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Thread: Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

  1. #1
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    Default Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

    Hi everyone! I’m new here and this is my first post so a big hello from Leeds, UK!

    For many years I’ve been playing a baritone ukulele (Ashbury AU-24B in DGBE) which I love. Mostly finger style neo-folky stuff run through an amp with a hint of overdrive (had a piezo installed when I bought the uke).

    Recently I’ve been wanting something a bit more substantial and that I can tune lower, keeping the same intervals, like ADF#B or even GCEA.

    Is there a tenor that would do a good job of holding a tuning like this?

    I’ve explored some more modern electric options like the AR Fender Tenor Tele and the Warren Ellis signature tenors by Eastwood. I’ve also looked at cigar box guitars as an alternative, but a tenor seems like the most sensible route to go down.

    Let me know what you think!

    Jack

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  3. #2
    Registered User john bange's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

    Royall offers some steel or wood resonator tenor guitars with a 25" scale that could be down tuned. I was tempted to get one and try some medium gauge strings down at A,D,F#,B
    Pono Bn4-1/Bn8-1 4&8 string. lattice braced tenor guitars
    Republic Hwy49 resonator tenor guitar/Regal(Harmony) tenor guitar
    Kerry Char baritone uke/Heritage baritone uke
    Kamaka baritone uke/Martin baritone uke
    Primrose baritone uke/Kelali baritone uke
    Harmony baritone uke/Burke baritone uke
    Hoyt custom 10" baritone banjo/ukulele
    Ode/Hoyt custom 11" model 33, 19 fret tenor banjo

  4. #3
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

    Quote Originally Posted by jsgordon View Post
    Is there a tenor that would do a good job of holding a tuning like this?
    It may not be clear, to the few w/ such experience, what your actual concern is. "Holding a tuning" sounds like "staying in tune" while, I suspect, that you're asking what guitar's body, given differing box volumes & scale lengths, would sound good with the heavier strings.

    OTOH, you could experiment w/ moving your baritone's lower 3 strings up a position and add a lower, heavier G string. Ultimately, you'd need to expand the nut slots, but there are ways to get past that for "just experimentation" purposes. Hey, strings are cheap!
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
    - Ian Tyson

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    Registered User Seonachan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

    The low end of your desired tuning is well within the range of any tenor guitar - the G in your low GCEA is the same as in the common GDAE octave mandolin tuning. The rest is up to build quality and your personal preferences - some tenors may sound better or worse to your ears in that tuning, some may fit your hands better, etc.

    Having tried low GCEA a couple times, the thing I noticed was that the overall tone was noticeably muddy without the higher-pitched treble strings. This is especially apparent when strumming. I have an old Stella tenor that I keep somewhere around B-E-G#-C# - it brings out an archtop-ish acoustic tone that I like. But any lower and it just sounds bad. Of course, to another person's ears, that could all be turned on its head.

  7. #5
    Registered User fox's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recommendations for a tenor to hold lower tunings

    The Blueridge BR 40 or 60 are nice large body Tenor guitars, it would seem that tenor players are very happy to own one!
    In the Uk they are sold in a few places including Amazon if they have any, however the price has gone up considerably (like all Blueridge models) although they are still good value.

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