#1
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Recommendation needed for tenor guitar strings
Just purchased a vintage tenor guitar and I'm interested in what kinds of strings folks like to run on their tenor guitars. Mine is 23" scale and I'm thinking I will tune it to CGDA, at least to begin with. Many thanks.
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#2
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In my opinion, there aren't any good pre-made sets out there for standard tuning. The D'Addario EJ66 set isn't terrible, but like all the others out there, I find 10s a bit thin. On the one tenor I keep in standard tuning, I use phosphor bronze singles: 11-13-23-33.
That said, all my other tenor guitars I've eventually tuned down to GDAE, and there is a great set sold for that: John Pearse 450L. There's a popular opinion that tenor banjos sound best in standard tuning, while tenor guitars sound best in octave mandolin tuning. I've found that usually holds true. |
#3
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OldFrets,
I am brand new to tenor guitar, so please educate me. When you say octave mandolin tuning, do you mean GDAE? |
#4
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Yes - an octave below a mandolin.
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#5
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Thank you. Coming from guitar and ukulele playing, is one tenor guitar tuning going to be easier to pick up than another?
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#6
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Nah, they're essentially the same chord shapes and intervals, just transposed up or down depending on how you look at it.
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#7
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Thank you - I do appreciate it.
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#8
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John Pearse makes a tenor guitar set, their 450L set. Their string gauges are .013, .020, .030 and.042.
Hope this helps. whm |
#9
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I can never find tenor guitar string sets in the gauges I like so I just buy singles and put my own together - I tune my 23" scale tenor GDAE and currently have it strung with 45w/32w/22w/12plain D'Addario phosphor bronze strings. I'd love to try to put together a monel set for it but so far I haven't had much luck finding monel singles on this side of the world (Ireland/EU).
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1969 Martin 00-18 2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar Last edited by packmule; 05-27-2022 at 02:28 AM. |
#10
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Quote:
FWIW, my 1930s Gibson is currently in GDAE, and though I like it, it doesn't have the sparkle which CGDA would give I think. I'm about to try it in CGDA, but then what about my songs which need the G tuning? I guess I need a second tenor (well a third actually, the second is in Chicago tuning GDBE). |
#11
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This is absolute nonsense. A 10 for an A string at 23" is 25.8 lbs; a 12 for an E string at 25.5" is 25.7 lbs, at least according to Stringjoy's calculator. A 10 or 11 is the standard for the high A because they're quite easy to tune up without snapping.
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#12
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I use the EJ66's on my tenor ... I tune it CGDG for chordal strumming (more versatile than CGDA which I would use for melody) as it has a presence there that cuts past guitars... and I have small and large bodied octave mandola's I play in GDAE or GDAD.
If it works for Steve Knightley in Show of Hands, and for Martyn Joseph, it's well worth trying! |
#13
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Quote:
According to this online calculator - https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_gui..._from_size.htm - a 10 for an A string at 23" is at 25.5 lb (so practically the number you quote) BUT at that tension it is at 76% of its breaking strain. Tuned just two semitones higher to B4 it is at 96% of its breaking strain. Interestingly (which I didn't expect) an 11 at A4 is 77% of breaking strain and a 12 is 78%, so both should work too. However, a 12 produces 33.8 lbs tension, around a 25% increase, and I don't think I'll subject a 90 year old instrument to that! Your 25.5" size 12 E string is only at 54% of its breaking strain. So I'm going to stick to my practice of tuning my 23" 10 gauge string to G (61%), then G# (68%) and finally to A, with a few minutes rest in between. Last edited by ProfChris; 06-16-2022 at 04:02 AM. |
#14
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John Pearse #450 strings for Jazz
I prefer using the John Pearse #450 Strings in GDAE Tuning because the tension is lower than EJ66 strings in CGDA Tuning, & the lower tuning gives it a much deeper & mellower sound that's appropriate for playing Jazz. It also makes it easier for Violinists & Mandolinists to start strumming away on the Tenor Guitar. I've even used a Jazz pick on the John Pearse #450 strings & it creates an interesting Vintage Jazz vibe.
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#15
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Figured it out
Mandolin Chordology by Gordon Stobbe works great w/ Tenor Guitar in GDAE Octave Mandolin Tuning once you use Special Strings designed for that tuning (John Pearse #450 strings for example).
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