Alternative Tunings

[NihilistNixon]

If, as you've said, you've only played in standard, I'd start out with Drop D and Double Drop D.

Not adventurous, I know, but it's a good place to start. You can branch out later to tunings such as : Open G, Open D, DADGAD, etc.

Get an inexpensive chromatic tuner. Makes tuning a lot easier. I've got a Korg CA-30 and it's good enough.

(BTW, I'm not sure that a half step down from standard is really considered a separate tuning from standard.)

Yeah, I suppose half-step is just an off branch of standard, but you get what I mean.lol
I'm looking at buying a new tuner when I get a new electric, I'll pick up that CA-30. Had my eye on it anyways.

[Grrface]

right now one of mines in 'american football tuning' which is FACGCE.
my other guitars in aen standard(DADAAE) but a step down so its CGCGGD

Aen standard? Is that what Aen from Dwarfcraft uses? How dark does that sound half-step down? lol

Yup, hence the name. And I believe he uses that on all of his demos, so you can go get a feel for how it sounds there.

[NihilistNixon]

right now one of mines in 'american football tuning' which is FACGCE.
my other guitars in aen standard(DADAAE) but a step down so its CGCGGD

Aen standard? Is that what Aen from Dwarfcraft uses? How dark does that sound half-step down? lol

Yup, hence the name. And I believe he uses that on all of his demos, so you can go get a feel for how it sounds there.

Yeah, I've seen his demos, I always wondered what tuning it was. I'm going to try that in a few. Thank you thank you.

[Bassus Sanguinis]

still rocking the drop-C on bass vi tuning

[Chankgeez]

I'm looking at buying a new tuner when I get a new electric, I'll pick up that CA-30. Had my eye on it anyways.

I think they've actually discontinued the CA-30, but I'm sure they've still got a comparable chromatic tuner in their line. You can probably still find CA-30s in some stores, but it doesn't really matter which chromatic tuner you get as long as it's of decent quality. I just think the Korgs are a good value for the money.

[bigchiefbc]

I suppose I'll just actually contribute to this thread, since everyone's posting here instead of the old one.

I leave my two basses tuned ADADG and CGCG.

As for guitars, I have 3 but I don't play them often. But I generally leave one guitar tuned to drop-D, one of them in "Placebo" tuning (FA#D#G#CC), and one of them in what I call "Root" tuning, EA#D#GBE (which I named after a chord in the Deftones song)

[the Life Aquatic]

right now one of mines in 'american football tuning' which is FACGCE.
my other guitars in aen standard(DADAAE) but a step down so its CGCGGD

Aen standard? Is that what Aen from Dwarfcraft uses? How dark does that sound half-step down? lol

its a bit darker but not soo much that it was surprising. sounded about as dark as i would've expected.

Aen standard is probably my favorite tuning to play in

[NihilistNixon]

I suppose I'll just actually contribute to this thread, since everyone's posting here instead of the old one.

I leave my two basses tuned ADADG and CGCG.

As for guitars, I have 3 but I don't play them often. But I generally leave one guitar tuned to drop-D, one of them in "Placebo" tuning (FA#D#G#CC), and one of them in what I call "Root" tuning, EA#D#GBE (which I named after a chord in the Deftones song)

Root is an incredible song. Adrenaline is a Garde-A record. I know Stephen from Deftones plays Drop D like...always.lol

[NihilistNixon]

right now one of mines in 'american football tuning' which is FACGCE.
my other guitars in aen standard(DADAAE) but a step down so its CGCGGD

Aen standard? Is that what Aen from Dwarfcraft uses? How dark does that sound half-step down? lol

its a bit darker but not soo much that it was surprising. sounded about as dark as i would've expected.

Aen standard is probably my favorite tuning to play in

I'm going to try that right now on my Fender acoustic and see what it sounds like. I'm excited.

EDIT: I am afraid to take my low e string up that much.It feels like its going to snap.

[Grrface]

right now one of mines in 'american football tuning' which is FACGCE.
my other guitars in aen standard(DADAAE) but a step down so its CGCGGD

Aen standard? Is that what Aen from Dwarfcraft uses? How dark does that sound half-step down? lol

its a bit darker but not soo much that it was surprising. sounded about as dark as i would've expected.

Aen standard is probably my favorite tuning to play in

I'm going to try that right now on my Fender acoustic and see what it sounds like. I'm excited.

EDIT: I am afraid to take my low e string up that much.It feels like its going to snap.

Up? Skinny stringed dudes correct me if I'm wrong, but that's going from low E -> high E: Down a step to D, standard tuning for A, standard for D, down a step for G, etc etc.

[bigchiefbc]

I suppose I'll just actually contribute to this thread, since everyone's posting here instead of the old one.

I leave my two basses tuned ADADG and CGCG.

As for guitars, I have 3 but I don't play them often. But I generally leave one guitar tuned to drop-D, one of them in "Placebo" tuning (FA#D#G#CC), and one of them in what I call "Root" tuning, EA#D#GBE (which I named after a chord in the Deftones song)

Root is an incredible song. Adrenaline is a Garde-A record. I know Stephen from Deftones plays Drop D like...always.lol

Except Root, which he plays in standard. The specific chord I'm talking about is the one he hits a bunch of times throughout the song, like here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABDea0ySu_U&t=0m21s

its just 011000 when tuned to standard. I love that chord so much that I just decided one day to tune my guitar to that chord, and then play normal chord shapes. I fucking love it, it's so dissonant.

[MEC]

I'm going to try that right now on my Fender acoustic and see what it sounds like. I'm excited.
EDIT: I am afraid to take my low e string up that much.It feels like its going to snap.

Up? Skinny stringed dudes correct me if I'm wrong, but that's going from low E -> high E: Down a step to D, standard tuning for A, standard for D, down a step for G, etc etc.

Yeah, 99% of the time when you see an "alternate tuning" here on ILF it will be down from standard.
Sometimes and individual string will go up a step but overall the tuning will be lower. I doubt you will ever
come across a tuning on a standard sized guitar that requires you to tune up almost a whole octave.

[bigchiefbc]

I'm going to try that right now on my Fender acoustic and see what it sounds like. I'm excited.
EDIT: I am afraid to take my low e string up that much.It feels like its going to snap.

Up? Skinny stringed dudes correct me if I'm wrong, but that's going from low E -> high E: Down a step to D, standard tuning for A, standard for D, down a step for G, etc etc.

Yeah, 99% of the time when you see an "alternate tuning" here on ILF it will be down from standard.
Sometimes and individual string will go up a step but overall the tuning will be lower. I doubt you will ever
come across a tuning on a standard sized guitar that requires you to tune up almost a whole octave.

Generally you are right, although the Placebo tuning I mentioned before is every string up a half-step except the high-e, which is tuned in unison with the B(C)

[NihilistNixon]

I'm going to try that right now on my Fender acoustic and see what it sounds like. I'm excited.
EDIT: I am afraid to take my low e string up that much.It feels like its going to snap.

Up? Skinny stringed dudes correct me if I'm wrong, but that's going from low E -> high E: Down a step to D, standard tuning for A, standard for D, down a step for G, etc etc.

Yeah, 99% of the time when you see an "alternate tuning" here on ILF it will be down from standard.
Sometimes and individual string will go up a step but overall the tuning will be lower. I doubt you will ever
come across a tuning on a standard sized guitar that requires you to tune up almost a whole octave.

Whooops. I'm getting used to using tuners so I am lost with some of it. Forgive me, those days are dead!

[MEC]

Generally you are right, although the Placebo tuning I mentioned before is every string up a half-step except the high-e, which is tuned in unison with the B(C)

Yeah, on a standard sized guitar a half step or even a full step up is reasonable.
If you try to go much beyond that and have a heavy strum you'd best have some
extra strings.

Pro Tip: When you put new strings on a guitar, tune everything up a step and
play around a bit or just let it sit. Then when you go to your normal tuning, the
strings will be stretched out and the guitar will stay in tune better.