| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Puluke |
Posted - 05/07/2012 : 5:58:27 PM
Still looking for a new guitar and am considering a few Martins. Can a 24.9" scale guitar handle slack tunings? How far down can it be tuned before starting to buzz etc?
Mahalo
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| basilking |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 07:14:34 AM
quote:
By "heavying up" do you mean using a heavy gauge for the E (6th) only; i.e., mixing string gauges?
Yes, exactly. On guitars with mediums [.013 -.056] I use a .059 or .060 for the big E. On guitars with light ga [.012-.053] I use the saved .056 from medium sets in place of the .053. In both cases seems to work fine down to C, tho' I prefer "medium" action, not "as-low-as-can-go". |
| wdf |
Posted - 06/25/2012 : 07:16:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by chunky monkey
Me too. I play a Taylor GC7 short scale and I use Elixir PB Mediums. I almost always play in Taro Patch F or Open D down 1 step because I like the way the guitar responds in the lower register. I love the short scale. My only caution, and this may be specific to my Taylor or my style, is that with the relaxed strings, I have to be a lot more careful with my left hand to avoid "bending" out of tune. I also have a Taylor 814CE (25.5 scale) that I play in the same tunings with the same strings and I don't have the "bending" issue.
Ah Haaaa!! |
| DennisC |
Posted - 06/02/2012 : 8:01:23 PM
quote:
Originally posted by basilking
As noted, heavying up the big E can help when dropping down to C. Ledward does this, told me when I asked him how he got it to hold out.
By "heavying up" do you mean using a heavy gauge for the E (6th) only; i.e., mixing string gauges? |
| basilking |
Posted - 06/02/2012 : 6:00:46 PM
I've a '60s slack key instruction book featuring Leonard Kwan where the co-author opines that a 000-28 [i.e. 24.9" scale] is ideal for slack key. I play slack key on a few 000 & 00 Martins as well as others.
As noted, heavying up the big E can help when dropping down to C. Ledward does this, told me when I asked him how he got it to hold out.
I did this on '54 Martin 5-18 [~23" scale] in open G/C bass for my mother-in-law's funeral a few years back in Honolulu. The guitar held up fine, was heard throughout church [I'm told] despite diminutive body & short-scale. |
| Trev |
Posted - 05/28/2012 : 04:29:01 AM
I’m not surprised, to be honest. A professional gigging guitarist is going to need to play pop, rock, possibly a few jazz standards – ‘Play something we know’ is the constant demand. In the pop/rock and jazz works, almost none of it is in anything other than standard tunings.
I know a guy who’s a professional player, teacher, been to the Royal Northern College of Music, and particularly specialises in Jazz. He’s never played in a different tuning. It never occurs. He’s been playing over 30 years. He’d never heard of slack key when I mentioned it, and he doesn’t know what it is.
Folk musicians, on the other hand, use different tunings all the time. Just off the top of my head I know one who uses the DADGAD tuning the most, two who use DADGBD, or ‘double dropped D’ practically all the time, two who use CGCGCE, one who uses DADAAD. There’s a guy called Keith who seems to use a different tuning for every other tune he plays, and my friend Pat who sometimes uses a pretty extreme tuning for playing bagpipe tunes on the guitar – I forget the notes, but I suspect it’s one of his own devising. And Taropatch is certainly something that gets used as well - Blues players are usually au fait with Open D and with Taropatch, although they don’t call it that.
But for most people who play guitars, outside the world of folk musics (in which I certainly include blues and Hawaiian), 99% of the time it’s standard tuning.
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| GuitarVlog |
Posted - 05/24/2012 : 7:43:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Ambrosius
After the initial shock of finding a guitar tuned to taro patch, he understood the tuning instantly and could not lay it down.
This is off-topic, but I'm surprised myself how some professional players know little or even nothing about alternate tunings.
A gigging pro heard me playing a plugged-in Seagull S6 A/E at Guitar Center and was puzzled by my fingerings. I explained to him that the guitar was tuned to Open-G and he didn't know what that was. After he got to try the S6 tuned to Taropatch, he took down notes on it and other tunings that I played. |
| Ambrosius |
Posted - 05/24/2012 : 06:41:27 AM
A professional (friend of my son) grabbed my shorter scaled, slightly wider neck and custom saddled (lowered), taro patch tuned Seagull Coastline yesterday night. After the initial shock of finding a guitar tuned to taro patch, he understood the tuning instantly and could not lay it down.
I'm proud to say he praised the playability of the neck and the action. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 05/23/2012 : 2:58:35 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Earl
The GS Mini comes from the factory strung with medium gauge strings. Resist the temptation to use light guage. That will help when you slack them down. The overall tension at standard pitch is OK because of the shorter scale length.
I get an occasional buzz on the 6th string but I think its as much from my rusty thumb pick skill as the guitar. The more I play this little guitar the more impressed I am. |
| markwitz |
Posted - 05/21/2012 : 07:33:14 AM
Since I don't play guitar, I can't comment on all the technical aspects being discussed, but here is some video of Ledward playing a smaller than normal size guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZGNHdKp_No&feature=plcp good description of the guitar being used.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB_PWqXrdIg |
| Earl |
Posted - 05/21/2012 : 04:38:24 AM
The GS Mini comes from the factory strung with medium gauge strings. Resist the temptation to use light guage. That will help when you slack them down. The overall tension at standard pitch is OK because of the shorter scale length.
Most folks start their slack key jorney in taro patch (open G)tuning. Ozzie's book is highly recommended as a starting point. As I get a little further down the path of learning (about five years now) I am amazed at some of the little things that are in there that pop up later.
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| DennisC |
Posted - 05/18/2012 : 2:37:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by GuitarVlog
I liked the tone of the spruce-topped GS Mini but I didn't like the narrow nut width. IMHO, it had the strongest bass response of any production guitar of its scale-length that I had played to date. If it hadn't been for its 1-11/16th nut, I'd have bought one last Christmas when Best Buy was blowing them out for $350.
I played a mahogany GC Mini today and was really impressed. I had a $75 coupon so I couldn't resist it, plus I get a 30 day approval period. Meeting some slack key players tomorrow and looking forward to getting their opinions. |
| GuitarVlog |
Posted - 05/17/2012 : 04:21:30 AM
quote:
Originally posted by DennisC
I'm an intermediate classical guitarist just beginning to learn slack key, and was thinking of buying a mahogany Taylor GS Mini with a 23 1/2" scale. Has anyone played this guitar?
You can play ki ho'alu on a classical guitar. Some pieces sound better on a classical guitar (or any guitar with nylon strings) and some sound better on steel. To me, most pieces that are nahe-nahe sound right on a classical guitar.
I liked the tone of the spruce-topped GS Mini but I didn't like the narrow nut width. IMHO, it had the strongest bass response of any production guitar of its scale-length that I had played to date. If it hadn't been for its 1-11/16th nut, I'd have bought one last Christmas when Best Buy was blowing them out for $350.
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| Trev |
Posted - 05/16/2012 : 10:24:23 PM
'Smaller instrument for convenience' - this is very true. I play a bit of mandolin, and a bit of double bass. There's little question about which is more convenient! On the plus side, the 'scale length' of the bass is quite long, and the mandolin, quite short. So when I play any guitar, the scale length doesn't matter. Guitars all fit into the 'smaller than a bass, bigger than a mandolin' scale in my head. |
| Ambrosius |
Posted - 05/16/2012 : 09:22:19 AM
quote:
... I like the idea of a smaller instrument for convenience, and the GS Mini I played sounded amazing for a $500 instrument (in std tuning).
I wouldn't worry a slacking down to, say Taro Patch will change your positive impression. I like smaller instruments myself, and if you find the relative narrow string spacing at the nut with a nut width of 1 and 11/16 comfortable, go for it.
I have played a tenor ukulele for a while with 17 inch scale. However, the short scale on a ukulele requires a much wider string spacing. That's why I hint to the string spacing. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 05/16/2012 : 06:24:50 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Ambrosius
edit II: Dennis, if you can live with the string spacing on this short scale ... it seems to be a really nice instrument. I'd considered the mahogany top, if I was you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3bIms7jFxg&feature=fvwrel
As a bare beginner in slack key, I'm trying to see ahead a couple years but I don't think I'm able judge whether the fingerboard is going to work out OK in the long run. I like the idea of a smaller instrument for convenience, and the GS Mini I played sounded amazing for a $500 instrument (in std tuning). |
