Downtune a 24.75” axe

[alex1fly]

Any considerations for doing this? I’ve had more immediate success with tuning down 25.5 axes. Just a snappier feel and more articulate sound. But I’m thinking about throwing some 12-60 strings on an SG to do drop C tuning for a while. Currently it has 10-46s and was beautifully set up by my local shop. I hate to undo the great work they did, but this guitar has been asking to be made fully into a rock machine for a while now, don’t know how much longer I can hold off

 

[GuitarStv]

You want big strings. If you use .10s in standard tuning, you're going to want .12s or .13s at least for drop C. Be aware that this is likely to require some filing to the nut slots.

 

[Chris Pile]

The shorter the scale length, the heavier the strings need to be to make a decent sound.

 

[jeremy]

or a much much lighter touch

 

[GuitarStv]

or a much much lighter touch

You can use .07s if you swap in a feather for your usual pick.

 

[Chistopher]

Drop C is one of those weird tunings where it's best to pick individual strings. You'll definitely want a big c string since its two whole steps down from e

 

[some_dude]

I’d keep using 10-46.

Part of the sound for me is the looser strings. If the low C is too loose, I’d bump that one string up to a 50, or switch to 11-50 just to make buying sets easier.

 

[Seashore]

Drop C is one of those weird tunings where it's best to pick individual strings. You'll definitely want a big c string since its two whole steps down from e

Agree with this, that bottom string is going to need to be thicker than you'll find in a preassembled set that'll work well for D. A problem with using thinner strings at lower tunings is that you can run out of room to adjust your saddles back for good intonation. The rest of the strings are only a step down from standard and the guitar will handle it fine, but for C I would personally want something like a 64. I use a 68 for B at that scale and a custom set from Kalium with a 63 for C#. I used to use the D'Addario baritone light set, but I don't love D'Addario XLs and the 62 wasn't a snappy enough bottom string.

Best thing to do IMO is use Stringjoy's tension calculator - https://tension.stringjoy.com/ - to figure out what tensions you prefer playing in other tunings or scale lengths, and then see what gauge string will get you there.

I tuned lower than this on my Gibson Explorer for years and it worked fine, but having the right string gauges, fresh strings, a good bridge and saddles, the right pickup, all that stuff was much more crucial and finicky than it is for getting a good tone in standard tuning. The feel and impact of the shorter scale with lower notes is awesome when you get it dialed in right. I think 24.75 is probably my fave scale length.

 

[PFDarkside]

If you like 10-46 in standard on a 25.5” guitar, these gauges will get you a very similar tension in Drop C on a 24.75” guitar:

11.5 / 15 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 60

 

[Seashore]

You want big strings. If you use .10s in standard tuning, you're going to want .12s or .13s at least for drop C. Be aware that this is likely to require some filing to the nut slots.

This is one of those terminology things where people sometimes use "drop" to mean the same thing as "lowered", but properly speaking "drop tuning" means a perfect fifth instead of a fourth between the bottom two strings, which I assume is what the OP means. Drop C is D standard with the bottom string only tuned down an extra whole step - .011 or .0115 on top would probably work great. 13s would be pretty rough for me at that tuning. Others' fingertips may be made of sterner stuff...

 

[alex1fly]

The set I’ve got is 60-46-34-20-16-12. Definitely okay with putting it in whichever key feels good tension-wise.

maybe I’ll make note of what I change on the setup so I can return it later

 

[PFDarkside]

I think that’s a good starting point. If any seem to tight you can reduce to the gauges I posted.

 

[JOLLY]

or a much much lighter touch

That's what works for me.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I use Ernie Ball 12-56 in Drop C in my Gibson, no issues. I used to use D'Addario 11-56. Those worked as well.

 

[Wattage]

I have 2 clients that tune C# on Gibson scale, they both use 12-60. Other than nut and saddle adjustments I had to open up the string hole on the low E (C#) tuner to pass the string. THey play Hardcore and Doom respectively with no issues.

 

[Seashore]

C# standard is a great tuning on 24.75 scale guitars. Low enough to have some real beef but bright enough to be lively. I'm addicted to E standard lately but C# feels like home whenever I go back to it. A half step down, at C, most of my guitars feel weirdly dead, even with the right string gauges.

On the other hand, the band I play bass for is tuned to C, and I have a 6-string Ibanez bass tuned in all 4ths from C to C# - a half step higher than a standard 6 string bass - and it sounds great.

 

[JMP/HBE]

Thank me later.

 

[alex1fly]

C# standard is a great tuning on 24.75 scale guitars. Low enough to have some real beef but bright enough to be lively. I'm addicted to E standard lately but C# feels like home whenever I go back to it. A half step down, at C, most of my guitars feel weirdly dead, even with the right string gauges.

On the other hand, the band I play bass for is tuned to C, and I have a 6-string Ibanez bass tuned in all 4ths from C to C# - a half step higher than a standard 6 string bass - and it sounds great.

I like this approach of tuning an axe to where it feels good and lively - letting it dictate the tuning.

 

[Chistopher]

I like this approach of tuning an axe to where it feels good and lively - letting it dictate the tuning.

I ended up with an Electric green Ebony fretboard Epiphone Explorer that sounds exceptional when tuned to EEEEEe

 

[Seashore]

I ended up with an Electric green Ebony fretboard Epiphone Explorer that sounds exceptional when tuned to EEEEEe

EGEFEE for optimum performance!