What tuning do you most enjoy using?

[fadingessence]

depends what i'm playing really..I use C# a lot because I play quite a bit of melodic death metal, but I use D for faster (Bodom type) stuff. Then E for anything jazzy or if I want more of an opeth sound. Really it fits into whatever my biggest influence is with that tuning, so E is definitely the most versatile as far as styles go and I use it the most. I don't use drop tunings very much...


Someone mentioned it not being an instant solution for heaviness to drop tune, I think thats partially true but you have to admit certain things sound a lot more heavy in a lower tuning. Most In Flames or DT would sound pretty silly in E. That isn't to say Emperor or Opeth isn't heavy, just that with certain styles lower tunings add to the effect.

 

[MrMajs]

E standard and C Standard

 

[NAD]

I'm usually in regular tuning, but 1/2-step down is my favorite sounding one, and dropped-D is very useful at times. I play bass, by the way.

I don't really care for super down tuned stuff, it's the riff that makes it heavy, not the note.

 

[Sonnenritter]

Actually, it is the note that makes it heavy. What you meant to say is that it isn't the octave that makes it heavy. Sorry to be an ass, but I just needed to point that out. Anyway, I use standard all the time. Maybe it's just me, but I can't stand changing the tuning of a guitar that has a Floyd Rose on it.

 

[Lethe78]

D standard, one day I decided to learn all the songs off of The SOund of Perseverence and tuned to what they did, playing my songs in the band that way just sounded right, so that is all I tune to now, I also put 9's on my Les Paul DC, I like my strings spongy, very spongy!

Dude!!! I would get 11's if I were you; the guitar neck is supposed to have tension on it. You are tuning two steps down... that is quite a bit if tension lost.

 

[Emperor Nakoo Hiryuu]

Usually Eb...occasionally D or C#. And I often tune down to Bb to record the rhythm guitar for songs I write for a 7-string (Since I don't have one...yet...)

 

[ap3sHaT]

call me old-fashioned, but i like standard. i jam with a lot of different people, and so that just makes it easy.

 

[Dismal Prospect]

I have one guitar in Eb and another guitar in D standard. I like to learn lots of Michael Romeo's stuff. And I find its a tuning that has great playability. Eb just has an amazing sound. I dont really like E, its too plain and boring for me.

Oh also for some of my songs when im in D I like to put er in drop C and do some palm mutes with 9ths on the high E.

 

[Kate Bush Rules!]

Actually, it is the note that makes it heavy. What you meant to say is that it isn't the octave that makes it heavy.

Actually, rhythm has more effect on heaviness than the note.

 

[Mithrondil]

Eb Standard for me... fuck drop D.

 

[AjDeath]

Dude!!! I would get 11's if I were you; the guitar neck is supposed to have tension on it. You are tuning two steps down... that is quite a bit if tension lost.

*punches myself in face*


Suggestion taken, I must have had a brain fart for awhile, I didn't even think about it, just the feel of it, I change stings regularly and my next set will be elevens, piss me right the fuck off.

 

[Dead Winter]

I play standard tuning on one of my guitars for speed metal because I think thrash and speed metal sounds best in standard tuning.

I play D and drop C on my other guitar for certain songs and sounds.

Sometimes I play C# for the doomy stuff too.

But what do I like the best? B standard. Fuckin' A. There's nothing like playing Osculum Obscenum in B.

 

[PureRocker86]

c standard...just like the song of it.

 

[JonnyD]

E I love E its perfect for me I dont like to go lower than that just cause it makes my bass sould like a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit

 

[Johanna Häkkinen]

C standard.

 

[creepindeath66]

e standart

 

[TekChef]

both my guitars have Floyds on em, so..I tune one to E..the other to Eb

I play in E most of the time, I have the Eb around since a good majority of metal is tuned that way.
i would like to have a 3rd tuned to D though..so I could just play around with it.

 

[Sunbane]

I've been thinking a bit about this. I generally like to do whatever is best for the song. If the vocalist isn't comfortable with the vocal range of a song, it could be a good idea to tune down some. I try not to use alternative tunings very much though - mainly because I'm lazy, but also because I don't like to intrude in the sonic spectrum of the bass guitar. Bassists need space too. I keep my floyded guitar in E standard with .010 and use the others for alternative tunings.

But I really love the sound of a guitar in D standard. I use my Flying V for that (all mahogany, EMG81, .011 guage) and it gets this wonderful, distinctive "bark". Pure sweetness! =)

'bane

 

[plfffffft]

What kinda bridge do you guys prefer to use for dropped tunings? Floyd or non-locking tremolo?

I have my non-locking bridge Warlock anywhere between Standard E and D, depending on how well I feel like tuning it at the time, and my Rhoads with a Floyd at Standard C or B, depending on the string gauges.


I do tend to play the Warlock more often, and I have to agree with thrashmetal78, thrash and speed do sound a lot better in normal tuning.

But I do have to say that B and C are the most evil tunings on the face of the earth, so when I wanna write something evil as shit, I grab my Randy Rhoads

 

[Sunbane]

I'm only still getting used to the Floyd. I've always played fixed bridges or vintage trems (that I never used because they sucked). On the Floyd I always hit my pinky against the trem bar when I'm trying to play muted runs on the 1st and 2nd strings, and it's pissing me off each time hehe. =)

Isn't there generally more shredding and whammy tricks involved in the "lighter" kinds of metal such as powermetal? I think I would feel more comfortable with a fixed bridge for downtuned guitars, especially if you need to change tuning in a jiffy. That's not easilly done with a Floyded guitar.

'bane