Triple Courses, part 2

Emerald Guitars KK Series 25-string Double Contraguitar; note triple course on the right.

After successfully modifying the Martin X-12 into the Martin X-15 baritone by expanding the top three courses from double courses into triple courses, I knew everything I'd imagined about triple courses was possible.  I discussed this experimental transition in this blog post.  

Using the X-15 as an experimental testing platform also revealed the complex beauty of triple courses.  I had in the back of my mind that if the X-15's triple courses turned out to be as I'd hoped and expected, that triple courses might find their way into another instrument or instruments.

This week, that suspicion proved to be true.  I modified the 24-string Double Contraguitar into being the 25-string Double Contraguitar.  This is a doubleneck instrument, and the first course on the right neck is now a triple course.  This instrument is currently in E contra tuning.

The concerns I had with triple courses on the Martin made me suspect that these concerns would likely be resolved on a carbon fiber instrument.  Indeed, carbon fiber with its high degree of responsiveness over wood all but eliminated the few drawbacks I was experiencing on the Martin.  These issues are tapping, two-handed techniques, and legato playing techniques.  These are much more accessible and easier to execute on the 25-string Double Contraguitar.  Yet it's all still a challenge, and my technique will evolve to grasp it all, but I can feel that already transpiring.

I'm not planning on adding triple courses to any other instruments, but the 25-string may soon evolve into a 26-string with the addition of one more triple course.

This is an exciting discovery.  Triple courses open up entirely new harmonic paths.

-kk