Daz21 Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Hey! The other day I was tabbing a track from the new Nickelback album and realized that I had to go down to drop C tuning to play the intro in the position Chad Kroeger does. I also noticed that Kroeger plays in Drop C about 90% of the time. When I tune my guitar down to Drop C, though, its hard to play for much longer that a few minutes without having to retune. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I'm using 10's, would it hold the tuning better if I were to use a heavier gauge?- D a z - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Rocker Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 What kind of bridge does your guitar have? A floating bridge will take a bit of time to settle down, and you will need to use pretty heavy strings to play in drop C and might need to adjust the spring tension in the bridge if its floating. I've used 10 - 52's and played in drop C with a fixed bridge with no problems...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest five years Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 11's hold up fine on fixed bridge guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 dropping from e to drop c on a guitar will adjust the tension on the neck, so you will retune it, then the neck will settle and will knock it out again - just because there will be such a change in tension the neck will actually move (the trusstrod will be adding enough tension to hold it in e, when you lower the tuning it will move the neck a bit)you have to just let it settle, if you were going to be playing only in drop c it would be a good idea to either adjust the truss rod (remove a little tension in it) or use a thicker set of strings (so they are back into a 'normal' tension when you are downtuned)David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Rocker Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Just to be sure....Drop C - guitar tuned C, G, C, F, A, D yeah? With heavier strings, ie 10 - 52's or 11/12's then you shouldn't need to adjust the truss rod, and unless you know exactly what you're doing, I'd recommend against it.I changed my strat from 10's to 9's last night and it took a good while of tuning until it finally settled so be patient....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan G Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Just to be sure....Drop C - guitar tuned C' date=' G, C, F, A, D yeah? With heavier strings, ie 10 - 52's or 11/12's then you shouldn't need to adjust the truss rod, and unless you know exactly what you're doing, I'd recommend against it.[/quote']i agree with this man! Don't fuck around with your truss rod. Just get some Erni Ball power slinkies (or something similar) and drop-C tuning will do just fine.P.S. My ibanez has a fixed bridge, EB power slinkies and drop-c tunning... it rarely goes out of tune even during gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz21 Posted December 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 What kind of bridge does your guitar have? A floating bridge will take a bit of time to settle down' date=' and you will need to use pretty heavy strings to play in drop C and might need to adjust the spring tension in the bridge if its floating. I've used 10 - 52's and played in drop C with a fixed bridge with no problems......[/quote']I have a floating bridge. I'll try using a heavier gauge, thanx!- D a z - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HateEvent Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 This is where me knowing that technically this is NOT drop C is really annoying! Especially because I know what you mean!Consider this:Standard = EADGBEDrop D = DADGBE (dropping the E to D)Drop C = CADGBE (dropping the E to C)Drop D down a step = (CGCFAD)Agree or disagree, I know I'm right and it's the most common thing I see notated wrongly, but anyway, for CGCFAD, try Ernie Ball Power Slinkys ( 11-48 ). I used them when in that tuning and didn't need to adjust anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 I use those "not even slinkys" nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz21 Posted December 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 This is where me knowing that technically this is NOT drop C is really annoying! Especially because I know what you mean!Consider this:Standard = EADGBEDrop D = DADGBE (dropping the E to D)Drop C = CADGBE (dropping the E to C)Drop D down a step = (CGCFAD)Agree or disagree' date=' I know I'm right and it's the most common thing I see notated wrongly, but anyway, for CGCFAD, try Ernie Ball Power Slinkys ( 11-48 ). I used them when in that tuning and didn't need to adjust anything.[/quote']I know what your saying is right, but it shouldn't be. When I talk of Drop D tuning, I don't just mean dropping the Top E down a step I mean Tuning the entire set down a step. Same with Drop C tuning. When I mean tuning Top E down a step, I just say it like that!(I like to challenge convention!)- D a z - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HateEvent Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 So that is D Standard then! It's all really confusing, but meh. Standard B is the best tuning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stray Cat Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 So that is D Standard then! It's all really confusing' date=' but meh. Standard B is the best tuning [/quote']Isn't the F raised a semitone to F# in open D? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Isn't the F raised a semitone to F# in open D?He doesn't mean the 'open tuning' used by slide players etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stray Cat Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 He doesn't mean the 'open tuning' used by slide players etc.Fair enough, but regardless I assumed that it would be D Minor if F was used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fright Night Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 yeh i play in drop C all the time, i use 12s on my axe and it dose the trick.dean markly is were its at! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stray Cat Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 He doesn't mean the 'open tuning' used by slide players etc.would that be the same tuning which was originally for lutes then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan G Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Angel of death is technically right."Drop-D detuned a whole step" (or drop-D in C) is actually the correct way to call what most of us call 'drop-C' tuning, i.e. CGCFAD. But as this is such a common misconception (to call it 'drop-C') .... I still call it that - cos everyone seems understands it.EDIT: Oh and "drop-D" and "open-D" are ENTIRELY different things: 'Drop-X' refers to detuning ONLY the lowest string on the guitar to note X.'Open-Y' refers to retuning all the strings to different notes, so as when all the strings are played open at the same time - they actually play a 'proper' chord, i.e. chord 'Y' (as opposed to something silly like Ymin7add4 when in standard tuning) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 So that is D Standard then! It's all really confusing' date=' but meh. Standard B is the best tuning [/quote']Almost....Open B hehe:cheers: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Rocker Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 I know what your saying is right' date=' but it shouldn't be. When I talk of Drop D tuning, I don't just mean dropping the Top E down a step I mean Tuning the entire set down a step. Same with Drop C tuning. When I mean tuning Top E down a step, I just say it like that!(I like to challenge convention!)- D a z -[/quote']So you are taking drop C to mean the guitar tuned two whole tones below concert pitch - where A=440Hz?If that's the case get a set of light guage 7 strings and only use the bottom 6....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 pedant warning...'Open-Y' refers to retuning all the strings to different notes' date=' so as when all the strings are played open at the same time - they actually play a 'proper' chord, i.e. chord 'Y' (as opposed to something silly like Ymin7add4 when in standard tuning)[/quote']Traditional/standard slide guitar open tunings only require the alternative tuning of some of the strings. For example, open D(major) - the A/5th and D/4th strings remain the same. Open E(major) the E(low)/6th B/2nd and E(high)/1st remain the same and so on. Obviously this all goes out the window if the player chooses to break with tradition. What is the standard tuning for a baritone guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
framheim Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 Traditional/standard slide guitar open tunings only require the alternative tuning of some of the strings. For example' date=' open D(major) - the A/5th and D/4th strings remain the same. Open E(major) the E(low)/6th B/2nd and E(high)/1st remain the same and so on. Obviously this all goes out the window if the player chooses to break with tradition. What is the standard tuning for a baritone guitar?[/quote']oh no i've gone crosseyed :?this thread has me very confused. i never fully understand the whole tuning thing. maybe that will be my new years resolution, must become a better player and learn more about my chosen instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest five years Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 standard d:dafcgddropped c:dafcgcnotice any similarity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MKII Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 oh no i've gone crosseyed :?this thread has me very confused. i never fully understand the whole tuning thing. maybe that will be my new years resolution' date=' must become a better player and learn more about my chosen instrument. [/quote']It's all pretty straight forward when you have a guitar in your hands. Alternative tunings are a great way of getting out of a musical rut... until you develop an alternative musical rut with whatever alternative tuning you are using!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Rocker Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 The thing I don't understand about this thread is why someone would go about tabbing a Nickleback song in the first place;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stray Cat Posted December 7, 2005 Report Share Posted December 7, 2005 The thing I don't understand about this thread is why someone would go about tabbing a Nickleback song in the first place;)That is a very good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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