Question about alternate tunings....

[nnickusa]

and, more specifically, building to accommodate dropped tunings. The bit of Mango I put up in another thread is destined for a dread intended for a friend's 18yo-to-be. He wants to play it in dropped, D/A?, tuning.

I have enough trouble with concert pitched guitars.

What guage strings would you all recommend? I've already told Jack that I don't think the guitar will be crash hot BOTH ways, and needs to be made to accommodate one or the other style of tuning, at setup...Am I right, or can it be done for both tuning methods?

Think I saw on the OLF that it was problematic...anyway, am I looking for big fat heavy guage strings? or lights? or super lights?

help?

[jeffhigh]

You need to ask more questions

Drop D is really common and just involves taking the low E string down to D
No need for any changes to the build and it make little difference to the tension on the neck
Maybe set up with just a tiny bit more relief than normal and very very slightly higher saddle on that one string.
Many players manage with no change,

Unless you are getting really low you are unlikely to need any acoustic or structural changes to the build.

[nnickusa]

Thanks Jeff. He's been playing my Dread for the past couple weeks and reckons it's OK as it is. So, I'll build it like that one and maybe allow for his string choice....That ought to do it. Cheers

[scripsit]

There are two issues with dropped tunings.

First is the actual feel of the strings for the player when the guitar is tuned down a long way from standard. If your friend plays in 'Orkney' or other C variations that involve taking the bass E string down to C then thick strings and a long scale length will help retain a normal feel and sound in the detuned notes (usually the bass E and A, if not also the D). So, use a .56 etc set, at least on the bass side, and perhaps consider a minimum scale length around 650 mm. Short scale lengths and thin strings feel very flubby and can sound that way, too, when tuned down.

The second factor is the intonation, which wanders quite a bit when you tune down. Even a relatively mild detuning like DADGAD or open G will sound a bit weird in the bass as you go up the neck, and capos increase the problem the higher you go. For instance, you can tweak DADGAD tuning so it's not much of a problem for those of us without perfect pitch in open positions, but even my ears can hear strange things with a capo on the 5th fret on a guitar compensated for normal tuning. So, it becomes a bit of a compromise if you want to be able to use the one guitar for all tunings. Lots of the very good fingerstyle guitarists who play in dropped tunings have their guitars compensated appropriately for those tunings.

Kym

[Jeremy D]

I have one of Al Peteways dadgad DVDs and explains that his luthier made an extra saddle for him that has a piece of bone glued to the back of the low string. This seemed like a nice idea to me because the guitar could be switched back to standard intonation fairly easily. I play a lot of dropped d and dadgad myself and I find I can hear things going bad even playing an open g chord (5th fret). It's not such an issue with a capo because you can retune once the capo is on. It is an issue when playing up the neck. I am going to try this on my current build.

[scripsit]

Yep, I've seen that DVD, too. Does anyone know what sorts of distances are involved in the different compensations necessary? Al Petteway often plays in DADGAD at the fifth fret. I know a couple of his tunes with a five fret capo specified, but no amount of retuning gets things to sound quite right. Trevor?

Kym

[ozziebluesman]

Very interesting discussion going on here. I too use open tuning on a regular basic but on lap slide weissenborn style guitars so intonation is not a problem. I do like to open D and all it's variances on the guitar and have found the same thing when a capo is introduced to the guitar. My sons recording on his dready I posted a few days ago is CGCGCE capo on the second fret.

The guitar I built for him has a big tone in concert but as soon as you introduce the capo to the guitar is sucks out all the bass. Any suggestions on a fix for that problem?

Nick: I use 13s to 56s medium gauge strings for open D and C tunings and it works for me.

Cheers

Alan

[demonx]

Tuning down to A and even lower is becoming very common with the younger metal crowd using electric guitars, the scales are usually lengthened to accommodate the string tension.

27" and 28" through to 30's are quite popular.

I have built a couple 27" eight string guitars. They were very popular with people following my page. The first one I screwed up and shelved, the second sold within a couple hours of me advertising it. Popular. Whether its a fad that'll phase out or a sign of the future, who knows?

[P Bill]

Cross tuning a fiddle to AEAE from standard GDAE is common but not many do it with their good instruments. Going back and forth wears the strings so most just leave it. I have ones I keep in AEAE and GDGD, much more easy on fiddle and string.
My bush viola is CGCG from standard CGDA.