Let's talk drop-tunings

[Harry Hughes]

I've been playing in a drop tuning ( drop C) for many years, right now I'm on standard B and well, riffs are really different in style between both tunings.

I don't think drop tunings are for numetal n00bs, and if it was, I couldn't care less. Nobody complains about devin townsend using a folk tuning or loomis usign the same tuning korn used ( also on a seven string)

Bah, give it a try marcus, it opens a lot of possibilities IMO

Don't think Loomis used the same tuning as Korn though

 

[cobhc]

Don't think Loomis used the same tuning as Korn though

He doesn't....

Korn tunes to A, where as Jeff tunes to Bb.

 

[LeSedna]

I'm maybe the only one who is leaving Dropped tuning to Standard tuning

I think drop tuning is really uber easy to write swedish typed riffs, but I prefer standard when it comes to think a bit deeper in the progressions and harmonies. And I don't like the low string to fuck my usual chords up.

I like open tunings a lot, they give you some interesting possibilites with open notes, which is not the case in hybrid dropped tuning (excepted for the octave)

 

[Sweetnothing]

He doesn't....

Korn tunes to A, where as Jeff tunes to Bb.

My mistake but you get the point I was trying to make

 

[Mikaël-ange]

I disagree. Drop tunings are the easy way to sound heavy. Real mean play in standard.

Agree
And all great guitarist play with standard tuning (Pat o'brien, Andy, James, Vogg...).
Standard tuning for real men

 

[guitarguru777]

I think its all a matter of what the song / riff calls for. I have songs in a billion different tuning. I have 2 or 3 metal tunes written in Open g tuning that sound pretty fucking cool.

Standard
Half Step down
Drop C#
Drop D
D Standard
Drop C
B
A#

its fun to play around and see where it goes. Exploring the instruments endless possibilities

 

[nwright]

I think its all a matter of what the song / riff calls for. I have songs in a billion different tuning. I have 2 or 3 metal tunes written in Open g tuning that sound pretty fucking cool.

Standard
Half Step down
Drop C#
Drop D
D Standard
Drop C
B
A#

its fun to play around and see where it goes. Exploring the instruments endless possibilities

From a performing musician standpoint, having a bunch of songs in different tunings can be a gear nightmare. I wouldn't want to have to bring along 8 different guitars (not including backups) to play my songs...Well, unless I was super famous, rich, and had roadies.

 

[colynomial]

Hey Marcus one thing I've been into lately is dopping the low E (or D because I'm in D standard) down two whole steps. For me this would be Ab.

Why I like this is because you can grab the octave between the 6th and 5th strings across only 3 frets with your index and pinky and then use your middle/ring to voice the 10ths (major or minor 3rds up an octave). It nice to get "heavy" sounding chords that still have the major/minor tonality to them.

 

[drew_drummer]

BEDGBE is a good tuning.

 

[Force666]

I prefer the way the guitar sounds near concert pitch. My band is in Eflat Standard. And, I prefer the way an amp sounds in B. How fucked is that?

Drop tuning is fun for me on a whim here and there. But I pretty much prefer to keep a single band in a single tuning. So I keep mine standard. I'm just used to it more.

 

[muckypup1]

I disagree. Drop tunings are the easy way to sound heavy. Real mean play in standard.

Now I've got a 7 string, I keep my 6 string in standard tuning, so I must be a real man It sounds much tighter when its in standard tuning, I just like it being low and sludgy though

 

[professorlamp]

I think I've gone to DADGAD like 3 times to play droney acoustic stuff but apart from that I'm a standard man all the way

 

[shred101]

Yeah I quite like DADGAD.

 

[siegfried]

How is the lowest tuning one can archieve on 6-string guitar without tuning problems? Is it possible and safe to go under drop-A on standard electric guitar (say, some B.C. Rich)? How is your opinion/experience?

 

[muckypup1]

How is the lowest tuning one can archieve on 6-string guitar without tuning problems? Is it possible and safe to go under drop-A on standard electric guitar (say, some B.C. Rich)? How is your opinion/experience?

Well I used to have my 6 string super strat in drop A, but I had to have a 72 string because it was only a 25.5 inch scale guitar

 

[StefTD]

My main "metal"-guitar is tuned to D (so 1 whole step down on all strings), my other guitar
which stays here is for experimental stuff, at the moment it's tuned to CGCGCE,
like Devin used on Love, really diggin this tuning for doom and old school rock

I used to play in drop c for the deathcore band I played bass for, didn't like it
that much, especially because you could have played there stuff in standard c without
a problem, but I just played bass, so who cares
otherwise, I jammed with some kind of alternative/core/metal band as a bassist
and their guitar player played in drop c but used it for some special chords, so it all made sense.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Well, I've been trying drop-D these past few days, but as Stef pointed out, most of what I'm writing can just as easily be played in D-standard, and there is something of an identifiable sound about the intervals opened up by drop-tuning should I choose to incorporate them (not doing so seems like a waste), so yup, D-standard on the Jackson it is, so much for that

 

[STINNETT]

You guys know I was kidding about the "real men play in standard" thing, right?

I do have a taste for the low tuned stuff now and then, but I seriously think a guitar sounds worlds better tuned at least close to standard. E flat is great too, D is kind of pushing it.

 

[John_C]

You guys know I was kidding about the "real men play in standard" thing, right?

I do have a taste for the low tuned stuff now and then, but I seriously think a guitar sounds worlds better tuned at least close to standard. E flat is great too, D is kind of pushing it.

What about a 7 string? You're still tuned to standard, just with an extra string......but oh wait isn't that just the same as being in a modified B standard with an extra top string??

 

[Executioner213]

I don't think it has anything to do with whether a tuning is better than another. I think it matters if one can do better things with it. Fuck, Ihsahn played everything in standard up until Prometheus when he started using 7 strings (technically still standard). Some bands do well in some tunings. Some bands either do poorly, or their music sucks anyways.

My band plays 1 step down. I am fairly ok with playin in any tuning though, I suppose.