Re: Anyone here tuning guitars in fifths?

[Rainer Thelonius Balthasar Straschill <moinsound@googlemail.com>]

Am 08.04.2013 15:51, schrieb Per Boysen:
> The more I play fifths tuned string instruments (like the Cello and
> the Stick) the more I like it and I'm curious about if it would even
> be possible to tune a six stringed guitar in fifths? What I mean is
If we can agree that a (six-stringed) bass guitar is a guitar, then yes, 
it is possible :).

What I did was to use some inverted lute/guitar tuning in fifths and 
sixths, e.g. for a four-string:
E-B-g-d' or D-A-f-c',
for a six-string:
'A-E-B-f#-d'-a',
so the six-string version roughly covers the range from the bottom of a 
five/six-string bass to the top of a baritone guitar (range is one 
octave more than a guitar).

For strings, you can get by with bass guitar sets with a high c string 
for the four-string version, for the six-string one, I resorted to using 
baritone guitar strings for the top two.

Why did I do it? First, mainly for the extended range; I wanted to have 
both bass and guitar in one instrument with fewer than 10 or 12 
strings...the different sound/feel (string resonances etc.) is rather 
different (and also means you'll have more trouble with unwanted 
resonances). Finally, it will (like every non-standard tuning) lead to 
you playing things differently (that is if you're playing from the 
moment and not after a score, be it on paper or in your mind).

    Rainer