I am somewhat stating the obvious here, but:
CGDAEG is not intended to be an alteration of standard guitar tuning that can be practically acheived by retuning a standard string set.
Not being possible with a standard set of gauges is not a problem with a tuning itself, it is a situation caused by a guitarist who does not want to use different gauges and commit, or does not have a spare guitar (both of which are fine).
Judging an alternative tuning based on whether a standard string set can be practically retuned to it (not saying that you are, it is a general point) would be silly. For example, standard Stick bass side tuning, all-fifths, requires radically different gauges too.

Someone using CGDAEG and a different set of gauges can also do this, so can be just as far outside the box The base tuning/gauges you use is irrelevant.

Just for the record I have put every imaginable string on every imaginable guitar & bass. My Pedula 5-string had Stick strings on it, 4ths, 5ths, upside-down...and that was fretless. I also have an Ibanez 8-string bass that was made fretless w/ a clawhammer and not any where near tuned regular (yeah had to change the bridge). And I (and unfortunately my band-members) committed to these tunings because I wrote songs on them. Just sayin'. and evevry Stick tuning except matched 4ths. I've done things to my Ironwood that Emmett definitely doesn't approve of. (but it's back to Classic)

I never thought it was. Although at first, Fripp would instruct his students to simply retune and laid some gibberish on them about how if their strings broke, they weren't ready to accept the new tuning. When the entirety of the class broke their strings, he started bringing string sets to support the tuning.


Yes of course.


Yes it would. And I wasn't.


Of course that's true. My point was that the box argument implies that those that aren't using Crafty tuning are locked into standard tuning and a bucket of cliches. That may or may not be true with a lot of electric guitarists playing rock music but with solo acoustic players, it couldn't be further from the truth.

I actually got into fingerstyle after my last dabbling with Crafty tuning. I've frequently considered pulling out an old guitar and taking another crack at it but approaching it from a fingerstyle perspective. As a matter of fact ... I think I will.

String order done.

COMMITMENT!
Feel free to change the tunings...

I’ve recently purchased a used NS/Stick and it is currently at SE getting the “used to new” upgrade they excel at and they’ll be setting it up with fifths tuning. As recommended by Greg, here are the gauges and tunings:
1. D .008
2. C .009
3. A .010
6. D .014
5. G .026R
6. C .048R
7. F .087R
8. Bb .118R

I’m really looking forward to experimenting with this new tuning and to see what challenges it presents and habits will be challenged after playing the Grand Stick. I think the whole “box” idea is limited to your own expectations and desires of music you want to play. Some speak of the “ceiling” of certain instruments but these are likely self-imposed. Every instrument has a ceiling and intrinsic limitations. Expanding the horizons are ours to discover and the bridges or borders to new sounds are ours for the taking. It all depends on your approach and goals.

Oy vey - after reading all this, I actually forgot the Crafty tuning which my RB-8 is going to have but I seem to think that a couple of the higher notes repeat a couple of the lower notes..... or something like that......
I do believe it is mostly 5ths with a couple of 3rds or maybe one 3rd thrown in at the top end.

This passage here: Some speak of the “ceiling” of certain instruments but these are likely self-imposed. Every instrument has a ceiling and intrinsic limitations. Expanding the horizons are ours to discover and the bridges or borders to new sounds are ours for the taking. It all depends on your approach and goals.

This brings to mind when in the late1980s, probably 1989.... when I was doing solo gigs in Cannon Ball Park in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, using a Steinberger L-2 prototype through a Mouse Amp [remember those ??] and a friend named Phil came up to me and looked at the instrument and stated how it was amazing to think that all the worlds music is contained within that one instrument.... which is something I never forgot, because not only is it a very heavy statement, it is also true to a good extent.

Good for you Scott, may this new tuning bring you much joy and creativity and inspiration.

Hello NS fans,

I have a crafty tuning on my NS Stick which I purchased used from Stick Enterprises in 2017.
I play bass guitar in fifths and wanted the NS Stick totally in 5ths, but that would only really work with 7 strings. So I compromised:
I have a custom tuning which I consider the best of all possible worlds, It has the lowest Bass and the highest Melody configuration possible with a 34 inch scale:
A(0),E(1),B(1),F#(2),B(2),E(3),A(3),D(4). If you look at the tuning you see the bass strings are in fifths and the melody strings in fourths. The highest 5 strings are the "classic" melody tuning of the original Chapman Stick. The tuning is also less complicated because the bass side is not inverted 5ths. The strings were provided by Stick Enterprise and are as follows:
(8)A-.128, (7)E-.096, (6)B-.065,(5)F#-.040,(4)B-.026,(3)E-.014,(2)A-.011,(1)D-.009 . I wanted a much thicker A(0) string but when I ordered they didnt have higher than .128. which is used for B(0) usually.
The high D4 is pretty tight but maybe an .008 is too quiet. Since I play with my fingers more than tap I have the tendency to accidentally knock the D4 off the fretboard, so the tighter string helps the string stay put.

edwardsutherland,
Interesting tuning. It is like a single region version of standard Stick tunings. It would be good to see this and Crafty tuning included on the SE website.
Thanks for sharing the gauges.

I like how it covers a maximum pitch range, unlike 8 in fourths. 9 strings makes more sense to me for a single region Stick tuned in fourths as that would exactly cover the official pitch range of SE strings, which is Bb0 to D4:
A# D# G# C# F# B E A D.
(I would love to see a single region 9 string Stick made available, it would be based on the 10 string neck, with slightly wider string spacing.)

I like all-fifths tunings, so for 8 string instruments i thought up an 'all fifths' tuning but with the top string dropped an octave to avoid the 'too much range' problem, while keeping harmony and chords unchanged:
Ab0 Eb1 Bb1 F2 C3 G3 D4 A3

Hello Ixlramp,

Actually for an all 5ths tuning 7 strings would suffice using the same width neck as with 8 strings!
On the bass side the strings are almost 15 mm and on the melody side 11.43 mm, so for a bassist the strings are rather tightly spaced and could be slightly more apart.
In your suggested Bb tuning it would be Bb, F,C,G,D,A,E, so you would definitively have to use an .008 string for E4.
I believe that more strings have already been put on an NS Stick by request as a custom. So 9 or 10 should be possible.
Maybe you should make an official query to SE or Gary Jibilian. What I would like is a fanned fret NS Stick, which is good for the vast tonal range covered.