Tenor and Classical Guitars

[Down Up Dick]

Thanks for the info, Ms Bean. I’ll look at it.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I’m giving my Classicalele a rest. I was somewhat down and very tired of learning about Classical Guitar, so I decided to get back to some of my other instruments. “All work and no play make (Dick) a dull boy.” I’m starting with the mandolins.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, that really didn’t help too much. Trying to play using music is what’s driving me crazy and ruining music for me. I can play tunes by ear all day, except, then, I don’t know where to stick the chords in — Bah!!

My temporary solution is to just finger pick tunes by ear without chords until I can figure out a better way. I do enjoy picking tunes by ear.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Well, that really didn’t help too much. Trying to play using music is what’s driving me crazy and ruining music for me. I can play tunes by ear all day, except, then, I don’t know where to stick the chords in — Bah!!

My temporary solution is to just finger pick tunes by ear without chords until I can figure out a better way. I do enjoy picking tunes by ear.

The ability to play by ear is a great skill! I like to think that the chords will come in time even though I'm not qualified to give advice

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, Saxonbowman, I hope you’re correct.

Why did you pick your name? Are you an archer? I was an avid archer for a number of years, and I even used a straight, longbow for a while. I’m also an English major, and my area of study was the Medieval Period. I like all that old stuff.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I’ve given up Classical Guitar (again) and Guitar Style and pickin’ in general for a while. It was ruining my music time. I guess this old man was just tryin’ too hard. I’m accompanying my singing and whistling and playing my flutes now for a while.

Sometimes ya just gotta lighten up a bit. Music’s fun again now.

 

[Papa John]

I picked up the Circle Strings tenor guitar that was on here a couple months ago. I have it tuned D,G,B,E but am getting a little burned out on the tuning as I have other baritones , though in nylon, tuned Chicago

Was thinking on trying octave mandolin tuning G,D,A,E or reg. TG tuning. What steel strings are you using for yours Dick? I know Ry Cooder has a scale guage for TG strings so was thinking on ordering single string guages for both TG and mandolin tuning. Any suggestions?

I thought I'd add my 2 cents to this old thread, since I'm the new owner of the Circle Strings tenor guitar, anxious for its arrival from Blane, Wa.
I will use Thomastik-Infeld wound nylon w/rope core for the B and E strings. .016&.024.
For the D and G, I plan to use Daddario. .028 &.022.
I have used this setup on Blueridge and Martin with excellent results. I even have them on my 8 string with an .016 and .025 giving me octaves for the D and G courses.
22.5 to 24.5 scale length is best

 

[Down Up Dick]

I really don't remember, but I usually use d’Addario. Right now my Kala is tuned CGDA. I like fifths! However my Blueridge is tuned CGBD to play Plectrum (Robert Burns Tunes and Classical) music. All my stuff is in fifths except my banjos, my baritone uke, the Blueridge and my ukes.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I’m back into Classical Guitar. I played some old exercises well yesterday as a kinda catchup/trial run. So mebbe my lay off was a good thing.

I’m still battling chords with Fingerstyle and mebbe Travis picking though . . .

 

[Papa John]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents to this old thread, since I'm the new owner of the Circle Strings tenor guitar, anxious for its arrival from Blane, Wa.
I will use Thomastik-Infeld wound nylon w/rope core for the B and E strings. .016&.024.
For the D and G, I plan to use Daddario. .028 &.022.
I have used this setup on Blueridge and Martin with excellent results. I even have them on my 8 string with an .016 and .025 giving me octaves for the D and G courses.
22.5 to 24.5 scale length is best

I was wrong about the choice of strings for the Circle Strings tenor guitar.
They sound too sharp and shrill...totally unsuited for it.
Not sure where I'll end up but since it has a flat fretboard, I replaced the radius saddle for a bone flat one and will keep experimenting.
Boy, it's a beautiful guitar.

 

[Patrick Madsen]

Good to hear you like the guitar John. Didn't realize it had a radiused saddle.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Well, Saxonbowman, I hope you’re correct.

Why did you pick your name? Are you an archer? I was an avid archer for a number of years, and I even used a straight, longbow for a while. I’m also an English major, and my area of study was the Medieval Period. I like all that old stuff.

Yeah, I do a bit of archery. I mostly play in the SCA though my bows, at least, are not medieval appropriate. Still wooden bows without sights or "training wheels". We also have a tournament here in Williamsburg each year of the British Longbow Society, North American chapter. That happened last week and was a lot of fun!

 

[Down Up Dick]

Yeah, I loved Archery, and I was pretty good at it. Our club, when I was stationed in Japan, shot against the local club — good times. They had some good shooters.

I recently sold my longbow, but I still have a coupla target bows and a bunch of my other equipment. I miss shooting, but I’m too old to start over now.

The thing that ruined archery for me was the bow got all the cables and wheels. I bought a Wing, but I never did like it. I finally gave it away. Mostly I liked to shoot Barebow Field Archery.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I went to Guitar Center and traded my Yamaha Classicalele in for a Yamaha C40 Classical Guitar. The classsicalele was just too small, and the strings were too close together. I’m hoping that’s what was causing all my fumbling. I won’t get it for about 5 days.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I finally got my new Yamaha C40Ii. I’ve been playing it all afternoon. I really like it’s deep tones. It’s a lot easier to find the frets as they’re wider apart than the ones on my Yamaha CL1. It’s huge compared to the much smaller CL1, but I haven’t had any trouble with that.

I‘m just going back in my book to where I started to get usta it. So far, so good.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I ordered a Classical Guitar leg cushion from Amazon, and it came yesterday. I’m kinda clumsy with it, but it worked okay. Maybe I just need to get usta it. Sitting up straight is not normal for me either, so there’s that too.

I have a foot rest, but I don’t care for it. I’ve already crushed it twice, it feels wobbly and, now, after over a century of usage, they’re saying that it’s bad for one’s back. I certainly don’t need that.

 

[Pirate Jim]

I picked up a Neck-Up off eBay last year. It's brilliant, thoroughly recommend. The suction cup wouldn't stick to my guitar so I added a sheet of low tack shiny plastic to the side and that's it sorted. Keeps the guitar up high and stable.

 

[GVlog]

Congrats on getting the C40ii. I have a C40 (gloss finish rather than matte) and it still gets equal play/practice time alongside my better classical and flamenco guitars. It responds nicely to bright treble strings like Savarez Cristal (nylon) or Savarez Alliance (carbon).

Based on my experience with Yamahas, you might eventually want to adjust the action as they tend to be on the higher-side from the factory. Some players like the higher action but I like the standard of 4mm on the 6th string and 3mm on the 1st string.

If you choose to use a guitar support that uses suction cups, you will need to use a "protector strip". This is not to protect the finish but to give the suction cups a glossy surface to adhere to.

Ergoplay supports come with two of these strips. I don't know about other supports.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Thanks for the info, GVlog, I’ll keep those strings in mind for the next time I get some. My CG is glossy too. Most of my string instruments are. I don’t know what it’s string height is, but it seems okay to me so far.

I don’t think I’d care for one of those supports. For one thing, they’re very expensive. That’s why I bought the cushion, but . . . time will tell . . .

 

[GVlog]

I don’t think I’d care for one of those supports. For one thing, they’re very expensive. That’s why I bought the cushion, but . . . time will tell . . .

Yeah. I got all of my supports years ago when they were uncommon, in less demand, and reasonably priced. I'm still dealing with a bit of sticker-shock as to how expensive they've become.

This model by Tenor is more affordable but I don't have much experience with it. Structurally, it's almost identical to the Gitano. StringsByMail also sells it but their version looks a little different.