4-string om

[tannisroot]

Has anyone ever strung up an OM w/ just 4 strings instead of 8? I imagine you'd play it just like an Irish tenor banjo in that case and that it would sound more like a tenor guitar? Any thoughts? Has anyone tried this?

[EdSherry]

I've tried it in the past. #Unfortunately, most instruments designed for eight strings are too heavily braced to sound good with only four strings. #

There's a fellow who shows up at our local Irish session with a Johnson OM with four strings; I can barely hear him playing, even sitting right next to him.

If I want the single-string sound tuned in 5ths, I play a tenor guitar, which actually sounds pretty good on a lot of Celtic music.

That said, it's worth experimenting with, especially for "sitting around the house" or if you'll be using a pickup/mike for volume.

[jmcgann]

A very cool way to get this is on tenor guitar. I think John Carty recorded some tunes in this fashion; I've played some old Gibsons strung up this way and they sound and feel great...

What Ed Said! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[MDW]

I did that over the weekend with my Trinity College Octave. The other replies are correct, it sounds okay but doesn't feel like it has enough string tension to really drive the top. However, that being said, on the Roger Landes/Chipper Thompson Bouzouki CD - "Janissary Stomp" (highly recommended) - on one song they took half the strings off on one of the instruments to provide more "clarity" to the sound, but they're also playing very responsive instruments made by Stephen Owsley Smith. For myself, I'm looking to a reasonably priced tenor guitar to provide that single string sound when I need that.

[zoukboy]

Yes, that's right, and it was on an extremely responsive flattop SOS. I wouldn't have tried it on many other zouks I've owned...

I third (or fourth) the motion for the tenor guitar. They can sound like magic.

[tannisroot]

thanks for the responses. i've tried the tenor guitar route but I didn't like the feel of it...the box was thicker than I'm used to and the neck was a little more than I wanted to reach. i'm going to ponder this some more.

[EdSherry]

There are lots of different-sized tenor guitars out there. #I have a 1960s Martin 0-18T (think "Kingston Trio"!) that I find pretty comfortable for Celtic playing. #I've also played some Gibson archtop tenors that I find too big for Celtic (though they are fun for Western Swing-style backup playing a la Jerry Thomasson). #But YMMV.