Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Alternate tunings?

  1. #1
    ChelseaOctsve ChelseaOctave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ypsilanti, Michigan
    Posts
    9

    Default Alternate tunings?

    I wanna mess around with cdga on my octave but I'm not sure how to get there or how much tension which strings can take. I know I need to capo at the second fret right?
    ~Chels
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Gold Tone OM-800+
    Gold Tone WL-250+
    The Loar LM-110
    Kentucky KM-606
    Eastman MD-404BK
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  2. #2
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    0.8 mpc from NGC224, upstairs
    Posts
    10,054

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    errhhh... supposing you mean CGDA, capo the 5th fret and you're there. Winding up a 4th without a capo would require lighter strings.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  3. The following members say thank you to Bertram Henze for this post:


  4. #3
    Registered User John Kelly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Ardnadam, Argyll, Scotland
    Posts
    2,280

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Another possibility is to replace the G,D and A pairs but across one place, removing the high Es, then add in a new pair of low C strings. This would give you an octave below what Bertram is suggesting. For the low C pair you could try a pair of standard guitar D strings tuned to C. If your instrument takes loop-ended strings then you would need to find loop-ended guitar strings or remove the ball from the ends of the two guitar strings. Bertram's suggestion is much less trouble to try out and gives you mandola (viola equivalent) tuning.
    Let us know what you find if you try this.
    I'm playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order. - Eric Morecambe

    http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOldBores

  5. #4
    Registered User meow-n-dolin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    North Bend OR
    Posts
    365

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Quote Originally Posted by ChelseaOctave View Post
    I wanna mess around with cdga on my octave but I'm not sure how to get there or how much tension which strings can take. I know I need to capo at the second fret right?
    I have a tenor guitar, and have used CGDA tuning (standard mandola tuning) as well as Octave mando tuning. Never have had a problem with either. String tension doesn't seem to be all that much different, and neither is the fretting.

  6. #5

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Hi Chels,

    The scale length of your Gold Tone OM 800+ is in tenor guitar range. Standard tenor tuning is CGDA.

    Here is a recommended set for 22.5" CGDA:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	tension.png 
Views:	158 
Size:	6.9 KB 
ID:	185896
    I use these gauges regularly as I tend to break 10s.

    You can also use off the self D'Addarrio EJ66s:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	tension (1).png 
Views:	160 
Size:	7.1 KB 
ID:	185897

    Best of luck,
    Huck

  7. #6
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Outer Spiral Arm, of Galaxy, NW Oregon.
    Posts
    17,103

    Exclamation Re: Alternate tunings?

    Old post, Aug-09-2015, repeated topic,

    By The Way .. (Mandolin)

    I just got an Email Reply from Mr. Muldaur, after asking about his 'Minglewood Blues' tuning.

    from the bottom G / C / G / C,E (the top 2 split)

    so, Root 4th & 6th .. C, F & A


    ...
    Last edited by mandroid; May-23-2020 at 4:36pm.
    writing about music
    is like dancing,
    about architecture

  8. The following members say thank you to mandroid for this post:

    Gypsy 

  9. #7
    ChelseaOctsve ChelseaOctave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Ypsilanti, Michigan
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Just ordered 2 packs of tenor guitar strings, I'll update soon!
    ~Chels
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Gold Tone OM-800+
    Gold Tone WL-250+
    The Loar LM-110
    Kentucky KM-606
    Eastman MD-404BK
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  10. The following members say thank you to ChelseaOctave for this post:

    Gypsy 

  11. #8

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Quote Originally Posted by ChelseaOctave View Post
    Just ordered 2 packs of tenor guitar strings, I'll update soon!
    Very curious how this works out for you, Chelsea. Please let us know.

    Charles

  12. #9
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Peace and Love
    Posts
    2,416

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    I guess if you did this, put a C course on and removed the e course, then you have CGDA but REALLY low.
    Then if you put a capo on the 7th you have an octave mandolin again.

    I’d be curious to see a vid of someone with a strengthened mandola tuned like that. ie GDAe but an octave below a mandolin.
    That would some mean sounding mandola!
    Maybe the body would have to be bigger to keep the deep wood sound and less metallic caused by the stronger neck? I don’t know.

  13. #10

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon DS View Post
    I guess if you did this, put a C course on and removed the e course, then you have CGDA but REALLY low.
    Then if you put a capo on the 7th you have an octave mandolin again.

    I’d be curious to see a vid of someone with a strengthened mandola tuned like that. ie GDAe but an octave below a mandolin.
    That would some mean sounding mandola!
    Maybe the body would have to be bigger to keep the deep wood sound and less metallic caused by the stronger neck? I don’t know.
    Mandocello?

  14. #11
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,293

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon DS View Post
    I’d be curious to see a vid of someone with a strengthened mandola tuned like that. ie GDAe but an octave below a mandolin.
    That would some mean sounding mandola!
    Not necessarily. You get the "mean" sound an octave below a mandolin with a long enough scale length and a large enough resonant air mass in the body to support the pitch. There's a reason these instrument designs have settled into the shapes they have at different pitches.

    I had a mandola for a while that I kept in DAEB tuning as a sort-of fake octave mandolin (the lower three strings the same pitch as the upper three on an OM), mainly for playing Irish trad and OldTime fiddle tunes with an easier finger stretch. You can get the same tuning with a capo on the second fret of a mandola, but this let me use slightly larger string gauges by tuning DAEB on the open strings.

    Trouble was, I also had a "real" 22" scale OM, and the mandola just didn't have the same sustain and power of the full-scale instrument. Sustain is one of the main reasons to play an OM; it's not just the lower pitch. So I eventually sold the mandola.

    Maybe the body would have to be bigger to keep the deep wood sound and less metallic caused by the stronger neck? I don’t know.
    Yep, everything has to be designed to support the pitch you're aiming for. At least if you're looking for a good acoustic tone. You can get away with a more mongrel instrument if it's amplified and you mess with the EQ, but there are still limits to what can be done to simulate the sustain and "growl" of a longer scale length.

  15. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    New York, NY
    Posts
    63

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    I've never tried any alternate tunings on the mandolin. However, I'm playing with a guy who was in a band where they all tuned their instruments a flat lower. On the mandolin, of course, G becomes F#, etc. It seems that my mandolin just doesn't sound right. It could be my imagination. Have any of you had a similar experience?

  16. #13
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: Alternate tunings?

    I am fond of Dead Mans tuning, for some fiddle tunes. I have a separate mandolin I keep in Dead Man, so I can pick it up and play.

    I have played in Cross G, or Saw Mill at times. Its great fun too.

    Here are some other tunings to mess with.


    • FCGD = Cajun Tuning (one whole step down from GDAE)
    • GDGB = Open G Tuning
    • GDGD = Sawmill Tuning or "Cross G"
    • GDAD = "Gee-Dad"
    • DDAD = Dead Man's Tuning, or Open D Tuning, or Bonaparte's Retreat Tuning, or "Dee-Dad"
    • ADAE = High Bass Tuning, Old-Timey D Tuning
    • AEAE = Cross Tuning, "Cross A", "High Bass, High Counter" (or "High Bass, High Tenor"), Cross Chord; similar to Sawmill Tuning
    • AEAC = Black Mountain Rag Tuning, Calico Tuning, Open A Tuning, or Drunken Hiccups Tuning
    • AEAD for Old Sledge, Silver Lake
    • EDAE for Glory in the Meeting House
    • EEAE for Get up in the Cool
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •