The Pros and Cons of Downtuning Guitar

[@nicholastotoro7721]

Cons: your bass player will ask "Did you forget I was here?" 🤣

[@HighZ]

Haha! "Oh you're still here!" Just kidding, bass is great

[@iduncanw]

Yep, or Lars will come along and turn your volume down as well 😂

[@donnienarco144]

Theres Grindcore bands from the 90s/00s that usually played in B/A tuning without bassists.

[@senomous7798]

this is definitely one of the pros of the fixed bridge and why even if you like whammy bar stuff but also like a wide variety of music. the flexibility to down tune is definitely a factor. i personally find 10-46 gauge strings can switch from e standard to d standard quite smoothly. i dont really play in lower tunings but thats just my discovery. Yes you do have lower tension but if muhammad suicmez can make a legendary album with a little less tension on the strings then it is definitely doable. besides it might be safer when on stage to not have as much tension on the strings. Does the 52 gauge dig more into the nut? one of my other guitars has a larger dent in the nut slot of the low e and the highest gauge i put was a 49. sorry for all the questions and claims i just love learning abt guitar

[@HighZ]

I agree, the fixed bridge does let you switch between tunings on the fly pretty easily! For recording work I'd still check the intonation but for jams and live and stuff this is a huge benefit. For the 52, it depends how the nut slot was cut for the string. There's a chance you might have to file it out but I haven't had to yet on any of my guitars luckily

[@Consolous]

That's one of the things that makes the guitar such a good instrument. You can make it sound completely different depending on the tuning and especially if one wants to sound heavier, downtuning is generally the way to go. My sound is inspired on the 80s rock and metal genres so I generally stick to E Standard for my covers but there are songs that I need to sound heavier or reach lower notes so I have to downtune sometimes. My favorite thing of downtuning is what you mentioned at 3:12 that it's less taxing on the string. In one of my recent covers I was working on, it felt like a breeze, especially on rhythm guitar playing. Anyway, great video Z

[@HighZ]

Thanks! The guitar truly is an incredible instrument with so many possibilities. The comfort of the lesser tension is nice as you say!

[@BryanMiranda96]

A lot of my earlier playing was heavily influenced by early Savatage in C standard and now all of my 6 strings are tuned down to C standard, and my 7 strings are tuned with the 6 lower strings in C standard: C-F-Bb-Eb-G-C and the 7th high string tuned up to F. So instead of adding a low string, I'm adding a high string by using a 7 string

[@HighZ]

That's cool! I haven't yet heard of a 7 string with the low string tuned up instead of down but it can definitely work! There's no law saying you have to put a thicker gauge string there too so anything really is possible. Pretty cool!

[@metalband]

U inspire me to post. Much love brother 🎸-George

[@HighZ]

Thank you, that means a lot! Music and KZbin are for everyone to enjoy so im glad I could help inspire more people to create!

[@AlexandersGuitarplay]

Amazing 😊👍🎶

[@HighZ]

Glad you liked it!

[@ChangoGuitarras]

Great video friend, thanks, like!

[@HighZ]

Thank you very much!

[@iduncanw]

You can also buy a guitar with a longer scale length, especially if you never plan of having a particular guitar in standard tuning. Might have having to go thicker strings. Presumably it then reacts similar to a regular scale in standard tuning. I haven't played one, but have been considering as one of the options. Question that I can't remember if I've asked you before with down tuning a double locking trem guitar - is there anything else to consider that you wouldn't normally need to do when setting up one in standard tuning? I know if it's factory setup as standard, the springs are going to need tightening.

[@HighZ]

Longer scale length is definitely an option! There will be the matter of longer stretches and how it affects tone, just as mentioned in that extended range video I did some months ago. For the double locking trem you're going to have to do a setup and will have to check all the boxes that a full setup entails. The bridge level, action height, truss rod, springs, intonation, the whole nine yards!

[@iduncanw]

@HighZ thanks. Guess that's why some folks just buy another guitar and keep it in another tuning. Great excuse to add to the collection. If you combine that with different pick-ups, that's a lot of guitars I "need" 🤪

[@georgeghleung]

I am still kind of debating whether to get my 7 string in 25.5 or slanted. Reason being that I really want to be able to do fret 3-5-7 stretch, which I only barely do in 25.5

[@HighZ]

It depends if you need to do that stretch on lower strings or not. All of my 7s have a 26.5 scale length and it sounds good for low rhythms. But I got a 25.5 one some months ago and it's very comfortable to play

[@sueroberts1161]

Go to know. How does Sable feel about downtuning?

[@HighZ]

As long as it results in more cat food in any way, she's all for it!