Prepping Guitar for C tuning from E standard?

[woodman650]

What's kickin?

I've got a guitar set up for Standard E but want to drop it down to C. I can find a Guitar Tech and have them set it all up for me but I don't have the ~$50 or so laying around for that at the moment.

Beyond going for some heavier strings and carving out the nut a bit to accomodate, what else do I need to do? I'm also getting a lot of vibration from the strings on the frets... raise the bridge a bit? Yeah, my tech skills aren't that sharp, so any suggestions or hell, a list of necessary steps to get this all set up would be slick. Thanks.

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

Be very careful with filing the nut sluts. If you go too deep, you'll have some nasty buzz issues on the low frets that you won't be able to get rid of by raising the bridge, and would then have to replace the nut entirely.

If you're using .10s for E, I'd try .12s for C. What kind of bridge do you have? From your description, it sounds like a tune-o-matic style bridge. Raising the bridge will probably help, but make sure that your truss rod is also properly adjusted and that your neck isn't bowed.

You'll also need to adjust the saddles to get correct intonation (basically fine-tuning how in-tune the string is with itself).

I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of this book...it'll cost you about the same as a pro setup, but it's a great way to learn how to do it yourself...and if you don't have a Floyd Rose style bridge (or other floating trem), there's no reason that a full setup should be costing you $50.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Player-Repair-Guide-3rd/dp/0879309210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247856856&sr=8-1[/ame]

 

[woodman650]

Thanks man, all good advice. I'll try the book route to get started... something I should probably know something about as I've been playing for nearly 12 years now.

 

[sentinel72]

How did it go Woodman? Did you get your axe setup at C?

 

[woodman650]

Sorry, slow on the updates...

I just got the book on Tuesday and have been swamped with work recently. Not to mention it was 108 degrees here in Portland yesterday... just wanted to sit and have a cold beer all day.

I'll attempt the set up this weekend and report back. Thanks guys

 

[sentinel72]

are you doing 12's for strings?

Do you have a floating bridge?

 

[woodman650]

was thinking 12s, or 11s even... have a standard tune-o-matic bridge.

 

[sentinel72]

if you do a decent amount of lead (especially bends) you might like lighter strings.

But if you go lighter than 12's you will have more adjustments to do most likely.

12's at C and 9's at E are very similar in my opinion. I havent had many adjustments needed when making those switches.

There are sets that are lighter on the top 3 strings and thicker on the bottom 3. If you do lots of lead you may want to try those.

 

[woodman650]

Ideally I'd like to optimize my ability to get some pretty nice/clean harmonics and squeals out of my 6th string (top string/low C).

 

[BeneGuitar01]

11's or 12's set the action and intonation accordingly, adjust trust rod to compensate. Have 11's on my Jackson at C standard and I don't have any problems.

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

I'd say .12s in C are closer in feel to .10s in E on the same guitar. I'm not really a lead player and don't do a lot of bends, and I like to have a good bit of resistance to my picking hand, so I go relatively heavy on strings, especially for lower tunings. On my 26.5" scale 7-string, I have a .62 for the low B, and on my 25.5" scale 7-string, I use a .68 for the same note. Maybe see if you can find something like a .12-.60 set for C? Depends on exactly what kind of right-hand feel you're looking for, though. Sometimes harmonic squeals can be easier to pull out of looser strings.