Anyone still play a standard tuned 6 string?

[Donnie B.]

E-A-D-G-B-E

All I ever played. Owned a 7 string with the low B for a while but never bonded.

What's your #1 tuning and what percentage of the time do you hang on it?

Follow up question: What did you first learn on?
I'd imagine there's a whole generation of players who started with dropped-D and play mostly that.

 

[SpiderWars]

Mostly standard or Eb, then drop the 6th a full step for drop D/Db. I recently tuned a guitar to D standard (for learning Atlas by Plini) and will likely leave it like that. That's it for electric except an old 1940s lapsteel in open E (like Derek Trucks and many others).

For acoustic I'll do double-drop D and DADGAD for the few songs I know like Blackwater, Song for George, Black Mountain Side. That's it for me.

 

[Donnie B.]

Atlas by Plini

Got the tab book for Handmade Cities and was thinking of him when I noted about Drop-D.
The whole album is mostly that.

 

[SpiderWars]

Got the tab book for Handmade Cities and was thinking of him when I noted about Drop-D.
The whole album is mostly that.

I bought that book at one of his shows. I love that record. It is pretty much all Drop-D but Atlas is D standard.

 

[dainbramage0]

Started in E standard, still have one guitar tuned that way. I use C# standard the most for of my writing and jamming. Not really a fan of playing in drop tuning, I'd rather keep it in standard and lower everything.

 

[Monkey Man]

Standard and standard only is all I've ever tried.

Geetar is complimicated-enough for me as it is and I don't wanna have to edumacate myself one iota more than I absolutely have to.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I started without a tuner, so I went by ear with my records. With my buddy I know we were tuning way down to whatever sounded cool, wish we stayed with that idea.

These days I am in dropC 90% of the time, some dropG, just recently mixing in some standard E. I like dropC# & dropA a lot also, but only so much time in the day

 

[Donnie B.]

@crankyrayhanky

What gauge strings work best for drop C?

 

[cdawg22]

Started in E Standard. That's what I still play like 60% of the time. I have played alot more Drop D in the past 10 years or so than I ever had before on electric, anyway. I have a beater I use exclusively for slide I have tuned to a D chord (open D). I used to keep a guitar tuned to E flat but I don't bother anymore. I also have an electric and an acoustic 12-string that I used to keep in E flat but the acoustic is the only one I still do. One of my acoustics is in DADGAD sometimes I change to DADFshAD. The other 6-strings are E Standard and sometimes I play around with a capo. That's about it. I have never had a 7 or 8 string guitar. My fingers are to short for that. I very much want to get a Baritone and maybe a Fender Bass VI. My basses are standard 4-string.

 

[cdawg22]

Forgot to mention I have Hipshot Detuners on several of my electrics now which facilitates the Drop D stuff.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

@crankyrayhanky

What gauge strings work best for drop C?

I love Stringjoy custom packs and working on the tension calculator to hone in on my ideal packs. Currently:
For a 25.5 scale:

10.5 D​

14 A​

18 F​

26 C​

36 G​

54 C​

For my 24.75 LP:

11 D​

15 A​

19p F​

28 C​

38 G​

58 C​

 

[Mailman1971]

Always standard. Use my Floyd tuner to go drop D certain songs.

 

[GtarLover]

I had a stint of Eb playing and also drop D for a bit as well…yet that was a while ago now.
Almost 100% of the time now I’m in Standard E tuning…I do Tribute’s to AC/DC, Queen, and Def Leppard, all of which are standard tuning on the albums so that’s the way we play them.
Occasionally I’ll do a fill-in, it may be tuned to Eb, so I keep a couple guitars set up that way.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Drop B for the most part, all of my guitars are in that except for my RGA121, that’s in drop C.

Playing mostly doom/sludge so those tunings are my jam, the drop C guitar is for KSE type metal.

Haven’t tuned to standard in like 23 years.

 

[Donnie B.]

@VESmedic

?????

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Standard tuning is mostly all I have ever played, I have tried drop D but I find it messes me up, should probably spend more time trying it…

 

[Donnie B.]

I have tried drop D but I find it messes me up.

It sounds freaking amazing for certain chords but I don't want to have to re-calibrate all my lead playing
and everything else around it just for those chords. So I gave up on it too.

 

[thegame]

Old man rant: Bb is the lowest anyone should ever tune. Yes I know music, especially metal is about breaking the rules but humour me.... I'm picking that note because it is exactly 6 semitones down from standard and 6 semitones up from a full octave below standard E. In other words, halfway between a standard tuned guitar and a standard tuned bass. Anything lower starts yielding extremely diminishing returns IMO. To that end, 7 string guitars are cool but not my thing. Clean or semi clean baritones are equally valid but 8 and 9 string guitars sound fucking stupid with high gain, again IMO.

Personally I prefer E and Eb. Can't stand drop D or drop anything else (one finger power chord) tuning. I do like colorful open tunings ala Jimmy Page though.

 

[Donnie B.]

In other words, halfway between a standard tuned guitar and a standard tuned bass. Anything lower starts yielding extremely diminishing returns IMO. To that end, 7 string guitars are cool but not my thing. Clean or semi clean baritones are equally valid but 8 and 9 string guitars sound fucking stupid with high gain, again IMO.

I agree with the exception of a very few bands/players.
Ever heard Animals as Leaders?
imo they make it work cause there's no bass player.
The fact that they're both insanely talented and intelligent players helps.

 

[thegame]

I agree with the exception of a very few bands/players.
Ever heard Animals as Leaders?
imo they make it work cause there's no bass player.
The fact that they're both insanely talented and intelligent players helps.

Yeah, I definitely appreciate AOL but don't enjoy them. They do have a bass player. In fact they have two in that video. Its just that the bass players are ALSO the guitar players. When they are playing in the lowest registers their strange instruments have to offer, to me it sounds like total shit. If they let a dedicated bass player handle the lowest range with a clean, piano like tone it would sound much better. No matter how much low end you strip away from heavily distorted 8 and 9 string guitars to tighten them up, it always sounds like whale farts to me.