I tune my charangos as a 10 string MANDOLIN! Each course with an octave interval, cC gG dD aA eE. See my reply to the post by BILLKILPATRICK !
I tune my charangos as a 10 string MANDOLIN! Each course with an octave interval, cC gG dD aA eE. See my reply to the post by BILLKILPATRICK !
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I tune my charangos as a 10 string MANDOLIN! Each course with an octave interval, cC gG dD aA eE, so that the lowest course of C's has a mandocello pitch for 1 string! See my reply to the post by BILLKILPATRICK !
That might be just about impossible to tune your lowest course to mandocello pitch with a short scale instrument. Do you use a different set of strings on the charango? If so what do you use? Classical guitar? Other?
Jim
My Stream on Soundcloud
19th Century Tunes
Playing lately:
1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1
I am reminded of an occasion some years back when I met a young lad I knew carrying a smallish instrument case. Upon my asking what it contained, he told me it was a charango, but upon opening the case it more resembled matchwood! It had shattered, possibly due to being exposed to hot sun in the bus. I offered to take the pieces to the luthier to see if it could be repaired, an offer which the parents took up, since the (wooden) instrument had been a present from a South American friend. The luthier did a glue job which restored it's shape, if not its looks, since it wasn't worth spending too much money. I was left with the job of tuning it up, since the luthier didn't know the tuning, and I remember being terrified by the process, convinced that it would self destruct again. I used the internet to find the correct tuning, and thought I'd finished, but when the father came to pick it up he said it was far to low, so I reckon it should have been an octave higher. I never found out whether they succeeded in getting it safely up to pitch, but if thy did, they were far braver than I was! By comparison, getting a mandolin E string up to pitch is nothing. Those charangos must be so highly strung to achieve that wonderful distinctive sound. No wonder the poor armadillos buckle under the strain.
"What's that funny guitar thing..?"
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