Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

[Lux84]

Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard, just because few favorite bands use that tuning on their songs? just to play kiss, gnr, green day, extreme, slayer, hendrix, pantera and some of judas priest... is it worth do that for learning process? i ask, because i am a bit confused, some of my favorite bands use e standard, and then comes the others with that e flat tuning... and i have an SG in standard e tuning, but now i am thinking to have the e flat tuning on my LP... is it worth do that ? i also was thinking of getting in different musical situations with different bands, so i think maybe it's good to have one guitar in e flat, if the singer or the band use it... to be honest, the e standard is good for me, and i still thinking on doing that half step down.. but more bands that i like plays in e standard, just a few plays in e flat, but i don't even know if the e flat should be something to create my own songs with. i am somehow setisfied with e standard tuning or drop d for now, so i don't know... please help, i can't decide !

 

[Axl H]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

E Flat can be very fun.

E standard is great, and I tune my guitars to that by default, but it can provide a fresh change of pace to tune a half step down. Can add a totally different mood to chord progressions etc, its alot of fun, IMO. try playing Breaking The Law tuned in E-Flat, that half step down gives it a very interesting and dark feel.

And on a Les Paul, it takes 30 secs to tune it back, so try it out for an evening, play around with it and see if you like how it sounds. I can only recommend it

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

If you need to be in Eb, you need to carry a guitar tuned and intonated for Eb. Similarly, if you were in a Rolling Stones tribute band, you would need a guitar tuned for Open G.

My own preference would be to keep the Les Paul in standard tuning and have the SG in Eb, possibly with a step up to heavier gauge strings to compensate.

My favourite source for tuning variations is the official Joni Mitchell website. Plenty of interesting tunings. Plenty of chords that are only physically possible to play in her tunings.

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

What do you have to lose by tuning a guitar down? 30 seconds of your life?

 

[CTN]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I have one guitar in C, one in D, and two in E (all standard).

if I had another one it'd probably be in E flat. I don't see any downside to keeping a bunch of guitars in different tunings.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Definitely have one in E standard. There's so much music in that tuning.

 

[Ball&Chain]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

For learning purposes, you could get a program like Transcribe. Load the song into Transcribe and you can change the key of the song to match your guitar. From there you can create loops in the audio as short as 1 note while slowing down the song to help in picking out notes or sequences of notes or whatever.

All my guitars are E flat. I listen to bands that do anything from E standard to drop C#/Db standard. The most I have to physically do to tune the guitar is drop the low E down a whole step.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Here is a simple solution tune the guitar down to E flat and when you want to play in E standard put the Capo on the first fret Problem solved.

 

[dominus]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Pfft.

Open C or Open B on my 6 strings...

...and A on my 7.

 

[B2D]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I keep my EC1000 in E flat and my Music Man in E standard. I looove playing in Eb tuning, the whole guitar just takes on a darker, slightly meaner vibe.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I keep three guitars in E-flat. Probably a third of my playing is best done in E-flat.

 

[tubecrunch]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I play all my songs in d minor. It's such a sad key....

 

[Mincer]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Keep at least 1 in E standard- you will get along a lot better with other non-guitar playing musicians. BTW, the TransTrem on my Steinberger does Eb (and D, F,and F#) in about 2 seconds.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I keep 3 guitars in D, 2 in C#, 1 in Eb, and the rest in E because I play a lot of Sabbath.

However, once you're in a band, you'll retune to the singer's vocals anyway, so may as well keep at least one guitar for that.

 

[J E C]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

When I get the new one built I'll have one in E standard, one in E flat, and one in drop D. All the time...... My 12 string acoustic is tuned to D flat and my 6 string acoustic I tune in one those three or ??? depending on my mood. You should do it, you'll be surprised at what you come up with!

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I play all my songs in d minor. It's such a sad key....

The saddest of all keys...

 

[tubecrunch]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Yes^ thank you for the assist. I'm just as lazy as I am sarcastic.

 

[Inkstained]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

I've had one of my Strats tuned down a half step for years. I don't remember it being a life-changing decision.

 

[Lux84]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Ok, i will go to that E flat, and if i'll like it i am gonna keep it. i would like to tune even strat in Eb, but it doesn't have humbuckers, i need a humbucker sound, so, for now: LP !

 

[CapoFirstFret]

Re: Is it worth to tune one of the guitars to e flat from e standard?

Here is a simple solution tune the guitar down to E flat and when you want to play in E standard put the Capo on the first fret Problem solved.

It is this exact approach that gave me my user name.