30-string Contra-Alto update, part 3

 

I recently discussed changes and updates to the 30-string Contra-Alto in this blog post and this blog post.  In those updates, virtually all the work was focused on the 18-string Sub-contra side.  This week, I tackled the register, tuning, and string gauge set for the 12-string alto side of the 30.

Or perhaps I should say the former alto side.  When the 30 was conceived and designed, the 12-string side was to be in A alto tuning, a fourth above concert E tuning.  Over the past year or so, I've been experimenting with various new registers for the 12 side.  It's noteworthy that the side of the instrument was designed for alto tunings works so well in other tunings, specifically baritone tunings.  This speaks to the versatility of carbon fiber instruments.

I knew that I wanted the 12 side to be in a baritone tuning, as I'd not been using the alto side hardly at all when I played the 30.  I don't know if I've outgrown alto registers, or if I've evolved into preferring baritone over alto; perhaps both.  I had even tried the 12 side in concert E tuning for a short while, but that wasn't in the right direction.  For almost a year, I'd had the 12 side in C baritone tuning; this is a major third below concert E.  This showed promise, but still wasn't quite what I wanted.  I'd not spent more time on the alto side, as in the past year, I have been focused on C4 and the 30-string Double Contra guitar.

 After getting the 30 back from Laurent Brondel last week, it feels like a different instrument.  In a very good way.  I discussed the work performed on it in this blog post.  Now that the action is so greatly improved on the 12 side, I wanted to return to determining a new register for it.  I knew I wanted to keep it in the baritone registers, but after living with it for almost a year, C baritone was higher than I wanted.  Yesterday, I set it up in A baritone tuning.  This is a perfect fifth below concert E tuning, and one full octave lower than A alto, its original register.  That's quite a change.  

For the gauges, I started with the John Pearse 1450H set, which is a phosphor bronze heavy-gauge 12-string set.  I knew it wouldn't be perfect, but I also knew it would be a good starting point.  Any time I start with a new register for an instrument, it takes a while to really dial-in the proper string gauges.  This can take anywhere from a month to a few years.  The John Pearse 1450H set was surprisingly close to being right.  There are a couple of courses that are too light, and I'll fix those this week.  

As for the sound and atmosphere of the A baritone tuning on the 30, I really like it.  This is where I was heading; perhaps without knowing it.  It compliments and contrasts quite well with the D sub-contra tuning on the 18 side.  Additionally, I don't at the moment have any instrument in A baritone, so this nicely fills that gap.

Between the work performed by Laurent and the new register on the 12 side, the 30 feels and sounds as if I've acquired a new instrument.  Exciting.

-kk