Alternate Tunings and glued necks ?

[ollenorin]

we have this song where i tune some strings really "hard" or "up"...........i do it on most of the fenders i have with bolt-on necks....no problem

 

but i have two guitars with glued necks too that i wanna use with this tuning....gretsch and fender starcaster...is there any risk of damaging the neck if so ?

 

for example the A-string is tuned up to F and the D string is tuned up to G.....

 

could a neck snap or bend or something ?

 

 

 

[fishfartz]

Originally posted by ollenorin we have this song where i tune some strings really "hard" or "up"...........i do it on most of the fenders i have with bolt-on necks....no problem but i have two guitars with glued necks too that i wanna use with this tuning....gretsch and fender starcaster...is there any risk of damaging the neck if so ? for example the A-string is tuned up to F and the D string is tuned up to G..... could a neck snap or bend or something ?

you could cause some extra tension and things could go from there to bad in a hurry, its happened before.

alot of folks just tune lower and then throw a capo on the neck to keep things at ease.

for instance open E tuning requires you to tune a few strings up - and open D only requires you to tune a few down.

some folks will tune down to open D:

E > D
B > A
G > F#
D > D
A > A
E > D

and then throw a capo on the 2nd fret to get open E tuning (E-B-E-G#-B-E)


same for open A, tune down to open G (DGDGBD) and then capo 2nd fret for open A (E-A-E-A-C#-E)


hope this helps, it will not cause unwanted tension.

i see nothing wrong if you pick a certain higher tuning, tune there and adjust the truss rod for that tuning and leave the guitar in that tuning, but if you plan to change tunings soon or go back to standard with same guitar id tune down and capo

[ollenorin]

Originally posted by fishfartz you could cause some extra tension and things could go from there to bad in a hurry, its happened before. alot of folks just tune lower and then throw a capo on the neck to keep things at ease. for instance open E tuning requires you to tune a few strings up - and open D only requires you to tune a few down. some folks will tune down to open D: E > D B > A G > F# D > D A > A E > D and then throw a capo on the 2nd fret to get open E tuning (E-B-E-G#-B-E) same for open A, tune down to open G (DGDGBD) and then capo 2nd fret for open A (E-A-E-A-C#-E) hope this helps, it will not cause unwanted tension. i see nothing wrong if you pick a certain higher tuning, tune there and adjust the truss rod for that tuning and leave the guitar in that tuning, but if you plan to change tunings soon or go back to standard with same guitar id tune down and capo

Thanks a lot !!! thats great advice right there. :) ill do that....i have a capo somewhere..

when you tune with a capo...do you tune with it on or put it on after tuning ?

[fishfartz]

tune up without it, but you may need to fine tune after putting the capo on

[The*Ataris]

Originally posted by ollenorin Thanks a lot !!! thats great advice right there. :) ill do that....i have a capo somewhere.. when you tune with a capo...do you tune with it on or put it on after tuning ?

Usually depends on the guitar and how "sharp" it frets. If there's another guitar player in the band, I'd tune after it's on....

[ollenorin]

thANKS !

Ill try that.....im the only guitarist.....not enough space on stage for another guitarist...

[SpectralJulian]

Sonic Youth does a lot of alternate tunings, and they use different string gauges so they can do them but have the same ammount of tension.

[squareking]

Originally posted by SpectralJulian Sonic Youth does a lot of alternate tunings, and they use different string gauges so they can do them but have the same ammount of tension.

 

 

That's the best way to do it. I'm always afraid of tuning my acoustic to open E; I found it's better to tune down and use a capo, but that kinda sucks for slide.

[ollenorin]

ill put on some fat strings and tune down and use a capo.