Wanted: narrow neck long scale length |
November 21st, 2012 |
| music |
While guitar is the first instrument I learned, I don't play it much
any more. I like the percussive sound of
left-hand muting without any open strings, but playing full bar chords
hurts my wrist. After years of playing rhythm mandolin I've started
playing guitar again, but in drop-d tuning
and only playing the three lowest strings. It sounds like this:
(youtube)
(youtube)
You could make an instrument that's better suited for this kind of playing. I'm only using the three lowest strings, so the neck could be much narrower. The chords are just open fifths, so they can go lower than guitar chords without getting too muddy, which means the neck could be longer. You could potentially double up the strings in mandolin-like courses. There may not be anything out there exactly like this, but if there's an instrument that's pretty close I could modify it.
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Hey, you could just play normal guitar using percussive muting and no barre chords :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MTiXDunjEU
@Chris Percussive muting without barring isn't something I've ever figured out how to do well.
this is actually pretty well-explored territory. the best suggestion is Chris's. you won't actually get the same sound as in your video from any other solution.
however, there are also many bouzouki/cittern/octavemandolin-like instruments. this is what i'm currently having made after decades of playing octave mandolin: http://silkwoodmusic.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/the-nordic-mandola-its-not-a-banjo/
there's also finding a bajo sexto and just using less strings, as you're now doing with guitar. Taylor also makes a couple of nice baritone guitars.
there's also the Roger Tallroth tuning, which i'm now using on both 6-string and 12: adadad from the bottom up, the bottom string is the same pitch as a bass guitar, and uses the 10th string from a 10-string classical guitar set. LaBella and Savarez make cheap 10-string sets and you can buy singles from stringsbymail and other sources. believe it or not, no matter the rest of your guitar strings, this bottom A needs to be silver wound on nylon, or it will sound like crap.
warning: with anything lower than a guitar bottom string, doubling the courses leads to a lot of mud, no matter the tuning, which is one reason most of the instruments that use 2-string courses and go low tend toward octave pairs; it also becomes physically difficult to keep the strings close enough together to finger easily but prevent string excursion from causing them to buzz together. finally and most importantly, for good physical and psycho-acoustic reasons, it actually sounds Deeper to have an octave pairing.
but, echoing Chris once again: if you want to play in a style anything like the video, you already have the correct instrument. moving to deeper strings means slower response of the strings, regardless of what You do, and i'm personally doubtful you'll like the outcome.