So, there are about 7 guitarist that I have met 5 of which i work with. I have shown these people my builds. A couple of them remarked "oh, cool i seen these on you tube." or something to that affect which is cool i let them look at it and play it. (sense i can't play very well at all it is nice to see them played.) However a surprising amount of them seemed confused and joke "why does it only have three strings." like there is something wrong with it. I don't know why but it makes me so angry i just want to snatch it away and say "you don't deserve to play it then." lol i don't of course buut has anyone else run in to that. i try to tell them about it mostly that does little good.
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What Jim said... I put it in their hands... explain they're the ADG strings tuned to GDg...
When asked why only 3, I ask how many strings does it take to make a power chord... I normally get a knowing nod and they start to play... takes a few minutes to adjust and off they go!
Most of the really good guitar players will pick up one of mine and say "cool, how's it tuned?" and then proceed to figure stuff out on it. Lesser players are confused by 3 strings and can't figure what to do with it but it's still a learning process for them. Folks who can't play 6 string at all are usually the most receptive when they realize they can play songs with one finger and sound pretty good in a short amount of time.
Most guitar players that I run into are more interested in a 6. Not all, but most. I make mostly 4 and 6 strings so it doesn't matter. Some tunes work on a 4 or 3 and some don't as well. Not everyone wants to learn a new tuning or instrument so do not take it personally. Some people are happy in their cookie-cutter homes in neighborhoods where every house looks the same. The pre-conceived bias on their part may seem hard to overcome... until you plug the cbg in and it usually gets them excited.
Tell'm its a chromatic dulcimer , tuned like the lowest 3 strings of a 6 string guitar that has been tuned to "drop D" tuning. The tuning is Root note, it's dominant 5th , and the octave of the root note. Good for playing any kind of music,..,or they can compare them to those 3 string guitars POTUSOA play,..,truss rod hehe.,.,haha.,.,
And no, sir or madam, just because you can buy a 6 string at Guitar Center for $100, you cannot buy my 3 stringer for $50!
Donald, a lot of folks in here, myself included, have encountered "6 string snobs", the "I only play 6 strings" crowd. Generally few, as most players tend to be interested in most any stringed instrument. I like to talk to players, and especially non-playing customer prospects about the deep history of 3 and 4 stringed handmade, homemade gits. Little money and a desire to play brought folks to stretch wire across nails on porch posts and barn doors. Nailing a broom handle on to a box made the thing portable. Two wires made twice as much music as one wire. And off we go, into primitive-style style building and playing, adding more wires, using bolts instead of nails for tuners, and progressively making small improvements to a musical device that almost anyone could make and play. And here we are in 2017, using modern and/or old school hand tools to further the building and playing of a historically relevant stringed music maker. People seem to like the history of these old-time bangers, and I love to talk about it to 'em. I love building gits, playing ' gits, and sometimes sellin' gits. If the questioner wants to go all technical, I tell them two words..........truss rod! Keep enjoyin'.
"hey mister Lamborghini , can i interest you in a really cool farm truck ? she's a work horse..
no ? .. :-/