Two Guitar Tuning Uncrossed
On my Warr Artisan I use what I call a "two guitar tuning uncrossed." What that means is that there are two sets of guitar gauge strings on both sides tuned in ascending fourths.
The idea began when I realized after a few frustrating years of trying to learn the standard Stick tuning (ascending fourths and inverted fifths) that I really was interested in playing two guitars and not a guitar/bass combination. I saw the video of Katsu who tunes his Stick in a two guitar tuning and immediately retuned my guitar and sent him an email. Katsu is a very gracious guy and he returned my email with a few tips.
The next step was realizing that my wrists were strained in trying to imitate Katsu's technique of crossing his hands. He plays chords with his left hand on the bass side of a standard Stick tuning and plays melody with his right hand on the melody side of a Stick tuning. (bass side is left as you face the fingerboard and melody side is right as you face the fingerboard).
Then I met Jim Wright while surfing the web and he told me about his "uncrossed" technique of playing the bass side uncrossed on the right side as you face the fingerboard and melody on the left side as you face the fingerboard. I immediately tried his suggestion and found that I could play for long periods of time without the wrist strain.
Thus, in a relatively short time I've been able to play many tunes with a minimum of mental difficulty understanding the tuning. I've been playing for about a year now and truly enjoy playing solo because you can improvise, play melody and chords and enjoy the tunes alone.
Ascending 5ths/4ths Uncrossed
Since 2011 I began using a modification of the Classic Chapman Stick tuning: 5ths in the Rhythm hand and 4ths in the Lead. The difference between my tuning and that of the Classic Stick tuning is that my hands are uncrossed and both sets of strings are ascending (not inverted). I use this tuning for the Grand Stick and ADG 10 string. The appeal of this tuning for me is that you get a strong Bass sound so it actually seems like you are playing two guitars and a bass.
It's important that you find a tuning that works for you! It took several attempts before I found the couple that work for me.
