Help tuning a mandolin

[guitar344]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

You lost me. Tighter than what? And what "high G?"

To satisfy my own curiosity, I'm going to make a leap here and compare the G strings of a 12-string guitar set and G string(s) of a mandolin set, using D'Addario's published tensions for their untreated phosphor-bronze sets. (To clarify, these two are tuned to the same pitch when in standard tuning.)

Medium gauge 12-string set, PB EJ39:
G wound (.025) - 32.81 lb
G plain (.010) - 22.94 lb
Total tension - 55.75 lb

Medium gauge mandolin set, PB EJ74 (IMO/IME, probably the most common gauge in use on "bluegrass" type mandolins):
G wound (.040) - 24.48 lb
Total tension - 48.96 lb

So, medium-to-medium, an advantage to the 12 string. But, from my perspective/IMHO, not a lot of people use medium strings tuned to "E-standard" on a 12-string guitar. For another comparison:

Light gauge 12-string set, PB EJ38:
G wound (.023) - 27.90 lb
G plain (.008) - 14.68 lb
Total tension - 42.58 lb

I'd say a more typical usage might give the nod to the mandolin, but at the start of this, I don't think the comparison was mandolin and 12-string, but 6-string guitar. A 12-string is just another beast entirely - I'm not trying to arm (or fingertip callous) wrestle anyone here; and my hat's off to those than can manage one of those for hours in a day!

Tighter than the mandolin e. I was referring to the octave g on 12 string. That be like tuning the mandolin e up a full step.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by guitar344

Tighter than the mandolin e. I was referring to the octave g on 12 string. That be like tuning the mandolin e up a full step.

I may still be misunderstanding you, but the lower G string on. 12-string guitar pair is the same pitch as the low (4th) G on a mandolin. The pitch of that octave (plain) G string on that 12-string guitar is found on the 5th fret of mandolin’s D (3rd) string. Both of the top strings (A and E) of the mandolin are tuned higher than the 12-string’s octave G.

[Mike12]

Hi all,
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, theyre really welcome. I have 11-38 80/20 strings on there at the moment. I have ordered sa variety of strings including 11's and 10's. The action feels really good to me it is the tension complience of the strings that is getting to me. Time to experiment. Thanks

[rmp]

Originally Posted by Mike12

Hi all,
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, theyre really welcome. I have 11-38 80/20 strings on there at the moment. I have ordered sa variety of strings including 11's and 10's. The action feels really good to me it is the tension complience of the strings that is getting to me. Time to experiment. Thanks

yea, I understand

I felt the same way with my mando with 11s when I switched to 10s made quite a big difference