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Comment by Brett Morgan on July 31, 2010 at 5:33am

Thanks for the explanation Rand, it sounds cool ;)

Regards

Brett

Comment by Rand Moore on July 31, 2010 at 4:08am

Hi Brett. This Black and Tan CBG is considered a 3-stringer even though it has six tuners because each of the stings are paired. Technically, it's a three course instrument where each course has two strings and each string is (usually) tuned identically to give it a bit more volume and sustain. Sometimes paired strings are tuned an octave apart to impart the instrument with an even more unique sound. Other instruments that feature paired strings include the mandolin, the 12-string guitar and the melody string on many mountain dulcimers. With mountain dulcimers, the paired melody strings help the melody stand out a bit better from the drone of the other two strings (the middle and bass strings, which are usually not paired). Adding a paired melody string to a stick dulcimer or CBG is an easy way to add a bit more complexity to the sound of your playing without increasing the difficulty of your playing style. Paired strings are usually spaced an 1/8'' apart, and if you haven't made one yet, I'd recommend at least adding a 4th string on your next build to have a paired melody string. Oh, and by "melody string" I mean "string 1". If your playing style is mode guitar like, then pairing all three strings is recommended, but that is quite a bit more difficult unless you are already building six string CBGs.

Comment by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on July 30, 2010 at 5:53am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXdkF-gWyA4

Comment by Brett Morgan on July 30, 2010 at 2:24am

3 strings and 6 tuning heads...I dont get it ;)