5 String Electric guitar

brianlux

In his book Life, Keith Richards talks about playing 5 string guitars tuned open to GDGBD. I'm fascinated by the idea. Richards has had 5 string guitars made for him. I know the same thing can be approximated by removing the 6th (low E) string and tuning open but that would throw off the tension on the neck of a guitar. I have not been able to find anyone who makes or sells 5 strings. Do any of you know of a source for such a guitar?

Thanks,

Brian

mccreadyisgod

You could, as you said, remove one string from a 6-string guitar; as you say, it will throw off the tension on the neck, but you can just adjust the truss rod (or have a competent tech do so, if you're not comfortable with the operation) to compensate for the tension loss. Most guitars are perfectly capable of making this sort of transition.

Just look at the Presidents of the United States of America, who use regular six-string guitars modified to have either two bass-guitar strings or three guitar strings. It's just a matter of adjusting the neck and setting it up.

brianlux

mccreadyisgod wrote:

You could, as you said, remove one string from a 6-string guitar; as you say, it will throw off the tension on the neck, but you can just adjust the truss rod (or have a competent tech do so, if you're not comfortable with the operation) to compensate for the tension loss. Most guitars are perfectly capable of making this sort of transition.

Just look at the Presidents of the United States of America, who use regular six-string guitars modified to have either two bass-guitar strings or three guitar strings. It's just a matter of adjusting the neck and setting it up.

Thanks, mccreadyisgod. I'm actually thinking about finding an old beater to experiement with- see if I can make a 5 slotted nut and 5 holed saddle, maybe just remove one of the tuning machines and fill the hole. It just surprises me that there are none out there. Ry Cooder has played 5 string, Keith Richards, a few others. And they all learned it from Chicago blues players from the 50's and 60's. Five strings are nothing new but looks like it just never caught on in a big way.

mccreadyisgod

Just remember, if you go through the trouble of adjusting the bridge and nut to accommodate the 5-string layout, you want to keep the strings aligned with the pole pieces of the pickups, unless you go to a rail-based pickup system.

brianlux

mccreadyisgod wrote:

Just remember, if you go through the trouble of adjusting the bridge and nut to accommodate the 5-string layout, you want to keep the strings aligned with the pole pieces of the pickups, unless you go to a rail-based pickup system.

Darn! I knew there was something I forgot! Thanks for the heads up!