Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa
.....all of them were in some variation of guitar tuning. If you don't want to master a whole new set of fingerings, focus on the most-used range of a given instrument and, with an appropriately-gauged set of strings, set it up in a guitar-related tuning; FWIW there's a century-old precedent - 1920's guitarists switching over to tenor/plectrum banjo would set them up in DGBE "Chicago" tuning, uke players would use drop-G tuning on their tenor banjos (a trick I learned from Chuck Romanoff of Schooner Fare) - and IME most of the audience will never know the difference  ... : |
First off - you're spending the money to get a mandola. Why not learn how to really play it vs just fake it? I'm from the bluegrass world. Most of us are multi-instrumentalists. If we can figure out fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo and bass you can too.
Second - your 'dola tailpiece probably takes loop end strings. If you're not going to use standard tuning you can't use pre-packaged sets - you'll need to put together your own custom 8 string loop end sets to have the proper tension.
Third - once you get used to the simplicity and symmetry of 5th's tuning you'll love it. You'll wonder why more guitarists haven't adopted it.