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 was focused on steel-string instruments.  I had long wanted a contraguitar with a multi-scale (fan fret) configuration, and this instrument had that.  I started to think about converting it into an all steel-string contraguitar.  The links below discuss the conversion process. 

Fast-forward to August 2025, and C4 is in constant use.  Its voice is somewhat unusual, even in the world of carbon fiber instruments.  The bass and sub-bass registers are huge and resonant.  The trebles are clear and sparkling without being harsh.  The overall balance is, like all my carbon fiber instruments, about as perfect as I've ever heard.  It proved to be a very successful conversion to the contra registers, was renamed to C4, and used on various album recording projects.

In March 2025, I took C4 to my friend Laurent Brondel for a fret level.  Having the frets leveled allowed for the action to be lowered; it's now at 1/32" on the treble side, which is just about ideal. 

I currently have it set up in a hybrid intervallic tuning.  Since receiving it back from Laurent in April 2025, I've utilized C4 in recording sessions for six albums.  And counting.

You can read about its genesis and creation here.  You can read about its conversion in this blog post and in this blog post.  There are additional details about it in this blog post.

You can hear it in its original hybrid nylon/steel here.  

There will likely be more to come.

-kk