Hi, CoMando!
There are a few discussions here about the tuning you mention. One could absolutely use the center four strings as an octave mandolin.
The tuning you describe was a compromise, as it was impossible to tune the high string to the logical high B4 for full fifths. Technology has since caught up, and now it is possible to tune the high string to B4, yielding full fifths across the entire six courses of a guitar (low to high, CGDAEB). I have a few guitars tuned in full fifths.
You can find discussion of the crippled fifths tuning (optimistically called NST, but it never became the standard) here.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=45977
Here's my first experiment in tuning a guitar to full fifths.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=50620
And here's the discussion about my six-course mandophone, converted from an Ovation 12-string.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=52587
There is also a discussion group, originally about NST, but a lot of it has now moved on to full fifths.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?groupid=73
For many (including me), there is a beauty and utility in having the same patterns occur across all six strings. For me, another beautiful feature is my ability to capo at the fifth fret to get the open strings of a mandolin (top four strings) and a mandola (middle four strings). The middle four open strings give me a bouzouki/octave mandolin, and the bottom four strings give me a mandocello. (Of course, the bottom five courses can be used as a cittern.) The instrument, with conversion work (nut work and action/relief/setup) cost me less than $700, which is substantially less than a five-course cittern.
An easy way to experiment is to retune your guitar (low to high) CGDDAE. This puts no strain on a guitar, as you're only downtuning, and by using only one of the D courses for most things (fingermuting and crosspicking when needed), you can give the tuning a try without having to buy the high-tension B4 string before you know you want to go in that direction. I use this tuning when I'm using a borrowed guitar and I want to play something which is easy in full fifths.
Was this helpful?
Bookmarks