I love the sound of Nashville tuning but rarely get to use it because I only own one acoustic. Does anyone have a guitar dedicated to this tuning? If so, what kind of guitar is it? Essentially, I'm wondering if there are any (relatively) inexpensive acoustics that would be worth looking into to use for this sort of thing. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
I have a Go parlor guitar that's been set up as a high strung guitar for a couple months. It has a Sunrise PU in it and I'm using it on a current project. I'm thinking of getting another Go parlor and keep this one as is. As far as cheap goes, the Go is around $1000, so it's not too cheap. I love the sound, I'm setting up a MIM tele as a high strung for stage work. http://www.go-guitars.com/
Was using a Taylor C-612 for that for about 2 years. Nice sound, but I used to own a Martin 0001 which was even better sounding to my ears. Brett
yeah ...good question , i have a couple of guitars in mind . When my rebuilt old duo sonic is ready next week ..I`m going to string it up weird . Short scale has me wondering about tuning it up a fourth or something weird like that . QUESTION to the experienced Nashville cats out there ...Do we want a flat top with a lot of bass to fatten up the high notes OR do we convert an otherwise bass anemic flat top into a nashville tuning so we don`t waste the instrument ???????...
No but my Taylor K22ce (all Koa) is in Taro Patch tuning because I use it just for Hawaiian slack key music.
I have no live experience with Nashville tuning, but do cut tracks with the high-strung sound quite regularly. We use an el cheapo '76 Epiphone acoustic. I'm sure there are tons of sonically superior instruments out there, but that thing tracks like a dream every time. For recording, it's just a matter of mic choice and placement, and EQ. By the way, whenever I cut Rickenbacker 360 12 string, I always double the track with the high-strung guitar. RIC 12's are notorious bitches to play cleanly; the doubled Nashville-tuned guitar masks my imperfections in playing the RIC, and furthermore adds clarity and detail to the track.
a cool variation on Nashville is to use regular light or medium guage for 5th and 6th strings kind of a brown sound on acoustic might serve your 1 guitar thing well
Yes, I do have an acoustic dedicated to Nashville tuning. I pretty much only use it on sessions. I got a pretty cheap Hondo (martin copy) and had my local tech set it up for Nashville. We put a fishman undersaddle pickup in it, mostly just for tuning ease. It works great to this end. If I was going to do it again - I would try and find an acoustic like the Martin D-15 which is all Mahogony. I really feel that that would mellow out the tone of the Nashville tuning so it doesn't sound so much like "swisha swisha" over the strings. Mine works fine but a darker sounding instrument would improve the tone.
I've never seen a Nashville tuned set but wait... Nope - I thought I'd check www.juststrings.com to see if they sold Nashville sets but they don't. So, yeah - I break up 12 string sets. I think next time I'm going to get some silk & steels if I can find them for a little softer, darker tone. There's plenty of shimmer with the Nashville tuning. I'm told that "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones is actually a Nashville tuned and a regular 6 string and Not a 12 string guitar. When I listen to it now, I think I can hear that.
