Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Clock The Wolf on March 11, 2013 at 2:53pm

A pack of Ernie Ball 2839 Baritone Electric Guitar Strings contains .13 .18 plain, and .30 .44 .56 .72 wound. That should work for a 4 string.

D'Addario XL157 Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings are Plain steel .014, .018, Nickel Wound .026, .044, .056, .062, .068

D'Addario EXL158 Nickel Wound Electric Guitar Strings are Plain Steel .013, .017, Nickel Wound .026, .036, .046, .062 

And yes, they are longer...

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on March 11, 2013 at 5:52pm

Buzz, take the string out of the slot at the bridge and see if it Buzzes, if not return it and do the same at the nut, gotts to be one or the other, unless it is touching a fret, if so fret each fret and see wher it stops. then go play your fav tune..........................Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 11, 2013 at 6:32pm

U don't need Baritone strings,they're for lower tunings than G-D-G-D that you're goin' for, I don't get why u can't tune them,what do u mean they won't tune?  u should have no problem with that tuning,they aren't too far off of the actual pitches of the strings u are using? is your Bridge 27in away from the nut? if it is,your intonation should be on,also check your Fret  Positions to see if they are correct, if they are not then you're whole guitar might be inches off what it is supposed to be, also if your strings are sunk into your Bridge or Nut too deep it will cause a Buzz,or maybe your action is too low? need more info?

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Permalink Reply by Amerigo on March 13, 2013 at 1:19pm

I keep breaking the strings when I try and tune them to gdgd and I thought maybe because the are not long enough 

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on March 13, 2013 at 1:41pm

I assume the strings are long enough, and that the wound part of the string reaches the tuning peg. In other words, you are not trying to string up one of the lower strings when just the inner string is long enough to feed through the hole in the tuning peg, right?

If so, then if you take strings 5-4-3-2, or A-D-G-B and tune the A down to G, the D to D, the G to G, and the B to B, you should end up with open G. You may be able to crank the B up to D, but that might be a bit tight.

Is that what you are doing?

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Permalink Reply by Amerigo on March 13, 2013 at 3:07pm

Starting the winding the wound part of the string does not reach the peg at all just about 4" of the end of string. But I will try and tune to open G like you suggest

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on March 16, 2013 at 9:26pm

gdgd tuning should work with middle 4 electric guitar strings ( 32, 24, 16 and 13/11) (-:

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Permalink Reply by mudbelly on March 13, 2013 at 5:17am

On the first build I did I did not check the scale and ended up with a 28" which is a baritone scale. Regular strings fit but I think my tail piece was less than 37" 

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 13, 2013 at 9:21pm

U might want to relocate your string holes,37in is a pretty long stretch, my favorite CBG has a 28.5in scale,but the string holes in my tail piece are only 3.5in  from my bridge , which is 32in total & it's got great intonation? I still don't get why your strings aren't long enough?standard strings are 40-42in in length.did U cut them? basically U wanna be in under 32in or somewhere around that,most 6 string guitars are 28-32in total string length.so I would shorten your string length & throw somethin' ornamental over the old holes to cover em' up. hope U figure that one out.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on March 14, 2013 at 5:23am

Did you resolve this?

Are you set on GDGD tuning?

Why not relatively tune lower?

A whole step lower.

F C F C

I have found in regards to homemade CBGs, it is best to find the tuning and string tension that makes the box ring the best. Too tight or too loose is not good. You might figure out and be able to obtain the GDGD tuning, but due to many building factors (scale length, nut and bridge height, box dimensions) the sound still will not be at it's best. Experimenting somethings yields very positive results. I hope this helps. Enjoy, Keni Lee  

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Permalink Reply by Amerigo on March 15, 2013 at 2:59am

Thanks everyone for the replies. I was able to tune one of them to gdgb and it sounds ok a little like a banjo. I am still playing around with the other one and may try some other tunings. These are new to me , my son bought me a Weeklyhouse CBG from ebay for Christmas. I can play guitar a bit and he saw McCartney play one on the hurricane benefit and decided to get me one. I started playing around abit and decided to try and make one. Here are a few pics with my {sorry}  iphone. It's been fun

Attachments:

• pictures off iphone march '13 217.JPG, 1.3 MB
• pictures off iphone march '13 214.JPG, 1.2 MB

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 15, 2013 at 5:49pm

I didn't know yer box was so long.does the strings go thru the rear of the box? I would move em' up closer to the bridge-glue a piece of hardwood underneath the lid for strength & run em' thru it like an acoustic,very easy fix. by the way they're not bad lookin' CBG's, great fretboards! maybe it sounds like a banjo because it's fretting out,I suggest lifting the action a little.

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