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A couple of different tunings

A project log for CigarBox-ish Guitar

Acoustic guitar constructed using CBG-style methods, but without the cigar box.

the-big-oneThe Big One 07/22/2017 at 04:071 Comment

I am planning on using this guitar in Chicago tuning (DGBE), at least initially, since I already know the chord shapes from the ukulele.  I am now playing around with variations on that tuning.

Unfortunately I don't have a bunch of recording gear, so both of these are just recorded with the on-board microphone on the D7000... it's not great, but it seems to have a reasonably clean sound that is fairly close to what it sounds like in person.

First up we have a sample with the basic DGBE tuning:

Next I have the same, but with a low D string (D2 instead of D3).  It gives the guitar a bit more body, but I don't think I like it as much... not sure what it is, but it feels a bit 'off' somehow.  Perhaps it is due to the large gap between the D and the G string.  It also doesn't help that the nut and saddle are not filed wide enough for the larger string, but I don't want to do that until I am ready to commit.

I have also tried (no video, unfortunately), a low G string: so D3, G2, B3, E4.  That one felt worse than the low D... it was pretty awkward to have a larger string in the middle.  Again, probably just a mental thing on my part, but whatever.

I am currently leaning towards just keeping it in the standard DGBE, at least for now, but if you have any thoughts / comments on it, please let me know!

Cheers

Discussions

Sven Gregori wrote 07/22/2017 at 21:34 point

Have to agree, there's something strange about the low D string tuning. Bit like Drop D, which can also feel somehow off on an acoustic, so wondering if tuning it to a low E would improve it - but yeah, then the standard guitar chords don't work that nicely any more, and you might as well use ukulele or mandolin tuning. Other option is of course to just tune it down some steps to get a little bit more meatiness in it.

But all that aside: cool sound :) could imagine quite interesting results when mixing it with a regular guitar.

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