Convert Guitalele to 6-string tenor?

Not sure if this belongs in Uke Talk or Luthiers Area....

Just thinking out loud here.

Seeing what OldePhart (John) has been up to lately has got me thinking.....

My Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele (with Mi-Si installed) is just not getting much play time. It has a 17" scale. I am a bit bored with it.

I've always wanted a slot-head, and all the tuners are there so if I make a new nut for 4 uke strings, and but do it it so I can have both high-G and low-g, as well as somehow tweak the bridge (maybe with NEW holes) so that the strings are spaced about 14mm apart at the bridge (for the basic GCEA)...

Could I convert the GL1 to a tenor uke with both high and low gG?

Or do I need to start over and either make a bridge from scratch, or maybe buy a premade tenor bridge, and then use that?

Has this been done before?

Could I also add a high C, so it would be like
Gg Cc E A, or should I double one of the other strings?

Please advise - no suggestion is too crazy.

Thanks,

-Booli

Sounds like a tough conversion to me but I'm no luthier. FWIW, I found a page by Mele that says 6 string tenor is typically tuned G cC E AA

IANAL (I am not a luthier), but I would think that it would be doable.

You are going to need a replacement nut cut to the right specs.

You may or may not need a new saddle. Depending on how the strings are anchored, the bridge may be an issue.

Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in.

Won't the neck be too wide?

drbekken said:

Won't the neck be too wide?

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I'm not sure what the neck width is like on the Yamaha, but if it's like the gretsch or the cordoba, it's a bit thinner than normal, and might not be too bad.

I don't see any major problems, depending on how reversable you might want the conversion to be and how manually capable you are with a few basic tools. The nut will need to be grooved differently, obviously. Work on a replacement if reversion to original is a consideration. Using the original string anchoring on the bridge should work, in the first instance, just to see how the concept is progressing, though you might want to replace the saddle with one grooved to suit your new string arrangement better. Final string anchoring may be better served with an after-market or custom-made tailpiece if redrilling the bridge isn't an attractive option and my initial suggestion (use the existing holes) isn't totally satisfactory.

Good luck

Jim Hanks said:

FWIW, I found a page by Mele that says 6 string tenor is typically tuned G cC E AA

Click to expand...

Mele tunes its six strings that way, and I once had a Pono six string tuned like that. Kamaka uses octave strings for both the C and A courses.

kypfer said:

I don't see any major problems, depending on how reversable you might want the conversion to be and how manually capable you are with a few basic tools. The nut will need to be grooved differently, obviously. Work on a replacement if reversion to original is a consideration. Using the original string anchoring on the bridge should work, in the first instance, just to see how the concept is progressing, though you might want to replace the saddle with one grooved to suit your new string arrangement better. Final string anchoring may be better served with an after-market or custom-made tailpiece if redrilling the bridge isn't an attractive option and my initial suggestion (use the existing holes) isn't totally satisfactory.

Good luck

Click to expand...

I talked to "my luthier" and he spoke similarly, including the grooved saddle. This was concerning converting the Gretsch solid top guitarlele, which I can get new for $139, acc. to a local store. This was a couple of months ago & getting 2 tenors has put that project on hold.
I plan to put a tailpiece on an old Rogue Bari as part of a gypsy conversion, & I suppose one could consider that for the 6 string conversion, as well.
~dick

The neck may be a little wider than a traditional six string. I've had the Yamaha and 3 six strings. If you don't care about resale value on the Yamaha and just want to mess around why not? It sounds like fun.

Lots of good suggestions here so far - thank you to all that replied .

My intention right now is that I would most likely string it as a 6-string with both high and low G, and then add a second C string either an octave above (C5), or and octave BELOW (C3) the normal C4 pitch. Not sure if the resonant chamber of the tenor sized body will do justice to the C3 note range, but C5 is already present in many chord fingerings.

I had not thought about doing a tailpiece, and this is a good idea, since I am hesitant to drill new holes in the existing bridge, which is also too close to the saddle to allow for what would be VERY sharp angles if I made a saddle with string slots in it to get the proper spacing.

I would also need a 3/32" or 2.5mm drill bit (to drill new string holes in the existing bridge) that is about 10" long in order to make new holes and pray that I've got the right angle for the hole to appear so that the string will come out so that it can go to the saddle, this seems very tricky to me without some kind of jig, and I only have simply hand tools.

Any ideas on which kind or style of tailpiece? I've seen some mandolin and banjo tailpieces that might be modded easily, otherwise I can always try to fabricate something from 1.5" aluminum angle-iron that I've got in the parts bin.

Also, having a tailpiece would save me from removing/replacing the bridge, which is more involved (as far as crossing the point of no return, and not easily reversible) than I might want to do at this point.

I will of course have to make a new nut with the proper string spacing to accomodate this new set up. One thing to consider is that on most of my tenors, the nut width is around 35-36mm, on the Yamaha GL-1, the nut with is 48mm, so this is 11-12mm WIDER, and while not impossible to play, it will take some adjustment to play well. Maybe the added width will make it EASIER to play with the added 2 strings (while these strings are also so close to their cousin).

Wider string spacing is better for me than narrower, as when I pick up a guitar after not playing one for a while, I often get some string buzz from my fingernails hitting the string above the fretting finger, when I first start to play. The nails on my fretting hand are kept very very short, so it is a matter of temporarily forgotten technique, from playing the uke more often that the guitar, rather than my nails being too long.

The main point here is to modify an existing instrument, rather than buy one, yet also not completely destroy a perfectly working guitalele in the process.

The more I think about this, the more I realize that it's going to take some very careful planning to not kill the guitalele...

on the Yamaha GL-1, the nut with is 48mm,

Click to expand...

... that is a wide nut, wider than I anticipated, this maybe a case of "If I wanted to go there I wouldn't start from here" !!

a 3/32" or 2.5mm drill bit that is about 10" long

Click to expand...

... a 10" piece of 1/4" rod with an ordinary size drill or even a screwdriver blade set in the end works fine for a job like this, just twiddle it slowly by hand and it'll be fine

I still think, set it up with just a new nut and strung as you want it, it should be close enough over the first five frets to get a decent feel for how successful the final job will be if you decide to continue. If it's a no-go, just replace the nut and strings and back to square one ... nothing much lost.