converting but as you say without a truss rod, the neck might be a weak point.

[pastorwasacop]

Yes sir. I was a line police officer for five years and a sergeant for eighteen. While there I bought a Stella (by harmony) parlor guitar third hand from another officer; it was my first modification job. I cut the neck down and made a four string out of it but got the neck too narrow for my personal taste but really didn't know what I was doing. It plays well for a solid birch guitar but sort of regret now that I did it. I've discovered in the last ten years that even vintage cheapies like the Stella can have surprising value to them. Mine was in excellent condition and would have been worth $300.00 -$400.00. I could have kept it vintage, sold it and bought a pretty good tenor with that much money, but I did have fun and learned a little from the experience.

[Beanzy]

JB violão tenor



Tenor guitar page; http://jbinstrumentos.com.br/produto...oria=85&tipo=3

[crisscross]

The website doesn't specify which kind of strings are used on a violão tenor, but in the pictures above they look like steelstrings.
Building instruments that seem to be made for nylon strings, but are strung with four steelstrings, seems to be a Brasilian specialty.
Here's another video of a violão tenor playing Bach:

[PiousDevil]

Probably tomastik nylon core flat wounds

[Bill Clements]

Pastor, thank you for your service to your community as a police officer.
Welcome to the Cafe, sir.

[pastorwasacop]

Thanks for your kind words. It was a long time ago but some memories are still vivid. I'm only marginally musical and can't read a note, but I do enjoy what little playing I can. I have a four string Gold Tone plectrum banjo, a baritone uke and my "homemade" four string guitars that are probably more plectrum dimensions than tenor. At my age (73) I've decided to stay with dgbe tuning and try to learn more with that. I'm too old to go into other tunings when there's so much I still can't do where I am. Besides, by the time I learned a new tuning, assuming that I could, I'd probably be dead anyway and not get to enjoy playing.

[fox]

Regarding the opening video... The guitar is custom made, steel string, CGDA 0.10 0.14 0.24w 0.32w