Eb Tuning

[sideswipedv]

cept we replaced the lead guitarist and the bass player

[danbomb]

I like Eb a lot and was in a original band for a couple years and really got used to it. Now I play in multiple cover bands at company picnics and Christmas partys and find my ears have gone a little flat! I did sad but true which is a whole step down to further shake things up. It almost seems like over a period of time Eb becomes E to my ears and standard tuning sounds all sharp and happy.

[curlymo]

Our last lead singer/guitar player always played in Eb. I used to be the advocate for tuning up so that I wouldn't have to continue to retune or carry a capo with me to play with other bands, but he complained he couldn't handle it in standard tuning. Now I understand that its easier to sing (I sing lots of backing harmonies and a few leads, but I had to go higher than him a lot of the time and I have no problems in standard). This is also the guy who didn't want to play two nights in a row because he said his voice couldn't handle it...actually it could, he proved that many times, he was just a lazy pain in the ass.

When we fired him (for reliability, tension, and personal issues), we tuned back up. Our new singer understands the concept of half down, but she is fine with us moving the song around by whole steps to help her out (if you're having problems singing in any key, moving it by a whole step makes more sense to me anyway). Moving the song around without retuning that is.

I understand why some people enjoy the sound of their guitars half a step down, but my tone is fairly dark as it is (I hates the treble ice pick) and I preferthe extra tension to work for my riffs/licks...keeps me from being sloppy. I'm standard all the way.

[DonaldDemon]

Originally posted by danbomb It almost seems like over a period of time Eb becomes E to my ears and standard tuning sounds all sharp and happy.

That's what I have noticed! We went back to Eb a few months back for vocal reasons and I love it so much more. Everything sounds much more darker and badass:) Regular tuning does sound too happy for my tastes as well. I used to play nothing but Hendrix and SRV songs when I was learning so it feels more natural for me. Now can I tell if a band is playing regular or flat onstage..hell no.
As for the bassist that's not too demanding and he is porbably to anal to work with anyway. I had another jam/spacey rock band at college and my bassist wouldn't tune down because he said his bass sounds too muddy then . The songs would have sounded much better but i didn't push the issue. Yeah he was a childish stubborn bastard and I'm glad he's not my full time bassist anymore.

[jerrye]

I'm buying another Ibanez RG470 (has Floyd Rose trem) for a band I just joined, because the secondary vocalist/keyboard player really wants to continue the 1/2 step detuning. He sings 15% of the songs. Although the lead vocalist/drummer/bandleader, who sings 80% of the songs, is okay with standard tuning, my gut tells me, being the new kid on the block, to go with the detuning.

I have a 470 already that I love, and although I had already thought about getting a second 470 for backup, I don't want another guitar now.

But there's no way I'm retuning a Floyd-equipped axe, going back and forth between this band and my other endeavors. So I'll have a dedicated Eb guitar as long as I'm in this band. And I have a stop tailpiece Steinberger clone which will back up either 470.