Altered Tunings: All on One Guitar?

Timcito · July 2023

If you like playing in one or more altered tunings, do you re-tune the one guitar all over the place, or do you have a few guitars and designate one tuning per guitar with strings in gauges to match?

I've had more than one acoustic for most of my guitar-playing life, and at various times I'll designate one guitar for DADGAD or open G/Gm or open C and buy strings that fit that tuning - a tighter 1,2, & 6 for DADGAD, a tighter 1,5, & 6 for open G/Gm, a tighter, 1,5, & 6 and a lighter 2 for open C tuning The problem with this is that I know many more songs in standard tuning than I do in altered tunings, and if I've put string sets on a guitar in line with a specific tuning, that restricts me from tuning back to standard. So, sometimes I'll just use a standard set of strings and tune them all over the place, which can mean a rather floppy feel on the strings that have been tuned down.

What do you do?

idiotwindow · July 2023

I normally have one guitar (electric) tuned in open G and the others in standard tuning. I don't bother with string gauges specific to a particular tuning.

thecolourbox · July 2023

Having recently discovered the joy of CGCFCF whilst restringing my guitar, I feel like I'd need separate instrument to leave in that tuning as it's too different, however sadly having two acoustics is too much space! But I think in an ideal word I'd use an instrument per tuning especially for acoustic.

The only other tunings I use in electric is Open A (or G) or Open E which seem less of a change than something like DADGAD or the one I liked above, so I seem to have less issue with changing between tunings on that than with the acoustic which seems more likely to break things.

stickyfiddle · July 2023

I variously use open G, D, E and a tiny bit of DADGAD.

I switch between them as & when I need on whatever guitar I need. I have never once had a defined “open tuning guitar” or considered using anything but a regular set of strings

Timcito · July 2023

stickyfiddle said:

I variously use open G, D, E and a tiny bit of DADGAD.

I have never once considered using anything but a regular set of strings

Do you find this wears out your strings prematurely? I've done this recently with one guitar, and it seems like I'm going to have to re-string it much sooner than if I had left it in standard the whole time.

stickyfiddle · July 2023

Timcito said:

stickyfiddle said:

I variously use open G, D, E and a tiny bit of DADGAD.

I have never once considered using anything but a regular set of strings

Do you find this wears out your strings prematurely? I've done this recently with one guitar, and it seems like I'm going to have to re-string it much sooner than if I had left it in standard the whole time.

I mean maybe if you’re changing tunings a lot, but we’re talking a difference between snapping one string every couple of years to maybe twice a year.

If I was gigging mixed tunings I’d probably want specific guitars for that, but I feel like that would be more about keeping a set flowing as it would be about saving strings!

Timcito · July 2023

stickyfiddle said:
I mean maybe if you’re changing tunings a lot, but we’re talking a difference between snapping one string every couple of years to maybe twice a year.

If I was gigging mixed tunings I’d probably want specific guitars for that, but I feel like that would be more about keeping a set flowing as it would be about saving strings!

And you don't worry about the varying amounts of pull on the neck with strings getting tightened and loosened?

stickyfiddle · July 2023

Timcito said:

stickyfiddle said:
I mean maybe if you’re changing tunings a lot, but we’re talking a difference between snapping one string every couple of years to maybe twice a year.

If I was gigging mixed tunings I’d probably want specific guitars for that, but I feel like that would be more about keeping a set flowing as it would be about saving strings!

And you don't worry about the varying amounts of pull on the neck with strings getting tightened and loosened?

Not remotely! I generally favour middling strings (9/10s on electric, 12s on acoustic) but I figure if electrics can happily take 8s to 12s and acoustics 10s to 13s I'm not going to hurt anything with a smidge of a tension change

earwighoney · July 2023

Not too long ago when I just had the one acoustic guitar (they seem to have multiplied) and I'd play live, I'd use a lot of different open tunings in a set and would change between those tunings when practising. The downside is I wouldn't get a lot of mileage from one set of strings. I'd never be too bothered about strings being a bit looser in some tunings more than others. I prefer to have a slightly higher string height at the 12th fret than some which may help.

Now I keep my guitars largely to the one group of open tunings (right now, sits in Open D) and maybe another in Open C. Strings seem to last a lot longer.

blobb · July 2023

I tune them on the fly, but I usually have 2 guitars on the go and they can be in the same or different tunings at any one time. Right now, they are in std and dadgad. I think the idea in my head is that I want to get away from the concept that they are in any specific defined tuning. I've already forgotten which of the 2 is which. I want to be able to pick up a guitar, play it any tuning no matter what it is called and detach myself further from the world of rules. So far it's working.

WafflesOnHorseback · July 2023

thecolourbox said:

Having recently discovered the joy of CGCFCF

Now that sounds interesting! Never even occurred to me and never tried it but now I want to. Would love to hear something in that tuning if you have a link or something. Ta!

thecolourbox · July 2023

I've been learning some Nick Drake songs as people often mention him when I sing, so I thought I might as well go along with it. That's a tuning he uses, I guess amongst others (I've only learnt vocals so far on anything other than this one)

And me whilst changing strings (minus the third string as it had broken, prompting the strong change in fact)

WafflesOnHorseback · July 2023

That's lovely. Alot more resonant getting down there yeah? Tuning must be a bugger.

thecolourbox · July 2023

WafflesOnHorseback said:

That's lovely. Alot more resonant getting down there yeah? Tuning must be a bugger.

I imagine it would be more resonant with a good guitar yeah - mine's a pretty rubbish quiet small sized guitar so resonance is an unexpected bonus and surprise if it ever occurs haha. Bear in mind I was on capo 3 I think so that would have brought it back up to Eb or E - I tuned it by ear not by any actual reference tuner, and my ear tends to be about half a semitone flatter than standard 440hz tuning, so "standard" tuning before probably wasn't at normal pitch and therefore my retuning would have been different accordingly. But the intervals were correct

I'd describe the sound and feel as happy & sad at the same time. Lots of effectively power chording the bottom 3 strings, and adjusting on the top three strings between major, minor, sus4, etc etc

thomasross20 · July 2023

I think one tuning per guitar is best. Takes time for the guitar to rest... and with specific strings for that tuning. No doubt about it.

BUT... I've never done that. BUT then I don't play enough in other tunings.
If I did/// I'd probably go that way. Else suffer floppy strings and tuning instability.

Soupman · July 2023

@thomasross20 sounds like you need another guitar or two......

Timcito · July 2023

thomasross20 said:

I think one tuning per guitar is best. Takes time for the guitar to rest... and with specific strings for that tuning. No doubt about it.

BUT... I've never done that. BUT then I don't play enough in other tunings.
If I did/// I'd probably go that way. Else suffer floppy strings and tuning instability.

And therein lies the issue. My tendency is to designate a guitar to a particular tuning so that the strings 'rest.' However, since I'm largely unfamiliar with chord shapes and scales in open G or DADGAD, for example, I learn fixed fingerstyle pieces from tab/notation - stuff from Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. I can play various pieces by Pierre Bensusan and Pat Kirtley in DADGAD, some songs in open G and open Gm by John Renbourn and others. But to leave a guitar in either of those tunings is limiting because I can play those pieces and that's it, and with a nice guitar that can be a bit frustrating. That's when I say bugger it and tune one guitar all over the place!

thomasross20 · July 2023

Yeah I'm with you there... You really need to devote yourself to a repertoire in a tuning else is no point reserving that guitar. So I don't lol.

@Soupman interestingly I have put myself on the list for a custom built Canadian guitar with 2 year waiting list...

Good old Mellish would laugh about that one!

ToneControl · July 2023

I do dedicate guitars to alternate tunings
Benefits are more tuning stabilty, and better string tension (& therefore better sound)

Lestratcaster · July 2023

Dedicate guitars for different tuning as well. I once played an acoustic set with 3 different guitars all in different tunings. I actually used 4 tunings throughout but 1 song was only 1 string that needed to be changed so I used the same guitar. I have a bad tendency to break strings when tuning up and down so frequently so would rather just leave the guitar in that tuning I need it for then simply swap the guitar.

Stuckfast · July 2023

One guitar, many tunings for me. It's a bit of a compromise especially when you tune the lowest string down to C and it gets floppy, but it's workable.

Timcito · July 2023

Certainly on tutor videos, the guitarist always says, if a different tuning is used, that 'we are going to tune down this string to that, and that one to this. etc.' They give the impression that when they use an altered tuning, this is what they do - use the same guitar and alter its tunings as and when. They never suggest that the student should designate one guitar to the tuning they are using. Some might say that these teachers are imagining an audience that has only one guitar, of course, but I've never really thought that.

Stuckfast · July 2023

I think it depends how far away from standard tuning you're likely to go. Some folk players like to use tunings with unison pairs, like say CGCGGD or something. In that case you're not going to want to have one of the Gs be wound and the other plain for example. Or if you're tuning the top E string right down to an A you wouldn't want to be using a .009.

stickyfiddle · July 2023

Timcito said:

Certainly on tutor videos, the guitarist always says, if a different tuning is used, that 'we are going to tune down this string to that, and that one to this. etc.' They give the impression that when they use an altered tuning, this is what they do - use the same guitar and alter its tunings as and when. They never suggest that the student should designate one guitar to the tuning they are using. Some might say that these teachers are imagining an audience that has only one guitar, of course, but I've never really thought that.

I would assume part of this is down to online lessons being aimed at people new to it, so when explaining how to use a given tuning it they make it obvious that if your bottom string is tuning to C it’s the C below the normal E pitch, not the one above, etc etc

BahHumbug · July 2023

I used to do a lot of playing where I was changing between various modal tunings - Martin Simpson, Sam Carter, Nic Jones, Chris Wood stuff, as well songs in standard tuning. I just used one guitar and got good at re-tuning (and living with the intonation issues).
I did find that the strings would fatigue at the point where they wrap around the tuning posts, so breakages would occur - usually the 3rd and 4th strings would go while being detuned.

BahHumbug · July 2023

Also, watching some of the above named players live, plus some others, eg Clive Carroll, who use a variety of tunings…..they might travel with a couple of guitars, but one is just a backup. Generally they’ll do a gig with one guitar and retune while introducing the next song/tune.

drofluf · July 2023

As @Stuckfast says it depends on your range of tunings. I can go from CGCGCD via DADGAD and drop D to standard comfortably on the same set of strings

Stuckfast · July 2023

BahHumbug said:

Also, watching some of the above named players live, plus some others, eg Clive Carroll, who use a variety of tunings…..they might travel with a couple of guitars, but one is just a backup. Generally they’ll do a gig with one guitar and retune while introducing the next song/tune.

I could wish Martin Carthy DID bring more than one guitar. Most of his set seems to be retuning...

ToneControl · July 2023

drofluf said:

As @Stuckfast says it depends on your range of tunings. I can go from CGCGCD via DADGAD and drop D to standard comfortably on the same set of strings

also your gauges - I use 11s and they get flappy if you drop them really, and tone suffers.
For DADGAD I tune up a semitone to get the same average tension if I retune with ordinary 11s

Timcito · July 2023

stickyfiddle said:

Timcito said:

Certainly on tutor videos, the guitarist always says, if a different tuning is used, that 'we are going to tune down this string to that, and that one to this. etc.' They give the impression that when they use an altered tuning, this is what they do - use the same guitar and alter its tunings as and when. They never suggest that the student should designate one guitar to the tuning they are using. Some might say that these teachers are imagining an audience that has only one guitar, of course, but I've never really thought that.

I would assume part of this is down to online lessons being aimed at people new to it, so when explaining how to use a given tuning it they make it obvious that if your bottom string is tuning to C it’s the C below the normal E pitch, not the one above, etc etc

This isn't so. The stuff I use from Stefan Grossman's Workshop is typically listed as Intermediate, with much of it being Advanced. People don't typically learn four-part classic ragtime tunes after playing for six months! And yet the instructors still go through the routine of 'We're going to tune our first string down to D, our second ...' etc.

Timcito · July 2023

drofluf said:

As @Stuckfast says it depends on your range of tunings. I can go from CGCGCD via DADGAD and drop D to standard comfortably on the same set of strings

I'm currently doing this on one guitar with a minor variation - from standard to DADGAD to CGDGCD. I wince a little as I tighten up that second string - it travels up two whole tones to get to that C!

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Altered Tunings: All on One Guitar?

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