morgan423
Apr-16-2014, 11:15pm
Greetings to all. I'm a long time forum browser, first time poster, and tenor guitar nut (well, not literally... I mean enthusiast). I wanted to share a recent epiphany regarding a problem I had, because no where online could I find a solution to this problem... but I came across the perfect solution. I doubt I invented it but I never came across it in my search. I thought it might help others as well if they were looking for the same answer.
The issue: I have a wonderful Taylor GS Mini mahogany guitar that sounds spectacular. *But* after a while, I was getting frustrated with six-string guitar, having plateaued with basic open chords, but never mastering barre chords (tiny hands, and no amount of practice got me there). Before I gave up completely, I discovered cigar box guitars (where I learned playing on four strings in a fourths tuning, ADGC), and then later, the tenor guitar (which I play in the same tuning... backwards from the regular tenor CGDA in fifths). Guitar was fun again. :)
I was strumming the GS Mini one day when I had a thought... could I just tune the middle strings on this to all fourths, then mute the E strings somehow? That'd get me ADGC on this guitar.
I tried hand muting first, but it kept me from playing the way I was used to, having to make really weird shapes to touch one or both E strings. I researched converting the Mini into a tenor and concluded: too expensive to have done. I also nixed taking the E strings off, since I like playing six strings occasionally and didn't want to have to repeatedly restring and readjust the guitar.
Then it hit me: mute the strings mechanically. I looked around in a fruitless search online and other places for days before I found the answer myself: pencil cap erasers (the kind that you slide onto the top of the pencil, over top of the regular eraser).
Cap erasers are two-parters: the bulb on top that does most of the erasing, and the bottom ring that fits over the pencil. I simply cut the two apart where they meet so I had one bulb and one rubber ring. I tossed the bulbs and experimented with placing the rings under the E strings. Too close to the nut or bridge and they just dampened the strings a little, but at the ninth fret... it was JUST RIGHT. The rings push the strings gently from underneath and silence them completely, just as if I were using my fingers. They aren't damaging the strings, they don't move no matter how hard I strum, they don't interfere with the middle strings, and they don't leave any marks on my instrument. I can also add or remove them in seconds.
I can now play the strings I want on this guitar, the same way I play my tenor (the neck is wider, but it only took a few minutes to get used to). It's awesome. :)
I just thought that others might have been in a situation similar to mine where they would want to completely silence a string or two for a long period of time, without going through repeated finger muting. Thanks for your time and I hope this helps (apologies for the post length). :mandosmiley:
The issue: I have a wonderful Taylor GS Mini mahogany guitar that sounds spectacular. *But* after a while, I was getting frustrated with six-string guitar, having plateaued with basic open chords, but never mastering barre chords (tiny hands, and no amount of practice got me there). Before I gave up completely, I discovered cigar box guitars (where I learned playing on four strings in a fourths tuning, ADGC), and then later, the tenor guitar (which I play in the same tuning... backwards from the regular tenor CGDA in fifths). Guitar was fun again. :)
I was strumming the GS Mini one day when I had a thought... could I just tune the middle strings on this to all fourths, then mute the E strings somehow? That'd get me ADGC on this guitar.
I tried hand muting first, but it kept me from playing the way I was used to, having to make really weird shapes to touch one or both E strings. I researched converting the Mini into a tenor and concluded: too expensive to have done. I also nixed taking the E strings off, since I like playing six strings occasionally and didn't want to have to repeatedly restring and readjust the guitar.
Then it hit me: mute the strings mechanically. I looked around in a fruitless search online and other places for days before I found the answer myself: pencil cap erasers (the kind that you slide onto the top of the pencil, over top of the regular eraser).
Cap erasers are two-parters: the bulb on top that does most of the erasing, and the bottom ring that fits over the pencil. I simply cut the two apart where they meet so I had one bulb and one rubber ring. I tossed the bulbs and experimented with placing the rings under the E strings. Too close to the nut or bridge and they just dampened the strings a little, but at the ninth fret... it was JUST RIGHT. The rings push the strings gently from underneath and silence them completely, just as if I were using my fingers. They aren't damaging the strings, they don't move no matter how hard I strum, they don't interfere with the middle strings, and they don't leave any marks on my instrument. I can also add or remove them in seconds.
I can now play the strings I want on this guitar, the same way I play my tenor (the neck is wider, but it only took a few minutes to get used to). It's awesome. :)
I just thought that others might have been in a situation similar to mine where they would want to completely silence a string or two for a long period of time, without going through repeated finger muting. Thanks for your time and I hope this helps (apologies for the post length). :mandosmiley: