Members acousticdepot Posted March 27, 2014 Members Share Posted March 27, 2014 Stupid question ... Is it okay to leave a guitar tuned to DGCFAD. Does the reduced tension cause problems? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted March 27, 2014 Members Share Posted March 27, 2014 No problems at all. I keep a couple of guitars tuned to DGCFAD - one steel string and one nylon string - and they have been in that tuning for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acousticdepot Posted March 27, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2014 Thanks ... I thought so ... but just wanted to check with our local experts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 27, 2014 Members Share Posted March 27, 2014 Stupid question ... Is it okay to leave a guitar tuned to DGCFAD. Does the reduced tension cause problems? Thanks! Reduced tension is never a problem. What you may find, however, is that the relief slackens a hair - normally that shouldn't be a problem either but if it was very low to start with you could have some buzzing. If the playability suffers due to the lower tension you could consider bumping the string gauges up a notch. Fwiw - I keep my twelve strings tuned down two semi tones and several guitars are tuned down to some open tunings. No problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acousticdepot Posted March 27, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2014 Thanks Freeman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 28, 2014 Members Share Posted March 28, 2014 One other long term advantage of tuning down (as long as you don't increase the string gauge) is that you reduce the stress on the neck joint and prolong the need for a neck reset. I have two older guitars that I don't play very much that I keep tuned D to D - that lets me play them when I want to but (hopefully) will keep the neck angle better so someday I can sell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted March 28, 2014 Members Share Posted March 28, 2014 PS. The other nice thing about keeping a guitar in D standard (DGCFAD) is that it's quick and easy to retune to open D (DADF#AD) and open G (DGDGBD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitapick Posted April 1, 2014 Members Share Posted April 1, 2014 You reduce string life when you go between tunings a lot. If it's kept in a specific tuning it doesn't really matter. Just be sure the string gauge is right. I ran into a problem with my reso by putting mediums on there instead of lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted April 1, 2014 Members Share Posted April 1, 2014 You reduce string life when you go between tunings a lot. If it's kept in a specific tuning it doesn't really matter. Just be sure the string gauge is right. I ran into a problem with my reso by putting mediums on there instead of lights. What was the problem? Assuming the tailpiece break angle is OK and you don't tune UP you should be able to use lights at concert and mediums when tuned down. I have three resos (a biscuit, a spider and a tricone), all three are strung with mediums (with a 14 for the first string and an unwound third). The biscuit is always tuned to open G, the spider to high bass G, and the tricone to open D. Also, I do go between tunings a lot and seem to get good string life - typically 3-6 month and I can't remember the last time I broke a string. I think the OP was simply talking about tuning down two semitones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitapick Posted April 2, 2014 Members Share Posted April 2, 2014 What was the problem? Assuming the tailpiece break angle is OK and you don't tune UP you should be able to use lights at concert and mediums when tuned down. I have three resos (a biscuit, a spider and a tricone), all three are strung with mediums (with a 14 for the first string and an unwound third). The biscuit is always tuned to open G, the spider to high bass G, and the tricone to open D. Also, I do go between tunings a lot and seem to get good string life - typically 3-6 month and I can't remember the last time I broke a string. I think the OP was simply talking about tuning down two semitones. It's a National Radiotone from '94. Not the cutaway one. Built to the specs of the original which is great for the sound (I love the sound of this guitar) but they didn't include a truss rod (like the original). It's always been tuned to open G. It came with lights, but I put mediums on right away. Nine years later I started noticing some intonation problems that I couldn't correct. I spoke with the good folks at National and we worked out a very fair deal for repair. Think they had to steam it along with some other work. When the work was finished, they told me I should keep the lights on there from now on. Should last me a long time that way. So that's what I've done. It's been about 7 years since then and it's sounding and playing great. I guess it's a YMMV thing with string life. I've found this to be particularly true of nylon strings. I used to have just my nylon and a Les Paul. Went from tuning to tuning on that acoustic and, to my ear, it definitely effected the string life from the days when I was just playing classical. I was just giving a heads up to the OP, based on my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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