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I think guitars are like most things we build. If you want high performance in one area (std tuning) the guitar has to be optimized for that which will necessarily result in lower performance in other areas (very low tuning). A compromise may be possible (beyond my skill set, at the moment) but I can't see it being optimized for either tuning. That's one reason why many guitarists use two or more guitars on stage. Obviously JMO.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Seems to me a lot of people are looking at it like an engineer instead of a musician. She probably just wants to goof around with some slack key tunings on occasion. Big deal. Most slack key players use pretty ordinary off the shelf guitars, yet they manage to sound good. IMHO as long as the action is not set super low, and the top is on the loose side, it'll be fine.

Covering the acoustic performance is one thing, and not too hard to achieve
The playability aspect is one where the vast range of tunings will tend to lead to a lot of compromises
Set it up with appropriate action and relief for standard tuning and it is likely to have a backbowed neck and a lot of buzz when taken down to C

That's the part I wonder about, too. What can one do to make it work? Part of this hypo was inspired by Mau Loa (the other by Merel van Hoek).





I was really taken by Mau's arrangement here, and the voice of his Kraut is remarkable. I thought I'd ask him a bit about the way the guitar lives (you can read the comments), and he mentioned that it spent about 15 minutes in standard, typically lives in DADGAD, and that he plays with heavy gauge strings when dropped down to C. Other notes of interest are the elevated fretboard. I'm sure there's more that I'm not aware of. Most likely a CF reinforced neck, because that what Somogyi's other protégés seem to do.

FWIW, Mau's YouTube is definitely worth subscribing to!

It's too much to expect a guitar to work well over a wide range of tunings using the same strings.

Of course, you'll always get some degree of response, but well wide of optimum. The solution is to select strings which run at the same tension as standard tuning, but in the tuning of choice, which, if using drop tunings, means heavy strings. Which then means that you need to change the nut and saddle to get the set-up and intonation right. So it's not like you have a wide selection of tunings available at any one time.

If a "one guitar, any tuning" solution is required, a guitar set up to play the low (open) tunings and then capo'd to play in standard tuning may be an acceptable compromise. But I would guess that two cheap guitars with specific set-ups would sound and play better than one expensive supersonic fighter-bomber/submarine/spaceship thing.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Nice to wake up to those 2 beautiful soundclips.
Thanks James!

Pretty gorgeous stuff. I love the focused sound of the Greenfield and Kraut. Look up Merel's channel and also Max Roest's for more Greenfield goodness!

When I read the original specs I come up with a well balanced fairly standard type guitar. Decent bass response, well defined trebles, moderate scale length, and able to work with some altered tunings. Sure it's a compromise, but that is why it has become a "standard" design.

When you read Mau's comments, he is NOT doing what the hypothetical posed. (alternating between standard and low tunings)
He got the guitar in standard played it like that for 15 minutes then used mediums for DADGAD and heavies for C
Not going back and forth