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Thread: Strings for tenor guitar tuned GDAE

  1. #1
    Registered User Eric F.'s Avatar
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    I've got an old tenor guitar I'd like to try in octave mando tuning. Can anyone who is doing this give me some advice on what strings to use? Thanks.

  2. #2
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    baritone guitar strings may be a guess, a silk and steel would be another .
    Is it a strong instrument? , or will heavier strings tension pull it apart?
    Ball end classical guitar strings?
    no one else jumped in so there is room for baseless opinions..

    if low G is too dull and thuddy, maybe borrow the theme from soprano ukes, and take a string similar to the A , and try a tuning that is 1 whole / 2 1/2 steps apart,.. 8va ..
    then the lowest pitch would be the open D string.
    gDae mando chords would still work, different inversions created.




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  3. #3
    Café habitué Paul Hostetter's Avatar
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    You didn't say what scale you have (tenor guitars can run from 17 -21"!) , but a first stab might be 44 28 17 13. Try them and see what you think. In ways TGs are like the top four strings of a standard guitar capoed to the 3d or 4th fret. Considering just the E string, you can imagine how floppy and loose that'll be at that pitch at that short length. But lots and lots of people do it and seem to get by. It's axiomatic that you make up for that slackness by raising the gauge of the string, but I think heavier strings sound dull and thuddy. Always some kind of tradeoff.
    .
    ph

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  4. #4

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    Not to step on Paul's toes any but the tenor guitar scalelength #goes up to 23 inches, parrelling tenor banjos which they were designed to replace as the popularity of that instrument and the music it made faded out of popularity...now his assesment of string guages is right on the money, tho I use a slighty bigger guage on my E. It's mostly a matter of personal preference for the tone your after and the box your stringin. #Remember to pay attention to the amount of tension you'll be putting on the instrument and try to keep those somewhat balanced from top to bottom. #There are several string gauge calculators available online and they will help guide ya along. As a huge fan of tenors and a bonified carrier of the TGAS virus the GDAE tuning is my personal favorite most of the time but some tenors just don't seem to "come alive" in that tuning even after a lot of different experiments. My 1920's Regal custom shop edition is a prime example of that. It has a floating bridge like a mando tho so my suspicion is that the downward pressure required to drive the top just isnt realized with the guages I've tryed so far. I keep it and my 42 Martin tuned CGDA and my Bacon tenor and Gibson plectrum GDAE. #The plectrum has a whooping 26 inch scalelength but it has a killer tone and is LOUD! For a non guitar picker the tenor has really opened up a new sound and has also really helped my mando playing along and gotten my pinky involved in more than chop chords as I play. For me the biggest benny has been the ability to play leads on the guitar that I play on the mandolin without having to learn anything. It's all great big fun any way or guage you look at it...have fun!!!
    Look up (to see whats comin down)

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