Another "how low do you go" thread...

guitarfishbay · August 2013

My band plays in drop D. Otherwise I play in E standard. I prefer the tone of guitars tuned closer to standard. I find the lower you tune an electric guitar the more restricted you are for tonal options if you want to use the full range of the instrument, especially if you want the low string to sound defined and not muddy but also want a reasonably thick sound from the plain strings. Clean tones work, and tight high gain tones work, but if you want something mid gain and warm I find that chords involving notes below a C are hard to get sounding right without compromising the rest of the guitar tone.

Acoustics are a different issue, I think baritone acoustics can sound incredible if a piece is specifically written to take advantage of their voicing. One day I'd love to own one.

IanSavage · August 2013

Personally I use D standard for most things as eighteen years of smoking has dropped my vocal comfort zone slightly; otherwise open G for slide stuff.