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Tenor guitar, tuned GDAE

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Posted: Mon Aug 18th, 2008 05:38 am

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Will
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I own what may be best described as a "long scale" tenor guitar. My Lark In The Morning tenor guitar has a longer neck and scale than most tenor guitars (25.5" vs. about 22.5") and a 000/OM/auditorium size body, considerably larger than most tenor guitars. I had originally tuned it to DGBE because it was a familiar baritone uke/guitar tuning, and also because the scale was too long to tune it to CGDA (the A string would break all the time).

I recently had to change strings on the tenor, and I decided to try tuning it to GDAE like an octave mandolin. I think this tuning sounds better than DGBE, and to get better at playing it, I have located an downloadable book of octave mandolin chords optimized for open-position playing:

http://www.folkofthewood.com/PDF/octavechordchart.pdf

Many of these chords may be played with just 2 fingers, and they span no more than 4 frets (a much longer stretch than the same number of frets on a mandolin neck).

Lark In the Morning tenor guitars (3 models)

http://larkinthemorning.com/search.asp?t=ss&sb=0&ss=tenor+guitar

Ashbury tenor guitar:

http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/product.php?ID=GR5219

Gold Tone tenor guitar:

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/TG18.htm

Gold Tone metal body tenor guitar

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/GTMBT2.htm

Last edited on Thu Sep 18th, 2008 04:52 pm by Will

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Posted: Fri Sep 12th, 2008 09:32 pm

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hrlarson
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Thanks Will! That's a great resource.

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Posted: Thu Sep 18th, 2008 05:00 pm

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Will
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The Ashbury tenor guitar sold by Hobgoblin has a solid spruce top, and may be the best priced ($345) solid top tenor guitar on the new instrument market:

http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/local/product.php?ID=GR5219

The Lark In The Morning solid spruce top tenor guitar ($520) is one of the nicest-looking (rosewood back and sides, full abalone trim) and it's great sounding:

http://larkinthemorning.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_GUI131_A_Tenor+Guitar_E_

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Posted: Thu Sep 18th, 2008 06:29 pm

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Philj200
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Thanks WIll. I don't have an insdtrument that uses this tuning (or I don't think I do), yet.

But I've saved the PDF file against what ever comes my way.

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Posted: Mon Oct 6th, 2008 09:04 pm

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Will
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Ozark Tenor Guitar

There is a solid cedar topped tenor guitar sold under the Ozark brand name, apparently available only in Europe:

http://www.totalmusicsupply.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=101441

It costs $315 U.S., includes a guitar case, and costs $55 to ship from the U.K. to the U.S.

This other U.K. dealer also sells it with a free hard case for £189.00:

http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/details1.asp/ProductID/5462/name/ozark-tenor-guitar.htm

This tenor guitar has gotten good reviews according to this forum thread over at Mudcat.org:

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=113569&messages=9

From Ozark Professional instruments ... A much sought after instrument by tenor banjoists and guitar players wanting a different sound . This Ozark model plays well and has a sweet tone. Tenor guitars are usually tuned in fifths (usually CGDA, similar to the tenor banjo or the viola), This tuning is very "open" and it gives the instrument unusual voicing from both open and closed chords. The fifths tuning also makes for easy moveable chord shapes. The instrument is equally well suited to both rhythm and lead playing. Other tunings are possible, such as "guitar tuning" or "Chicago tuning" DGBE, "Irish" or "octave mandolin" tuning GDAE (This guitar can be set up with this tuning but is not recommended by the manufacturers), various "open" tunings, for slide playing and modal tunings. A Fishman pickup with an endpin jack socket can be fitted to your guitar for £95 (see choice options).

More Details of The Build Specification ...

Solid spruce top
Rosewood back & Sides
Maple wood binding on front and back
Maple veneered heal cap
Rosewood pin bridge
Strap end pin fitted
Rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot markers
Side dot markers
Maple bound neck
Set of four die cast tuners
Natural Satin finish.

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Posted: Sun Oct 19th, 2008 02:15 pm

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PJ
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I used to own a Vita Guitar which had four strings and a long neck. It was similar to a plectrum banjo, so I thought of it as a 'plectrum guitar' rather than a tenor guitar. I'm sure it would have broken strings tuned as a tenor. I always tuned it like a guitar.

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Posted: Thu Oct 23rd, 2008 01:30 am

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DENNY7P
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What do they mean, when they say tune it gdae one octave lower then a mandolin.When i tune a mandolin,i use a tuner and tune each string open.how do you tune with a tuner????NOW REMEMBER I'AM NEW AT THIS!

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Posted: Thu Oct 23rd, 2008 01:51 am

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Will
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Some, but not all tuners, display the octave of the strings you are tuning. On a mandolin, the tuner will display 3G, 4D, 4A, 5E. On my tenor guitar or octave mandolin, the display will read 2G, 3D, 3A, 4E.

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Posted: Sat Apr 4th, 2009 10:38 pm

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jvcleve2
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I know this is an old posting but it came up in a search I did. I have the same Lark guitar with 26" scale and I tunned it CGDA. The regular D'Addario J-66 A strings are too light for this scale length. If you want to tune CGDA it wil work with gauges 9, 16, 23, 30.

JC

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Posted: Sat Apr 4th, 2009 11:29 pm

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Will
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jvcleve2 wrote: I know this is an old posting but it came up in a search I did. I have the same Lark guitar with 26" scale and I tunned it CGDA. The regular D'Addario J-66 A strings are too light for this scale length. If you want to tune CGDA it wil work with gauges 9, 16, 23, 30.

JC

This is just my suggestion, but I think a plectrum scale 4-string guitar sounds better in GDAE with thicker strings rather than the ultra light gauge ones necessary for attempting CGDA tuning. The larger body supports lower frequencies than the usual tenor sized body and gives a rich, full tone. Regular guitar strings will work for GDAE tuning (use the A, D, B, and E strings only), and a banjo capo on the 5th fret will give you CGDA tuning, as well.

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Posted: Wed May 13th, 2009 10:10 pm

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Will
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Here's a very unlikely performance on a tenor guitar. On a 35-year old video clip, Chicago TV personality Jerry G. Bishop (as the original "Svengoolie," host of "Screaming Yellow Theater") performs a song parody on a tenor guitar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NnSN-yMNWc

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