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hey everyone.. been looking into a lot of alternate tunings.. was looking for something based on being tuned in fifths.. come across the new standard tuning tuned CGDAEG, i was going to tune a guitar CGDAEB to stay in fifths, but apparently its too much tension on the B string and itll just snap...

i only care to learn CGDAE.. i really have no use for the sixth string anyway, and with 5 strings it still has a higher range of notes than a 6 string tuned in fourths... so.. ive decided to just omit that last string.. but instead of simply removing it and having uneven pressure on the neck, as well as something that looks like a cheap fix.. ive decided to just convert a pre-existing acoustic/electric for the time being over to a 5 string by filing out a new nut, and making a new bridge/saddle for the five strings

i estimate the new spacing would give me a spacing more similar to that of a classical guitar.. which is fine, allows finger picking methods present in classical guitars to be used... and this is just a first.. after ive done more with this tuning, and this 5 string guitar i will make an all electric version probably using a strat body, and fabricate the pickups myself for the new string spacing, using 5 magnets in each single coil rather than six... then loading it up on a winding machine

the reason the title says 5 courses.. is because with the extra neck space from removing that sixth string i though of perhaps doubling the strings for a 10-string 5 course instrument, essentialy a mandocello and octave mandolin in one....

so questions? comments? suggestions? im interested in hearing what people think

Well...I guess it would work. You'd have to decide on the string gauges and maybe figure out compensation on the bridge if the string tensions were much different. Maybe a multi scale / fan fret arrangement would allow you to get the B string to work?
I'm not sure why you want a guitar with dedicated alternate tuning. Seems kinda limited application to me. Do you have some type of music in mind for this??

I’m not sure I would convert an existing 6 string to a 10 string. The bracing MAY be up to the task, but it may not. Also, having to sneak in 4 extra tuners would be tough. It seems to be much less trouble to buy an extra string that will give you the B that you want. If you want a cittern, you’d be better off building one designed to accommodate 10 strings.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Hi Jason,
You might find your chord voicings work out better with a CGDAD tuning. You might also look for information on the Plectrum guitar. It was a longer scaled and lower tuned version of the tenor.

Keith Richard has played 5 string tuning on guitars for years - sounds hella good to me.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Your plan should work fine. I made this 5 string electro-acoustic a while back. I repurposed a cheap electric replacement neck. The rest was built sort of like a Danelectro. The spacing works out well enough. Like you say, it's about like a classical. I chose to leave some wood under the bridge and pickups for maximum feedback resistance, but it could easily be built in the same way but completely hollow, with a couple parallel braces to support the bridge and pickups. There isn't really a need to make your own pickups unless you want to. There are plenty of blade, and lipstick types that will work. I went for the in-between-the-pole-piece method used in some old Fender prototypes.

i also thing 10 strings would be too much... however, with this tuning 6 strings is unecessary... its not so much an alternate tuning.. it is when compared to standard guitar, but tuning in fifths is pretty common, if not more common among string instruments... CGDAE is also the tuning of a cello and a violin as well, so the music learned, the scales, its all interchangable with these instruments as well

i will probably buy an ovation for the conversion since its the only acoustic i have an interest in owning, and it plays very much like an electric so ill probably use one of these for the first conversion... heck, if the string spacing is close to that of a classical guitar, which it seems to be i might even go nylon strings and start learning some classical guitar techniques so that extra spacing will be useful

as for tension.. guitars using similar tunings with 6 strings dont seem to have a tension problem with the strings, and it seems like the EADGB strings will be interchangable with the CGDAE tuning.. but, i know of some places i can get individual strings of whatever string gauges i need, so i have options here

Five double courses (ten strings) would be OK as far as string spacing and tension. It depends what you want as far as sound. Obviously double courses have a totally different sound. I have a 12 string electric with a standard width neck and it plays fine. I'm sure there are tension calculators out there, but it's not something you will have to worry about with essentially an overbuilt acoustic electric. If it was purely acoustic, it might be worth calculating the total string tension.

Once upon a time, 5 course double strung guitars were the standard....

yeah.. i wouldnt call CGDAE an alternate tuning, its been used and is used in music of all genres and has been for hundreds of years.. and in many genres it is the standard, be it from a cello or a violin... this would allow a guitar to be tuned the same as these interest, share music, scales, chords, and make playing all of them a rather simple and interchangable setup and would allow someone that can play guitar with this tuning also play violins, cellos, violas, mandolins, mandolas, octave mandolins, mandocellos, four string banjos bouzoukis, citterns, and many more