#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

Double neck, doubled string build question

I threw this into a discussion regarding tunings, and have reposted under a new heading to maybe get some more eyes on it and ideas from it:

JL threw in a tip that I recently tried, with pleasing results. I have a four string license plate guitar tuned GDGd using .036/.027/.017/.013 strings. Sounds good, fun to play. I wanted to experiment a little to "fine tune" my next build idea. I replaced the .013 string with another .017 "G" string, moved it closer to the other .017 string so it was more of a mandolin or 12 string spacing. Huzzah! A real pretty harmonic double G. Not new, not rocket science, but a good "new try" for me. My next build or so is going to be a double necked git. Upper neck, 3 string GDg. Lower neck GDg, but with doubled complimentary strings, same mandolin-style spacing. Again, not new, but new in my building path. Who else out there has had success (or not) with this type of "12 string style" build? I have cut the two necks, one a "standard" 1 3/8" width, the second is 1 3/4" wide, to accommodate the additional bit of string width. Waddayathink?

1 member likes this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on January 5, 2017 at 11:12am

So your lower neck would be GGDDgg? Sounds like a plan. Should be louder anyway. I've seen some ukes built with double courses like that (though, often, the lower strings are in octaves...gGCcEEAA).

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Grandpa on January 5, 2017 at 4:45pm

Yep, that's the plan for the lower neck. Might try the octave-apart set up if the neck looks like it'll take the pull. Every time I walk into GC I end up in the acoustic room pluckin' a Taylor 12 string, and I just love the effect of the double strings. My git box is not real thick, so I'll throw a single coil at each neck and hope for the best!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 6, 2017 at 7:34am

Grandpa,

Here's a video of a Steampunk resonator, with a nearly baseball bat-size neck, and 3 courses of doubled strings, tuned in octaves halfway between A-D-F# and Bb-Eb-G, built for me a couple of years ago by my buddy CBN member Eric "Badfinger" Davenport:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/bouree-bia-or-broke-bach-go-tul...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Grandpa on January 6, 2017 at 10:55am

Oily, this link was extremely helpful. I am jazzed to get stated on my git. Did I understand that your string pairs are tuned 1/2 step apart? The sound of your git in the video is great!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on January 6, 2017 at 3:25pm

Glad you liked it, Grandpa!

Sorry I wasn't more clear about the tuning.

Nope, the string pairs are tuned an octave apart, just like a 12-string guitar, with the thicker string in the first pair tuned to, say, G2, and the thinner string in the first pair tuned to, say, G3,

The actual tuning is what's weird, almost Middle Eastern. I tried tuning it to GDG, and it just didn't like that at all, no resonance. So I tried to tune everything to A-D-F#, one of my preferred tunings; the resonator didn't ring as well, just kinda thumped, so I figured I maybe had either choked it with too much downward string pressure on the biscuit, stopping the cone from really moving, or I just hadn't found the sweet spot. I had already tried GDG, so I tuned everything UP a half step more, to Bb-Eb-G, and then it was just meh, not very ringy at all there either, so maybe too much downward string pressure at the biscuit to choke the cone. Temperamental little beast! Using my electronic tuner, I determined that the tuning where the reso sprang to life was somewhere between 30 to 50 cents above A-D-F#. The boxes always tell you what tuning they like best; you just gotta experiment to find it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Grandpa on January 6, 2017 at 6:48pm

Thanks again, Oily, for an in-depth explanation of your exploration into tonal excellence. I generally string up my gits with .042/.032/.022 strings, occasionally .036/.027/.017, tune to GDg, let 'er rip, and reckon that some gits just sound fuller and have more ring than others. While this is probably true, what with many neck/box/nut/and bridge variables, I've been taking a closer look, and read, at some of the "next step" opportunities that other experienced builders have described in these forums. Appreciate the time that folks spend to share their experiences, successes and trepidations in this craziness. Thanks.