Another guitar tuning stuff

marvelous_seven

New member
Recent posts about string gauges and tunings made me wonder:
How many of you use the NST tuning?
You know, all fifth except the highest string in minor third or fourth. For example, low to high CGDAEG or CGDAEA.
What string gauges do you use for it? And in what scale?
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

I've use that tuning in the past. You probably want to use a heavy bottom/light top set or something similar. The thinner high strings will tune up easier and fat bottom strings will have better tension tuned lower.

I've played with it in 25.5 scale but 24 3/4 seems better for me but I like low tension.
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

Yeah I've thought about using customize string gauges to try it too. Luckily d'Addario has many different string gauges.
Hmm hmm
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

I'm still not clear on why you'd want to use it? I mean, I use open tunings for slide, but this seems to me (without actually doing it), that it's for rock/metal type stuff? What does it do, let you play one-finger power chords all over the place?
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

Not really, on the paper it looks cool that we have very wide range of notes. If we're into symphony/orchestration that requires very wide notes to be play on a guitar then it is a must to do it. Even we can use seven string and tune it so we don't need eight string anymore (FCGDAEG). See? ;)
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

I have a hard enough time playing in standard tunings. When i'm feeling exceptionally adventurous, I sometimes drop the low string down a whole step. Its an unreal "by the seat of your pants" type experience to be sure.
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

Except the only thing that bugs me after I draw the fretboard layout: it seems very hard to do full pentatonic runs let alone full standard major ones using standard picking and fretting technique unless you have big hands. But it can be one worked out though, I just need to work my hammer-ons, pull-offs and tappings. One finger chord? check. Power chord slide? check. Wide range of notes? check. Cooler than your average joe tunings? check. :D
 
Re: Another guitar tuning stuff

Meh. Coolness is directly related to functionality. IMO if you have to re-learn note locations and put out more effort to do simple Pentatonic box runs, then you're doing something wrong. The frets are already laid out in the simplest note-relation configuration, no sense in changing all of that just so you can dream about saying "yeah I use a mixed tuning of 5ths and fourths" in a Guitar World interview someday.

However, I can see the benefit of 1-finger chords and such for those with an injury, but I can't see it working too well for solos.
 
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