Re: DGBE tuning
I think one of the major factors is how one intends to use the instrument.
Fourths-and-a-third tuning, "Chicago" tuning or DGBE, seems well-suited (to me, anyway) for chordal use, vocal accompaniment etc. The chords are "denser," fuller, almost invariably including the third and the fifth. But you trade off a lot of the instrument's range, losing the whole low-G-to-D segment of the GDAE tuning.
Fifths tuning, "standard" or GDAE, seems better suited for melody playing; you have a greater range, and the uniform intervals between strings make it easier to lay out fiddle tunes etc. Chords are "sparser," sometimes just double stops indicating chords -- first and fifth, third and fifth -- without the whole chord voicing.
I'd be more focused on this if I played more tenor guitar; when I want a four-string chording instrument, I'm more likely to reach for a baritone ukulele, though I do have both Gibson and Dobro tenor guitars. So I second jmp above in preferring the more "open" fifths tuning, though I can see the appeal of making more familiar chord shapes if one's really familiar with DGBE.
As to "what's a mandolin," generally I think of (1) smaller size, (2) double string courses, (3) fifths tuning. But of course there are multi exceptions and "mandolin family" instruments that are differently constructed.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
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Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
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