C4, part 5
Contraguitar no. 4, or "C4," has an unusual history. It was originally conceived as a 17-string hybrid nylon/steel double-course guitar. In other words, each double course consisted of one nylon string and one steel string. Designed to be in concert E tuning, it had an unusual and beautiful voice. As the nylon strings were the diapason courses, it had more of a classical guitar voice. I used it on several album recording projects, and also played it with Mark Wingfield on the WNYC radio live broadcast of August 2018. The WNYC broadcast was released as an album in 2025, and you can listen to it here . One of the first modifications I made to the 17-string hybrid was to convert it into an 18-string. The sub-bass B was originally a single course; it's now a double course; hence the 18th string. Around 2023, I realized that I was no longer using this instrument, as I had moved away from nylon-stringed instruments and w...
