Koyabu Tuning

[secondfiddle]

Can anyone tell me the tuning and string layout on the Koyabu board.
Thanks.

[PhoBucket]

It has an uncrossed tuning with the lower strings on the outside. The melody string, played with the right hand, ascend in 4ths towards the center of the board. The bass strings, played with the left hand, ascend in 5ths towards the center of the board.

Think of it like taking a Chapman Stick and reversing the side of the neck that melody and bass strings are on.

[secondfiddle]

Thanks for the information Pho. I am kind of using the same tuning on the Box guitar but instead of 5ths I just am using standard guitar tuning reversed also on the rhythm side. I am finding this layout on the neck quite interesting, hope to post a video soon. illadephia, lol.

[PhoBucket]

So you have the high stings on the inside of the neck for both regions? I'm not aware of anybody doing that with a guitar interval based tuning.

Thierry Carpentier (4ths-4ths) and Daniel Schell (mirrored 4ths-4ths) both put the highest strings in the middle of the neck. Carpentier has been using the tuning since 1989 and talks about its benefits on his website.

Schell has a good site (http://www.clicmusic.be/index.php?page=Tap_Guitar.php) on the relative advantages and disadvantages of a variety of tuning schemes.

[AlanKroeger]

Originally posted by PhoBucket
So you have the high stings on the inside of the neck for both regions? I'm not aware of anybody doing that with a guitar interval based tuning.

Thierry Carpentier (4ths-4ths) and Daniel Schell (mirrored 4ths-4ths) both put the highest strings in the middle of the neck. Carpentier has been using the tuning since 1989 and talks about its benefits on his website.

Schell has a good site (http://www.clicmusic.be/index.php?page=Tap_Guitar.php) on the relative advantages and disadvantages of a variety of tuning schemes.

Great links thanks
Now right now I don't have a dedicated tap instrument but I have been pondering advantages and disadvantages of different tunings.
At this point I pondering a tuning where bass strings are in the left hand (right hand player) and high (guitar range) strings would be on the right side. The only thing I haven't got any special sentiments about are whether I would arrange the strings in normal order or invert the order and put the high strings in the middle.
Now I can see advantages and disadvantages in such a tuning that I am pondering.

For Example:
Advantage? highs in the center:
One can leverage that so that you can just keep playing across the fret board and move from an ascending scalar run to a descending scalar run once you arrive at the center high strings.

Disadvantage? bass on left guitar on right side of instrument:
You lose some ability to dampen strings with the hand that crosses over and the damper you use has to be good at dampening open strings or better then it would be if you had a hand crossing over.

Not interested in fifths don't need to be challenged and tunings really never inspired me. They are just tunings and they are either or both advantages and/or disadvantages that you can exploit or they could just make playing some things harder. I never choose anything because it is harder and usually lean toward whatever offers me the best advantage(s)
Course at this point I haven't decided on anything or certainly nothing is written in stone. Just me pondering what I really want... :)

PS: Giving some additional thought to some of the suggestions at the tunings section of the climusic site I might have to reconsider some of my thoughts regarding tuning in fifths. It actually could be useful but it would seem to makes shifts a major component of ones technique. I imagine a lot of it would depend on what you want to play and how you might want to execute it.
Oh well perils of being a guitar player being a bit lost on a Stick like tunings :D

[PhoBucket]

Yeah. That side has a lot of useful information. In addition to the interval and direction of the string groups, I have been thinking about the offset between the hands. Maybe giving up some overall range to pair the hands and ranges closer.

Back to the K-Board, I found the instrument comfortable to play, although I am at a loss when it comes to fifths tunings. The demo cd of Yoshi's playing has some really inventive stuff, and I would recommend the board to someone wanting a shorter scale instrument.

[AlanKroeger]

Originally posted by PhoBucket
I have been thinking about the offset between the hands. Maybe giving up some overall range to pair the hands and ranges closer.
Yes I do seem to like close voiced chords and intervals perhaps a modified version of crafty tuning might suit me better. I played a little Lap Steel for a while one can see why such close order tuning is useful for what effectively amounts to a one finger technique, the bar being the one finger. Not that I stuck with it but I still have a Lap Steel hanging around, a cheap one :D
I don't mind the third in the standard guitar tuning it can be useful I don't see it as a hindrance just another tuning with advantages and disadvantages to leverage.
Oh well lot's of interesting possibilities out there, aren't there ;)

Yes the Koyabu is an interesting board certainly within consideration as a shorter scale is something I am considering.

[secondfiddle]

Thanks for the links Pho. Yes I have the higher strings in the middle of the neck, it makes for fun inter-play when the inspiration calls. As I stated the rhythm side is tuned to standard guitar but on the melody side I tune the high b and e a half step down, it is alot easier when playing melody lines.

[PhoBucket]

So the melody side is E-A-D-G-Bb-Eb?