Warr Guitars

FAQ's about Tunings for New Players

    When someone decides to take up the touch-guitar, choosing the tuning can be a very confusing decision. There are so many tunings, and so many different string arrangements, that getting a grip on what tuning will work best for you can be a real task.
     Here are some FAQ's that may take some of the guesswork out of deciding what tuning is the best for you.
    Any reader taking this article seriously is advised to become familiar with the Touch-style Tunings page here at the WarrZone.
     Highlighted names of the artists will take you to see videos of the tunings in action.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU DECIDE

1. Do I want a mono instrument, or a stereo instrument?

    Most touch-guitars are stereo, with the bass strings and guitar strings using separate outputs. Only 8-stringers are typically mono, but they can also be stereo, split 4 x 4.
     10-stringers are usually split 5 x 5, but can be 4 bass/6 guitar.
     11-string Warrs are always split 5 bass/6 guitar.
     12-stringers are usually split 6 x 6 (Randy Strom or Kai Kurosawa) , but can be split 5 bass/7 guitar (Brian Kenney Fresno).   
    The Phalanx 12 is always split 6 x 6 (Jim Wright, Brendan Brossard), and the Phalanx 14 is always split 7 x 7 (Ron Fairchild, Jimbo).
    Should you want a mono option, it is possible to have a mono switch installed on any stereo Warr that does not have piezo/MIDI options. Or use a "Y" cable at the outputs.

2. Do I want to play guitar and bass, or guitar only, or bass only?

     If you have no desire to play bass, both sides of a stereo instrument can have guitar string sets. This allows one to easily tap chords with one hand, and play melody or chords with the other. Look at Jeff Moen to see this tuning in action.
     By the same token, if one wishes to have two bass string sets, this is also possible. See Rev Jones, or the semi-hollow Artisan model that Trey Gunn sometimes uses. Half of this instrument is fretted, and the other half is fretless.
     If you want to play guitar and bass, proceed to number 3.

3. Do I want to play guitar and bass simultaneously, using my left hand for bass, and my right hand for guitar, or do I want to use both hands to execute the same idea, and be able to choose to play guitar or bass at any given moment?

    Most tappers play guitar and bass at the same time, using the instrument as a kind of piano for guitarists. See the You Tube videos of Randy Strom, Brian Kenney Fresno, Jim Wright, Kai Kurosawa, who all play 12-stringed guitars.
    Now it gets confusing.
    All four players mentioned above use different tunings, or different methods of playing their tunings.
Randy, Brian, and Kai use standard tunings or variations of standard tunings. This means that the bass strings are inverted, and in 5ths. (please refer to the Touch-Style Tunings page on the Warr Zone for details). Randy and Kai's 12-stringers are split 6 x 6, and Brian's is split 5 bass (inverted)/7 guitar. I believe all of them have the bass from low C, and a high D for their guitar strings, but am glad to be corrected if this is not true. This covers almost all of the usable range on a 34-inch scale.
    Randy and Brian play with the left hand tapping bass, and the right hand tapping guitar. This is the traditional way.
     Kai found this did not work well for him, so he plays the bass with his right hand, and the guitar with his left. This is called playing "uncrossed", as he is not reaching over one set of strings to play the other, as Randy and Brian do. This allows him to do things that can't be done with crossed hands in standard tuning, and keeps him from doing things common in standard tuning techniques, though it is always possible for any of these players to switch hands and use any of these methods.
    As a result, Kai's playing is quite different from Randy and Brian, even though they all use essentially the same tuning.
     Jim Wright plays "uncrossed 4ths" tunings on 12-strings, a tuning which has no inverted strings, and the bass and guitar are on opposite sides of the fretboard as in standard tuning. The Phalanx models are made to take advantage of this tuning, but it can be had on any 12-string Warr Guitar. This means that certain techniques available in standard tunings are not possible, and vice versa.
    For example, it is easy to play an uncrossed 4ths instrument like a standard bass, using the fingers of the right hand to pluck, pop, strum, and slap the strings, as well as tapping to play notes. This is not nearly as easy in standard tuning, as the bass strings are on the other side of the neck, and inverted. On standard tuning, it is easier to pluck the guitar side, because of it's position on the fretboard.
     There is a technique in standard tuning, where the left hand plays the root with the index finger, and the other fingers of the left hand play notes of a chord on the guitar side, allowing the right hand to play melody above these notes. This technique is not very easy on uncrossed 4ths tuning.
     True unison lines between both hands are simple on uncrossed 4ths, and nearly impossible on crossed standard tunings.
    In other words, every tuning has it's strong and weak points, and understanding what they are is the key to choosing the correct tuning for you.
      At the moment, Trey Gunn is playing 10-string Crafty tuning. He rarely plays both sides of the instrument at the same time, and rarely (if ever) plays chords. He usually uses both hands to execute the same idea, playing either bass or guitar, depending on what is called for at the moment. Using this method, Trey can play lightning fast lines on his Crafty (mostly 5ths) tuning, in a manner similar to the way that Eddie Van Halen uses both hands when he taps on a 6-string guitar. Since the instrument is stereo, Trey can have two different sounds ready to go at any moment.
    Trey also has developed new methods to vibrate the string by striking it, and is constantly looking at new techniques and methods. He previously used the 8-string Crafty tuning, but doesn't seem to play it much these days, though there are many players who continue to use it exclusively, such as Markus Reuter and Kuno Wagner.
     Bill Burke uses an 8-string Warr tuned in 4ths like an extended range bass, but his musical style is more like a progressive guitarist, in the manner of Michael Hedges. Bill can be bassist, guitarist, and extended-range player at any moment.
     The point of all this is to show the incredible variations possible in playing methods with touch-style guitars, and give some examples to help new players decide which tunings will suit them best.

4. Do I want a tuning similar to an instrument I already play, or something different?

    Some people are comfortable with their technique on standard guitar or bass, and are looking for a challenge to spur their creativity. They want a tuning different from the instruments they already play, which will lend a different flavor to the music they make. Others want something similar to an instrument they already play to facilitate learning the new technique more quickly.
    For example, if you play standard bass, and want something similar, uncrossed 4ths tuning may be the ticket. The bass side is tuned exactly the same as a 6-string bass, and the guitar side is an octave above (or a major ninth), making pattern visualization on the neck extremely facile, and second-nature.
    If you play standard guitar, and want something close to this tuning, an 8-stringer with a similar tuning will be easy to play and visualize. (see 8-string tuning #3 on the Touch-style Tunings page). Also, the radius on the 8-string Warr fingerboard will feel very comfortable to standard bassists/guitarists. All Warrs over 8 strings have flat fretboards.
     If you have experience with cello or 5ths-tuned instruments, maybe a standard or Crafty tuning is what you are after.
     If you want something new and different, there are many odd and custom tunings possible within the range available on a 34-inch scale. Warr will even build custom guitars with other scale lengths if a shorter (or longer) scale is desired.

5. Why are the 8-string guitars the only instruments with tunings that go from low to high as normal guitars and basses do?

    With metal strings on a 34-inch scale length the entire range can be had on a 9-stringed instrument tuned in 4ths. Don't ask me why we don't make such a model, 'cause I don't know. The Crafty 8-string tuning covers the entire useable range on 8-strings, and still has to shorten the intervals on the higher strings to make it fit.
    Anyway, we sometimes get requests for instruments of 10-strings and more to have the strings go from low to high. This is something we try to discourage, though we have done it on occasion.
    The reason for this is that it is a long way to reach across a 10-string neck to play the low strings with your left hand.  A 12-string neck is about 3.5 inches wide at the nut. This makes it very hard to play the low bass strings, and almost impossible to play any kind of chords above the low notes with the left hand, since you are also reaching across all the other strings. It leaves the left wrist at an uncomfortable angle, and can lead to physical problems.
     This is one of the reasons for the inverted bass strings on the standard tap tuning, and for uncrossed playing styles and tunings. It is possible to play such an instrument in the uncrossed fashion, with the right hand playing bass, and the left playing guitar, but most right-handed players want their more facile right hands playing melodic lines.

6. Am I left-handed?

     Left-handed models are available.

7. Am I crazy?

    It's possible, but the tap-guitar world is full of some wonderful crazy people who are inventing their own genres of music, and making tracks in virgin musical territory.

    Think you got what it takes?

JW

Wood & Tonal Qualities

Woods & Tone Qualities

When a Warr Guitar is ordered there are many choices to be made about the woods used in construction. This means that one can essentially sculpt the tone that will be produced in the final guitar, and the possibilities are virtually endless, considering all the choices Warr Guitars provides, most of which are at no extra cost.

All woods are stored in our shop under controlled conditions for at least several months, so that they are properly dried, and will not flex or shrink after construction. For this reason, some woods are not always available. This also means that if the customer wants a special wood, that we need to acquire before construction, the build-time may be greatly lengthened, as we will want to make sure it is properly dried.

It never hurts to ask us for advice about woods when you are ordering a guitar and you will find us helpful, as we want you to be happy with the final product.

Another important note: Tapping to produce a vibration in the string creates a brighter tone than plucking, so we generally advise that woods with ‘darker’ tones be chosen.

Here are the categories:

Body Woods: Usually mahogany, ash, maple are available. Sometimes we have walnut and padauk (extra charge). Poplar has a wonderful tone, and is readily available, but the appearance is not so nice, so you may see guitars made with this wood painted to hide the pale gray-green wood.

Body Top woods: zebrawood, maple, walnut, bubinga, sedua and wenge are commonly available. Sometimes we use purpleheart, blood wood (extra charge), and naturally we have high-grade wood choices for an extra charge, similar to what you might find at custom guitar shops. Woods like burl maple and buckeye, cocobolo, and possibly koa, though it is quite rare and expensive these days.

Neck laminate woods: usually the ‘mains’ or largest outer pieces are made from either mahogany or maple. Thinner laminate woods can be wenge, pau Amarillo, purpleheart, bubinga, walnut,

Fingerboard woods: Wenge is most common, and takes the place of ebony, which is very hard to find in pieces large enough for our fingerboards. Once it’s oiled, it is virtually black, and most of the guitars made by Warr have this wood on the fingerboard. Also available are pau ferro (ironwood) and goncolo alves. Pau ferro is very dense, and we use it when someone wants a fretless fingerboard. It has a nice wood grain to it. Goncolo alves is almost orange, and has a very nice tone.

TONE QUALITIES OF WOODS

Generally, woods that are light in color will have a ‘brighter’ sound than darker woods, meaning that the tones produced have more high frequency response. Maple (bright) is one extreme and padauk (dark) is another.

For example, on a bolt-on neck guitar, a maple body will produce a more ‘Fender-ish’ tone than a mahogany body, similar to the difference in tone of a Telecaster (usually an ash, alder, or maple body) and a Les Paul (usually a mahogany body).

We generally consider mahogany to be an excellent all-around choice for a bolt-on body, as it is light in weight, has a very nice, warm tone, and is readily available. A wide variety of tones can be produced, especially when one considers the varying choices available for tops. If you want a darker sound from a guitar, use a dark top like walnut or wenge, if you want to brighten the sound, maple or zebrawood will do the trick. Zebrawood has a bit of a ‘twang’ to it, as does ash. This gives a very ‘country’ attack to notes played on an instrument using these woods.

If you want a ‘Tele’ sound, get an ash body. Ash has great bottom, and a scooped midrange, its sound is unique as a body wood.

Neck-through guitars require a close look at the ‘mains’ or outer laminates used in the neck. These are the largest pieces of wood in the neck, and they will have the greatest effect on the overall tone of the guitar.
Choices are usually mahogany or maple, though we have used wenge mains, and bubinga. Be careful; as dense woods like bubinga can greatly increase the weight of the guitar (see About Padauk, below).

Once again, mahogany provides a very warm and even tone, and maple is a bit brighter, and creates a stronger attack to each note. Start from there, and use the other, smaller pieces in the neck to skew the tone in the direction you want.

All Warr guitars have seven laminates in the neck, except for 8-string guitars, which have five. Neck laminates greatly increase the strength of the neck, and keep it from vibrating and wobbling during playing, which means more sustain, and better tone.

Even on a bolt-on guitar, the choice of neck woods will have some affect on the overall tone, but on a neck-through guitar, choice of neck woods is crucial as they produce the bulk of the guitars’ tone.

Fingerboard woods will also play a role on the finished product, especially with the wider fingerboards found on touch-guitars. The overall affect on tone is small, but noticeable. Wenge is a bit of an exception to the dark/light rule, and has some nice high-end to it. We consider it well balanced, and that is why it is used so much for our fingerboards. Purpleheart is pretty neutral, and while it looks nice, we don’t have a great fondness for its tone. Pau ferro has an excellent tone, but is not always available. Goncolo-alves also sounds very good, and has a unique look due to its grain and bright colors.

ABOUT PADAUK
We get a lot of requests for padauk due to the almost exclusive use of this wood (with wenge) in Trey Gunns’ instruments. It has a striking orange /red color when first cut, which slowly fades over time and UV exposure to a nice rich, brown. However, padauk is extremely dense, and can make even a small guitar quite heavy. Padauk should not be used if weight is an issue. We have an extra charge for padauk, as it is quite difficult to work with and can be difficult to find. For this reason, the build-time on padauk guitars is a bit longer.

The tone is very dark, and we usually suggest a small amount of lighter-toned wood in some part of the guitar to bring out the high end.

Fuzzy Logic Boptet CD Now Available at Abstract Logix

   Playing Favorites, the new CD from the LA-based group Fuzzy Logic Boptet, is now available on the progressive music distribution website Abstract Logix.
   Warr guitarist Jim Wright plays his Phalanx-12 on most of the CD, some of which was recorded live, and all of it with little or no effects, showcasing the incredibly full sound of this instrument, and the all 4ths tap-guitar tuning used.
   Polly Klemmer's progressive piece "Gate Array" (which can be heard at the link below) is the only song on which overdrive was used on the PH-12 guitar side, and demonstrates the anti-crosstalk features of this model very well.
    On the song Midnight (written by saxophonist Robin Rader, and which can be previewed at the link below), Jim uses a Warr Artisan semi-hollow-body 12-string with all nylon strings, perhaps one of the first recordings of it's kind.
   The CD is also available at CD Baby, and Amazon.

www.abstractlogix.com/mymusic/fuzzylogicboptet

Warr Guitars MIDI / Synth Demo

Jim Wright gives a brief demonstration of the control knobs and switches on the 12-string Warr Phalanx touch-style bass guitar. Jim Wright is using the Roland GR-33 for his MIDI/Synth converter. For the analog side of things Jim is playing bass through an Eden World Tour 400 through a 4X10 Eden cabinet. For the guitar side Jim is playing through the Lone Wolf Amplification. http://www.lonewolfamps.com/

Tunings for Warr Guitars

TUNINGS FOR WARR GUITARS.

Here are more than 26 tunings readily available on Warr Guitars. Other custom tunings are possible.
The lowest practical open pitch is an A, below the low E of a standard 4-string bass. The highest possible open pitch is a D, one whole step below the open high E on a standard 6-string guitar. With our 24 fret necks, this means that the highest possible fretted note is a D, the same pitch as the 22nd fret on the 1st string of a 6-string guitar.
All tunings are written as though the guitar were in a stand, with the headstock pointing up, and facing you. String #1 is always the farthest string to the right. The letters represent the open string pitch.
Keep in mind that most players will have a mute at the first fret, so the open notes will not sound.
<>indicates where the split is found on stereo models.

8-STRING TUNINGS
Warr 8-string guitars can be mono, or split stereo 4x4.

1.
Bb F C G D A C D
This is a Crafty guitar tuning that covers the entire practical range on a 34-inch scale. String #8 is the lowest, as on all 8-string tunings. The strings ascend in 5ths from a low Bb, with a minor 3rd between strings 2 and 3, and a major 2nd between strings 1 and 2.

2.
B E A D G C F Bb
This is an all 4ths tuning, which is the logical extension of standard 6-string bass. It can be lowered up to one whole step to low A.

3.
E A D G C F A D
This tuning is like standard 6-string guitar on the upper 6 strings (though a whole step below in pitch), and continues down in 4ths to the same low E as standard 4-string bass.

4.
Bb F C G<>B E A D
This is a stereo split with upright 5ths bass, and 4ths guitar.

10-STRING TUNINGS
All 10-strings are stereo, and split 5x5 or 4x6. The low strings must be strings 5 and 6 on 5x5, and 6 and 7 on 4x6.
The 5x5 split is most common.
Usually the player plays the bass strings with the left hand, and the guitar strings with the right, though some players use both hands to play only bass or guitar lines.

1.
E A D G C<>F# B E A D
This is a standard 10-string tuning for touch guitar. It is called a crossed tuning, as the left hand usually reaches over the guitar strings to play bass, and the right hand reaches across the bass strings to play guitar. The bass side is in inverted 5ths, and the guitar side in upright 4ths. String #6 (the C), is the lowest pitched bass string. String #5 (F#) is the lowest pitched guitar string.

2.
E A D G C<> E A D G C
This is the same as the above tuning, but with the guitar side a whole step lower. This makes the note patterns very consistent from one side to the other.

3.
G D A E B<>F# B E A D
This is like the standard tuning above, but with the bass in inverted 4ths. Of course, it's possible to take the guitar side down a whole step as in #2.

4.
E A D G C<> C G D A C
This is a Crafty tuning for both the guitar and bass sides. All strings are in 5ths intervals, except the two highest guitar strings (strings1 and 2), which are a minor 3rd apart.

5.
G D A E<> C# F# B E A D
This is a 4x6 stereo split tuning with inverted 4ths bass. Inverted 5ths bass is also possible, and the guitar can be lowered a whole step.

11-STRING TUNINGS
These tunings usually emulate 10-string tunings, with an added lower guitar string on the guitar side. They are split 5 (inverted bass) x 6 (guitar).

1.
E A D G C<>C# F# B E A D
The 11-string tuning was developed as a way to get more range on the guitar side of the instrument, when compared to 10-string tunings.

2.
E A D G C<>B E A D G C
This is like the standard tuning, but with the guitar down one whole step. Another nicely symmetrical tuning.

3.
G D A E B<>C# F# B E A D
This is an 11-string tuning with inverted 4ths bass.

4.
G D A E B<>B E A D G C
The same tuning as #3, but with the guitar down one whole step. This makes nice symmetrical fingerboard patterns.

12-STRING TUNINGS
12-strings are usually split stereo 6x6, but can also be split 5 (inverted bass) x 7 (guitar). 5x7 splits are not available on Phalanx models. Remember, bass tunings can go as low as A for any of these examples.

1.
B E A D G C<>C# F# B E A D
Standard 12-string tuning. Inverted 5ths bass and upright 4ths guitar. Strings 6 (C#) and 7 (C) are the lowest on the instrument.

2.
B E A D G C<> B E A D G C
The same as above, but with the guitar one whole step lower. This has a nice symmetry to the fingerboard patterns.

3.
C G D A E B<>C# F# B E A D
This is like standard tuning, but with inverted 4ths on the bass side.

4.
C G D A E B<>B E A D G C
Same as #3, but with the guitar side down a whole step. All patterns have a mirror image symmetry between guitar and bass side.

5.
B E A D G C<>C G D A C D
This is a Crafty tuning for 12-string tap-guitar. String 7 is the lowest bass string, and string 6 is the lowest guitar string.

6.
B E A D G C<>B E A D G C
This is an Uncrossed 4ths tuning. String #6 (B) is the lowest bass string, and string #12 (B) is the lowest guitar string. Nothing is inverted. It is called "uncrossed" as hands are not reaching across one set of strings to play the other, as in most standard stereo tap-guitar tunings, such as tuning #1 above. The left hand still plays bass, but now the bass strings are strings 1-6, and not 7-12 as in tuning #1. Strings #1-6 have the same open string pitches as standard 6-string bass. Our Phalanx 12 models were designed with this tuning in mind, but it is available on any 12-string Warr Guitar. This is a very symmetric tuning, as nothing is inverted, and both sides of the guitar are an octave apart.

7.
C# F# B E A D<>B E A D G C
This is the same as #6, but with the guitar up one whole sep, to take advantage of the greatest possible range.

8.
C# F# B E A D<>B E A D G C (DOUBLE GUITAR)
This is a double-guitar tuning for uncrossed players. The right hand plays melody and chords on strings 12-7 (C#-D), and the left plays chords and counter lines on strings 6-1 (B-C).
There are many variations on the open string pitches, and Crafty tunings are also possible in this arrangement.

9.
E A D G C<>G# C# F# B E A D
This is a standard 5x7 split tuning with inverted 5ths bass and upright 4ths guitar. As in other standard tunings, the bass can be in inverted 4ths, and the guitar can be tuned one whole step lower.

14-STRING TUNINGS
All 14-strings are Phalanx models, unless a custom order is made. Phalanx 14-strings use the Uncrossed Upright 4ths tuning, though upright 5ths tunings are possible. They are all split 7x7.

1.
F# B E A D G C<>B E A D G C F
This is similar to the Uncrossed 4ths 12-string tuning (#6), but with a lower guitar string, and higher bass string.

2.
G# C# F# B E A D<> B E A D G C F
This is the same as #1 but with the guitar side up one whole step, to take advantage of the full range.

Independence Day by Randy Strom

INDEPENDENCE DAY by Randy Strom

I have had the good fortune to work with a great keyboard player in our town by the name of John Raczka. He can play (on the B3) a bass line with his left foot, comp with his left hand, and blow any kind of bebop to blues solo with his right hand. He can even play with the right hand playing behind the time (creating a laid back swing feel) or with the right hand playing free time over the groove. I strive to emulate this kind of freedom and independence in my Warr guitar playing (although its kind of hard to get the foot involved).
The question is, how do we get to a place with our playing to make this kind of groove+head+soloing become second nature? Here are a few things I do.
First, I set my sequencer (drum mach, metronome) to a strict straight 8ths feel and play quarter-note octaves in the left hand, while playing scales in the right hand (mostly diatonic but also harmonic minor, whole-tone, dimished, blues and bebop) and start with strict 8th-notes over the left hand quarter-notes. A slow tempo with very even time and articulation is a must. Then I change the right hand to 8th-note triplets and finally to 16ths and 16th triplets. In this way, I'm working on my time and memorizing scale fingerings simultaneously.
Now this exercise is a bit boring, as it has no musical content. So, for the second step, I like to choose a left hand groove pattern (swing, latin, funk, etc.) and a few simple chord changes and sub-divide scales, arpeggios etc. with the right hand over the top of that. Staying strictly with the "click" or maybe just a frogs' hair behind. Never get in front.
The third step is of course, choose a tune, a standard, an original, etc., and keep a steady, strong left hand (stay with the click) and an expressive free grooving right hand playing the head, comping, and soloing.
This is my goal, to make every day a touch-style Independence day. I wish the same for you, especially on July 4th (barbeque, beer, fireworks, etc.).
RS

Randy Strom has been an innovator and key player in the touch-guitar world since 1976, and has many impressive credits as a musician, composer, performer, and in the field of music production.

For a complete list of his credits, please visit http://www.myspace.com/randystrom

Warr Store Just Days Away!

The online "Warr Store" will be up in days! Stay tuned!