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Ordering first CBG - 3 or 4 string?

Hi folks. I imagine there are hundreds of similar questions posted here, so apologies for creating yet another.

I'm about to order a dog bowl reso from Shane Wagstaff in Mansfield (he's only a handful of miles from me, and his builds always seem to garner huge praise). So here's the background...I've been playing guitar for about 35 years, with a few years off here and there, and ukulele for about 3 years on & off, but never really played slide.

I'm just wondering if I should be ordering a 3 string as my first cbg, or go straight for a 4. Ultimately I'll have both (maybe even several of both, if my ukulele collecting habits are anything to go by). What am I going to gain/lose with each over the other?

Your advice/recommendations/insults would all be very welcome.

Cheers

Niq

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on May 18, 2015 at 11:52pm

Both 3 and 4 string guitars have their merits. If my choice, it would be 4 string. The additional string enables you to play more chord patterns, yet still allows for slide playing. It's all about how it's tuned. The tuning combinations are more diverse w/ 4 strings too.

You can use tunings like ADF#B (D6 baritone uke tuning), DGBE (Chicago tenor guitar tuning, and the bottom 4 strings on a standard guitar), CGDA or GDAE tenor guitar/mandolin tunings, and others.

The D6 and Chicago tunings both are easily stepped down to open tunings without changing string, for quickly changing to slide style.

And Shane Wagstaff is a great choice for a builder. Cheers.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 19, 2015 at 2:30am

i say a 3 .. because it cant always be easily changed to a 4 and you have a great excuse to buy a 4 later ;-)

and 3's carry the tradition factor.

or get both , .... we can't really tell you what you will like better yourself .

i'd advise against leaving one tuner idol , (as suggested by someone here ) its an invitation for rattle . and it looks like a broken guitar.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 19, 2015 at 4:16am

Go for a 3 string, no question about it.

I sell maybe 10 three strings for every four string guitar I sell. I've taught well over 1000 people how to play on a 3 string and it really is the easiest to start with. If you use the maj.5th "power chord" tuning which seems to be the most popular, it's very intuitive and gets right to that raw roots sound - it's neither major nor minor. If you go 4 string, you'll probably have to decide whether to put it in a major or minor tuning, and where to put the 3rd in the chord. I find that the 4 string can actually limit your playing rather than make it more flexible, unless you are familiar with tenor banjo or mandolin tunings, in which case you might well find it conveniently familiar.

Any guitar maker who knows what they are doing will understand this, and should be able to advise you on the possibilities, advantages and disadvantages of 3 string versus 4 string. Any road, thats just my experience and opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Thumper on May 19, 2015 at 4:34am

You should try both before buying one or the other. As a guitar player I opted for a 4 string tuning to GDGB and find it very versatile for picking melodies or slide work

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 19, 2015 at 7:00am

wayfinder - tuners / posts on even the most expensive guitars can rattle when un-stringed . anyone with any experience with a guitar would know that . let alone a "builder" .

improperly installed ones put in too tight . actually rattle less also .

no need for yet more defense wayfinder , or another attack attempt from you in defense of your "experience" or lack there of . nor is this yet another misinformation claim against you.

i clearly said it " invites" rattle . this is true and my advice was sound .

just because it counters your advice or does not praise it , does not warrant a pissy fit .

nor a pointless pissing contest attempting to insult my business or product .

considering you say you don't plan to be a seller , i should not be deemed competition by you . so your attempted insults are just that .

even if you were a seller , there's no call for that .

as for using the words "(someone here suggested )" , that was not meant as a direct diss to you , it was simply to separate myself from looking like "i" was saying it , or including it as a popular option.

as you have been told before wayfinder .

grow up .

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 19, 2015 at 1:34pm

oh the irony . lol. not to mention repeating me as a tactic . lol .. yawn.

anyway ill attempt to reply to this version of your reply . before you erase / edit . and replace it again as you have a few times in the last 5 hours . as usual.

you should have left the last one . it needed no reply .

First off, i seem to recall you saying you weren't interested in selling and this was just a "hobby " .. maybe that was when you first started not long ago . or maybe you meant your copied version of the flat pickups you don't "plan to sell".

either way . it was an honest mistake if not the case . and really no big deal / beside the point.

as for your tuners on the supplied picture as " proof" .i believe your gold tuners on the guitar on the wall , are common , good quality enclosed tuners , that many folks here use for that exact reason . they are great.

without a string on them . they will have play as they were meant to have without tension . hence will rattle when tapped or wiggled while unstrung , hence possibly buzz/ rattle while playing the tensioned strings while it sits unstrung .

if yours have no play (unstrung ) when you grab the post and wiggle it with your thumb and forefinger , or tap it , then you have installed them too tight / improperly . / drilled a hole too small , or snugged the stem too much with a smaller counter hole on the other side .

(not to mention taking into account wood swell etc on a new guitar can cause problems in collarless tuner stems .( as your others seem to be )

now thats just a fact , / correction / defending my comment . not an insult . nor is it dissing the great product (tuners ) . its a fact , and was passed on as advice . not for the sole purpose of contradicting yours .( lol get over yourself.)

as for looking "broken " i moreso meant once someone realizes the rattle (usually on a broken string / empty tuner ) . they will many times splint the post to one of the others . with an elastic etc .. hence lookin like a repair .

as for "snit posts" any "snit" from me was merely a by-prodoct / reply of/after yours .

as for "grow up" .

well ... i meant that .

;-) have a great day .

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Permalink Reply by The Big Kahuna on May 19, 2015 at 4:41am

Thanks for all the replies folks. I have a house full of guitars, ukuleles and guitarleles, so I doubt I'll be stopping at one cbg. I think I'll probably go down the 3 string route for my first, with a 4 to follow, then look at building myself after that. Having never really played slide at all before, despite playing for so many years, I think a 3 string might be best for easing me into it.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 20, 2015 at 4:34am

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on May 19, 2015 at 1:54pm

Here's my take on it Kahuna. If you get the four string you can always take one string off. As a guitar player of many years myself I can tell you that both three and four string guitars are extremely versatile. To the point they can seem like completely different instruments. Yes the advantage of a four stringer is, well, it has one more string. However it's also it's disadvantage. Having only three strings can inspire you to create and go in completely different directions with your music. I know most of the folks here do the old blues stuff to a T. Really good at it too. However the musical possibilities are endless. Completely up the the creator. Both three and four stringed instruments.

So for me I'd get the four banger. Try as many alternate tunings as you can find. Then take one string off. It's a hole new world!

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Permalink Reply by Thumper on May 20, 2015 at 5:57am

Being an old classical player (not real good mind you) I like that with my 4 stringer I can pick out most everything I ever learned, from sonata's to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here", the 4th "B" string is a real asset. Plus, having CRS, it's kinda neat I only have to remember positions on 4 strings instead of six!!! LOL