I enjoyed seeing someone play a bouzouki recently and it intrigued me because it has more neck but can be tuned like a mandolin. I decided to try tuning my mandolin like a bouzouki or a 12-string guitar, with the two low string pairs tuned an actave apart.
Keep the typical mandolin tuning GG DD AA EE
Remove the second G and D strings and replace with an A and E string respectively from another set.
Tune GG* DD* AA EE with the strings marked with an asterisk being smaller diameter but an octave higher.
It sounds great and gives some extra treble to chords and new sounds to your melodies and finger picking. It works great in jam sessions because it doesn't change your fingering. I don't believe this will put extra stress on the instrument but some expert opinions would be appreciated. Does anyone else use this technique?
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