'c' tuning (standard down 2 whole steps)

nick_D01

hey guys

i thought i'd post and ask. i'd like to know if anyone has any of their geets tuned down to 'c' (ie standard down 2 whole steps)?

Bob-Dubery

I haven't, though I've played with the 6th string tuned down to C. I've seen lower tunings though. Martin Carthy has his 6th string tuned down to C and the first to A! Martin Simpson is in similar territory.

So try it! There's no rule that says you can't. You're far less likely to break things tuning down than tuning up, but you are taking tension off of the neck and so it may straighten out and/or take a while to settle.

The strings will be slack, possibly beyond their stable operating range. When I saw Carthy and Simpson play they both spent a lot of time tuning and neither of them bends a lot.

G-Man

I play my main Ibanez RG in D standard, had it setup properly and it plays great, never tried anything lower.

doc-phil

I play often in drop C, occasionally in drop B.

The thing you will wanna do is go for a thicker gauge set of strings.. I used Ernie Ball Beefy Slinky or Not Even Slinky for those tunings to compensate for the loss of tension in tuning down so low. Same would apply to C standard.

21Fretter

I've done it for fun here and there (try learn some Arch Enemy, one or two Dream Theatre songs as well) but they become noodles at my current guage (10's) which I knew would happen, too lazy to set it up properly.

AlanRatcliffe

IMO if you're tuning them all down two steps, it works best with a set of baritone strings. Baritone sets are designed to drop down to B, but at a slightly longer scale length, so it won't be far off normal tension. Just make sure you can get the B string through the capstan hole in the tuner and through the bridge or tailpiece holes.

Jman76

I generally buy Ernie Ball 7 string packs and loose the top string for tuning down to C# / Db

Styles

I've tuned down to C-standard and B-standard and drop A.
On a 2.5" scale guitar the problem is normally your bridge, nut and getting the intonation in, let's not even start on the shorter scale lengths.
GHS has a 70-13 baritone string set that works quite nicely. An extended scale guitar helps with keeping your string tension up and then you can use thinner string sets.

I've used a 10 - 52 set in C-standard on a 25.5" guitar and it worked fine. If that feels too floppy, you can use the D'addario electric guitar Jazz set which is 13-56. Ernie Ball and DR strings also have String sets made for down tuning.

Bob-Dubery

Styles wrote: On a 2.5" scale guitar the problem is normally your bridge, nut and getting the intonation in, let's not even start on the shorter scale lengths.

domhatch

X-rated Bob wrote:
Styles wrote: On a 2.5" scale guitar the problem is normally your bridge, nut and getting the intonation in, let's not even start on the shorter scale lengths.
?

i'm sure bob meant 25.5, but hell that was funny :roflmao:. the image in my mind was a mickey mouse sized uke with about one fret...

Styles

HAHAHA. Yeah, finger trouble is a beeeyatch. :-[

I did mean 25.5".

nick_D01

hey guys

thanks so much for all the input, its cleared up alot of q's i had, notably neck setup/truss rod/ intonation/the nut.

i might end up going for a 26.5" scale neck you know. the songs i'm keen on learning run the gamut from drop 'd' 1 whole step down to 2 whole steps down (killswitch - hatebreed). i think the longer scale would let me get away with a set of 10's with all those tunings. i just dont want to whack on a set of 12's which is fine for 'c' but then i have to use that for something only down 1 whole step ☹