Am I the only one who has a pet peeve about dropped tuning(s) ?

[guitarchaz]

I guess I'm old and set in my ways, but when I show up to a jam with a new "group" prospect, and they inform me they all drop tune 1/2 step, etc to accommodate the singer's range (not to mention many new songs as well), I politely play through the jam but don't come back. I'm I the only old fart on the board that's anal this way ? I know many great players including Hendrix, SRV, early EVH, etc did this, but I'm really picky about my guitar's setups, and set them all up for standard tuning (floating vintage trems and fixed as well). I play with lots of different folks, who play lots of different styles, who all tune standard, and I like to play all of my guitars from time to time depending on what mood hits me. The idea of dedicating one or more guitars to be drop tuned just doesn't sit well with me. It's hell being a crotchety old man. Anyone else feel this way ?

[Dmerge]

All of my guitars are set up for 1/2 step down.

I get thrown off when I need to play in Standard.

[RaVenCAD]

I got no problem dropping a 1/2 step, that's just rock and roll baby. But I HATE drop Z tuners that sit there pedalling the damn string formerly known as E until their balls vibrate.. You want a bass? Buy a bass!

 

re: the setup, I can drop my SZ, strat or LP in about 10 seconds, so I'm not feeling ya there. But if I'm on my Charvel, with a floyd, I'm a bit less excited to do it. Lately though, I've kept my Charvel tuned to Eb anyway, so I'm good to go. That's why they invented capos lol

[Blackbelt1]

This is one of the reasons I enjoy playing my Variax's.

 

 

~Blackbelt

[trill]

I don't understand why you have to drop down half a step, unless the band wants you to be able to double the other guitarist's voicings all the time. I think having two guitars play the exact same thing all the time (or most of the time) is more irritating than tuning down.

[JC777]

Nope. It's never been an issue for me. It can be a pain in the ass but I just get bored with Standard tuning.

[Devinstation]

I love drop and alternate tunings.

 

 

Sometimes I feel like a song needs to hit that one step lower note, so I drop D or tune Eb.

 

That said, I dont like Drop C or any of those ridiculous ones, I am with RaVenCAD on this one, buy a bass.

 

Though sometimes it is fun to drop D and play some "Chugga-Chugga" type stuff.

[Puckman]

I don't mind 1/2 step, on the odd song.

 

What bugs me is songs that are recorded 1/4 step down. WTF is that?

[metal_terrorist]

My website was partly founded on this anomaly. Now, by drop tuning, i interpret that as tuning down just the Low E string. ex: So you can play a power chord with one finger. My guitar is tuned to C standard for a few reasons but none of them involves the term 'easier'. You might think that me tuning down like that constitutes me being lumped in with that bunch of 'tards. Well, that's OK if you do. It just grants me the first-hand perspective needed to run a site like mine. Check out the Metal Guitardation link on my site. ; )

 

I will say this... bands Like Metallica ( AJFA ) and Megadeth ( RIP ) did some amazing stuff in E but as I started listening to more and more death metal throughout the 90's tunings just got lower and lower and lower and I loved it. I think it can be done tastefully and intelligibly but there's certainly lots of people out there making the opposite argument stick.

 

http://www.metallyguitarded.com

[freemusicno34]

You can still play your guitar...? Sorry I guess I don't see the problem, you come to a jam, they say they're tuned down a half-step, or even in some super ridiculous drop-B tuning where the strings are no more than spider webs, and who cares cause you pick up your guitar and play. The notes are still the same and you can still jam easily with them.

 

Remember, if they're tuned down a half-step, there is literally only ONE note that they can play and you can't.

[freemusicno34]

Oh and for the record my main guitar is tuned in all fourths (low-to-high EADGCF) but I can show up at any jam and as long as you play your guitar and i play mine, we'll be fine

[guitarchaz]

All good points. I guess I should just get over it. I mean all 6 strings down 1/2 step if that matters. On my strats, I set the trems floating with just enough pull up that I can pull my G string up one whole step. This is typically enough such that if the G comes back slightly shart after a dive, I can pull it back to pitch by pulling up. When I drop it 1/2 without adjusting springs, I loos that ability. Not so much an issue on fixed bridge, ither than it does slightly affect the intonation and potentially neck relief. If you keep the strinsg right down on the frets, sometimes dropping 1/2 step without adjusting teh neck relief can cause some annoying buzzing or fretting out low on the neck. Anyway, I was just curious. Sounds like I just need to get over it!!! Or better yet, but a "Few" more guitars to set up that way !! wooohooo!!!!!!!!!

[trill]

 

Oh and for the record my main guitar is tuned in all fourths (low-to-high EADGCF) but I can show up at any jam and as long as you play your guitar and i play mine, we'll be fine

 

 

Exactly. I can see how things might be a bit confusing at first, as you can't look at the other person's fingers and immediately know what key they're in, but if you know your instrument (not implying the OP doesn't, just saying), it shouldn't be tooo much of a problem.

[metal_terrorist]

My guitar is tuned to C standard with 12-52's ( 13-56's when I'm actively gigging ). The tension feels about the same to me as it did when it was in E with 9's on it. The strings certainly aren't loose. If you want hear a short clip of how it sounds I have a 45 second clip on my site too. On the Projects link, it's the Nuke symbol. A lot of the Sausage Finger guys I know that tune low use Zakk Wylde strings that are 9' or 10's on top and 60+ on the bottom. Talk about bass strings...

[lonechicken]

In my mind, I've always thought of "drop x" as tuning down the low E string to whatever nonsense.

 

Tuning all the strings down a half step, no biggie. I have a couple guitars that way. It's quicker for me to pick the correctly tuned guitar to learn some song I decide to click from my mp3 library.

[guitarchaz]

Exactly. I can see how things might be a bit confusing at first, as you can't look at the other person's fingers and immediately know what key they're in, but if you know your instrument (not implying the OP doesn't, just saying), it shouldn't be tooo much of a problem.

 

Agree to a point, but whe they hit that big boomy open E(b), and you have to go go up and invert the chord, or worse yet go up to the A barre format voicing on the 7th fret, it just doesn't always sound right, even if the chord is correct.

 

So, that's it...I need more guitars!!! I new I could count on you guys !!

 

[freemusicno34]

 

All good points. I guess I should just get over it. I mean all 6 strings down 1/2 step if that matters. On my strats, I set the trems floating with just enough pull up that I can pull my G string up one whole step. This is typically enough such that if the G comes back slightly shart after a dive, I can pull it back to pitch by pulling up. When I drop it 1/2 without adjusting springs, I loos that ability. Not so much an issue on fixed bridge, ither than it does slightly affect the intonation and potentially neck relief. If you keep the strinsg right down on the frets, sometimes dropping 1/2 step without adjusting teh neck relief can cause some annoying buzzing or fretting out low on the neck. Anyway, I was just curious. Sounds like I just need to get over it!!! Or better yet, but a "Few" more guitars to set up that way !! wooohooo!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

Well I won't try and talk you out of getting new guitars, but I definitely understand why you wouldn't want to tune down and I support that. What I suggest is just keep your guitar tuned normally and play along in standard.

[Mr_GoodBomb]

 

You want a bass? Buy a bass!

 

 

I think this has been said a million times before, but this statement is just silly and uniformed. A drop-tuned guitar and a bass have next to nothing in common. Even if you're tuning down to, say, drop B (two and a half steps down on the low string, a step and a half down on everything else), you're STILL 3 and a half and four and a half (mathematically not nessicarily musically, meaning 7 frets/half-steps on the low string and 9 on the rest) away from a bass. BIG difference.

 

A lot of metal bands are capable of playing heavy riffs in standard tuning... but why does that make drop tunings some sort of crutch? Some riffs and sounds just aren't capable of being played in standard, or wouldn't sound nearly as heavy. Can you imagine all of Black Sabbath's stuff in standard (and yes, in a way, his low tuning WAS a crutch)? Even if you don't like or appreciate the music, you have to give credit to the musicianship in a lot of extreme heavy metal bands, and they'd sound awefully different in standard tunings.

 

Hell, even Hendrix, SRV, Clapton... They've ALL played in lower tunings before (mainly Eb), because it's easier to sing in for some people.

 

It's just music, and the musician's abilities aren't what's in question... So who gives a {censored}?

[Treborklow]

I'm an old fart too and I....

 

hey I forgot the question!

[Satyrist]

Understood, I played totally standard tuning until a little over a year ago. The drummer I work with convinced me to tune down a half step, and I was fine with it. Then a few months later he talked me down another half step. I gotta say, I'm hooked. You definitely need heavier strings, I use 10-52.

 

The primary benefit for me isn't even really the heaviness (but damn, that is nice). I just find it much more comfortable to play, even for non-heavy material. Bends are much friendlier, and I can achieve the vibrato I want.

 

It fits my playing perfectly, but then that's me. Your mileage may vary:)

[Mind Riot]

I don't want to be disrespectful to folks, but to be perfectly honest, yeah, you're acting like crotchety old men.

 

Tuning down is not a new phenomenon, nor is it something exclusive to metal. Sabbath tuned to C way back in the day. Drop D, DADGAD, open G, open C, and many other drop or lowered open tunings have been used in blues for decades.

 

While it may be true that a lot (even most) of the guys that drop tune only do it to get easier power chords and heavier sounds it could just as easily be turned around and said that you guys are so used to playing like your heroes in standard tuning only that you simply don't like being pushed out of your comfort zone and your familiar patterns so you put others down every time you have to.

 

There are just as many guys dogmatically playing the same tired patterns in standard who refuse to try something new as there are one finger power chord guys playing in drop C. Neither tuning makes the musician, they're just tools in the box.

 

Personally, I'm starting to think that guys who dismiss or mock people playing in alternate tunings without even hearing the music they're making are threatened by the idea of a world where they may eventually have to learn something outside standard tuning.

[milosch]

Standard tuning for me, thank you. Do what you like.

[peavey_impact]

My main axe stays in Drop D. I have other axes to use for standard and my seven string which i sometimes put in drop A.

 

Just different tools for the job.

[Kramerguy]

I'm another old fart that has all my guitars at standard tuning. I have tried to drop 1/2 and even down to D. The tuning seems to be more difficult (getting and staying), and the overall tone of clean full/open chords seems less rhythmic and flat. I guess deth metal doesn't really matter. Then again, what do I know. I suck.

[BATCAT]

I go the other way... I capo up on about half the songs I write. (usually the first, second, or third frets)

 

God bless the guy who plays keys with me for not bitching when I'm like, "Ok here's another one in F minor."!