guitar vs tenor guitar?

zeontestpilot · #1 03-09-2022, 06:14 PM

I like to play around with other stringed instruments, and I've been thinking about getting a tenor guitar and tuning it to GDAE, but I'm wondering if it's redundant. I currently have a tenor ukulele, baritone ukulele, mandolin, seagull merlin (m4) in D and G. I'm not very interested in cgda tuning, and mandolin is fairly awkward to play anything more than basic stuff on, which is why I was thinking of tuning a tenor to GDAE. I have also considered an octave mandolin, but those are hard to come by.

jacot23 · #2 03-09-2022, 07:07 PM

They're a lot of fun to play and pick out melodies on. Lots of simple 2 finger chords. I like GDAD just as good as GDAE and actually like the jazzy sound of CGDA.

I've got a sweet Blueridge BR-60T and an 70s Harmony tenor. I keep the Harmony in CGDA tuning and the BlueRidge mostly in GDAD

Mandobart · #3 03-09-2022, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeontestpilot

....and mandolin is fairly awkward to play anything more than basic stuff on....

????? Maybe you could check out Mike Marshall, Sam Bush, Chris Thile or Sierra Hull. They seem capable of moving beyond "basic stuff".....

hammer40 · #4 03-10-2022, 06:52 AM

I have a tenor guitar and enjoy it a lot. Like you, I have tenor and baritone ukes and I think it slots in very nicely between my ukes and guitars. I prefer to keep the tg in Chicago tuning, DGBE. I love the sound and the added benefit is the fingerings stay the same as the bari and the guitar.

Whichever tuning you choose, tg’s are a lot of fun!

frankmcr · #5 03-10-2022, 10:11 AM

never mind!

zeontestpilot · #6 03-10-2022, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mandobart

????? Maybe you could check out Mike Marshall, Sam Bush, Chris Thile or Sierra Hull. They seem capable of moving beyond "basic stuff".....

I meant for me personally, not anyone else by any means. Certainly there are many who can play beyond well on the mandolin. I merely meant I am not one of them.

zeontestpilot · #7 03-10-2022, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Yeah really. If that's how you feel about mandolin, which is tuned GDAE, why would you want a tenor guitar in that tuning?

Because I think that it would be easier to play with a larger scale than the tiny scale of the mandolin. I wasn't bashing or hating on the mandolin in any way. Just saying that it is difficult for me to play well because it is so small.

Norsepicker · #8 03-10-2022, 03:33 PM

I really love the tenor guitar. I find it easier to play than guitar, mandolin, banjo, and in some ways even ukulele, It has a distinctive voice that allows you to play with others, and songs are really easier to learn on it. One of my pleasures is having found a beautiful luthier made one, though I know those are hard to find. However I do know that many luthiers would be happy to take on building a tenor and the cost is usually a quite a bit less than a six string guitar or a mandolin.

frankmcr · #9 03-10-2022, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeontestpilot

Because I think that it would be easier to play with a larger scale than the tiny scale of the mandolin. I wasn't bashing or hating on the mandolin in any way. Just saying that it is difficult for me to play well because it is so small.

Oh, okay. Us mandolin players can be kind of over sensitive sometimes . . . hey wait a minute! "Tiny scale"??? What's that supposed to mean . . .

pjheff · #10 03-10-2022, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeontestpilot

I like to play around with other stringed instruments, and I've been thinking about getting a tenor guitar and tuning it to GDAE, but I'm wondering if it's redundant.

As the owner of both, I don’t find them redundant. Tuning in fifths is much more intuitive for playing melody, at least for me.

Fathand · #11 03-11-2022, 08:51 AM

So, tenor guitars are designed to be played CGDA as are tenor banjos. Admittedly, I originally learned to play guitar on a tenor tuned DGBD since 5 string is my first instrument. The strings were no consistent tension but I didn't know better.

Tuning to GDAE creates the problem of slack strings or requiring quite heavy strings as is the case with so called "Irish banjo". Depending on your tenor guitar scale they may still be slacker than optimum.

Tuning to CGDA you can use the same chord position but your chords will be a 4th? Lower.

pjheff · #12 03-11-2022, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fathand

So, tenor guitars are designed to be played CGDA as are tenor banjos. Admittedly, I originally learned to play guitar on a tenor tuned DGBD since 5 string is my first instrument. The strings were no consistent tension but I didn't know better.

Tuning to GDAE creates the problem of slack strings or requiring quite heavy strings as is the case with so called "Irish banjo". Depending on your tenor guitar scale they may still be slacker than optimum.

Tuning to CGDA you can use the same chord position but your chords will be a 4th? Lower.

It depends on the scale length. I’ve found that 23” can yield a satisfying low G.

Steve DeRosa · #13 03-11-2022, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammer40

...I have tenor and baritone ukes and I think it slots in very nicely between my ukes and guitars. I prefer to keep the tg in Chicago tuning, DGBE. I love the sound and the added benefit is the fingerings stay the same as the bari and the guitar...

Our last band's first vocalist had a Kala tenor in Chicago tuning, that she used with the local senior center's uke group - adds both depth (nearly an octave at the bottom end) and cut (steel vs. nylon strings) to the overall sound and, as you state, bridges the gap between the (re-entrant) tuned ukes and my (rhythm) guitar...

packmule · #14 03-12-2022, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fathand

So, tenor guitars are designed to be played CGDA as are tenor banjos. Admittedly, I originally learned to play guitar on a tenor tuned DGBD since 5 string is my first instrument. The strings were no consistent tension but I didn't know better.

Tuning to GDAE creates the problem of slack strings or requiring quite heavy strings as is the case with so called "Irish banjo". Depending on your tenor guitar scale they may still be slacker than optimum.

Tuning to CGDA you can use the same chord position but your chords will be a 4th? Lower.

As has been already mentioned scale length makes a difference - I have a 23" scale tenor guitar tuned GDAE and there are no problems with slack strings. It's strung 45w/32w/22w/12plain. You could also swap a 30 and a 20 for the 32 and 22 and it would still sound good.

zeontestpilot · #15 03-16-2022, 01:14 PM

I decided to pick up an Ibanez AVT1NT. Waiting on some GDAE-tuning specific strings to come in. I was able to tune it to that tuning with the current strings, which was surprising as I expected them to be floppy and sound terrible. Will see how it is once I can get it strung with the new strings.