Could this be done with a five course cittern?

[CoolerKing]

Change not only the tuning but what gauges you're using in the courses? I could tune to ADGAD OR ADGbe, but also thought of changing what could be octaved courses in the bass strings or identical gauges.

I'm thinking this would require a few different nuts, but if they weren't glued in, would it be possible?

[Explorer]

My best intonated 12-string acoustics have different positions on the saddle for the crest at which the octave strings cross. I suspect that if you were switching back and forth between octave and unison stringing, intonation would be an issue as you start going up the neck.

Only one of my 12-strings is strung in unison, an 25.5” six-course cittern tuned low to high CGDAEB (with special strings to get to that high B4 on a 25.5" scale length).

Just changing the tuning from ADGBE to ADGAD isn't that big a deal. I'd aim to get the tension at AD to be nearer your ideal, and then tune up to BE.

You're only talking about a diameter difference of .0002 if you decide to change strings for those two pitch changes while maintaining the same tensions. It would probably be more hassle than it was worth to switch nuts, but you could certainly do so.

[CoolerKing]

I guess I was thinking more of octaving the bass strings or doing a reentrant tuning, something where the gauges were so different that a swappable nut might help.

[Explorer]

Originally Posted by matthewpartrick

Change not only the tuning but what gauges you're using in the courses? I could tune to ADGAD OR ADGbe, but also thought of changing what could be octaved courses in the bass strings or identical gauges.

I'm thinking this would require a few different nuts, but if they weren't glued in, would it be possible?

Originally Posted by Explorer

My best intonated 12-string acoustics have different positions on the saddle for the crest at which the octave strings cross. I suspect that if you were switching back and forth between octave and unison stringing, intonation would be an issue as you start going up the neck.

Originally Posted by matthewpartrick

I guess I was thinking more of octaving the bass strings or doing a reentrant tuning, something where the gauges were so different that a swappable nut might help.

I had taken your original post as being about swapping back and forth between octaves and non-octaves. Otherwise, you could just do a set-up, and would have no reason to swap the nut after that set-up.

Since you've reiterated the idea of swappable nuts, I'll point out that it doesn't matter if you're going from octaves to all low strings, or from octaves to all high strings, or even between low and high unisons. One saddle, if correctly intonated for one possibility, will still be incorrectly intonated for the others.

You could absolutely have a saddle/nut pair for all three possibilities (normal octaves, high Nashville unisons, low unisons), or any subset of them you desire.

Since you're willing to consider swapping the nuts to accommodate different string diameters, swapping a saddle to accommodate the different intonation needs of those diameters doesn't seem like much more effort.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

[CoolerKing]

All good points. I have to try out a few citterns to figure out what scale length I want, then I can worry about all this other stuff later.

Thanks again!

[H165]

I think you'd be fine.

I've been tinkering with tension calcs on my resophonic in anticipation of tuning changes. I want to keep the overall tension the same because the cone and setup seem to work best at the current tension.

On my bouzouki, I plan to use lighter strings or perhaps octave courses to get the action and sound I prefer. This will change the top loading, and that may affect projection and tone. These are interesting little studies about the practical effects of changes.