dgbe....."Chicago tuning"......

by RayLee, Sunday, June 29, 2025, 19:16 (3 days ago) @ Paul

is so easy but it gets no respect out there in the wider world of instrument purists.

Irish and tenor and plectrum four-strings are expected to be tuned in pinky finger stretching "fifths" like a cello/viola. Mention on so-called social media that you tune your cuatro just like the high strings on your regular guitar and "they" either castigate or completely ignore. Same with banjoistas. They can be very narrow minded and few can abide guitar tuning sans wild string.

The worst at intolerance seem to be cigar box players. Take your open-g box and retune ever so slightly to g b e. It is now open-e minor so you can easily bar across up from there to play otherwise difficult minor chords. Abbreviated guitar chords ignoring the missing e a d strings are just one and two fingers. But mention g b e tuning on a board/forum and you might as well wear trump red (they tend to be folkie/commie philosophically).

Speaking of cigar boxes, this one sounds great with g b e tuning and at least twice a year they are specially discounted significantly for a holiday.

https://www.cbgitty.com/cigar-box-guitars-more/the-oliva-v-special-edition-fretted-ciga...