I tune down the first string of my bass to D and have the other three strings tuned up to E...some of the songs my band plays are in D while others are in E...usually the first half of the set is songs in D and the second half are the songs in E...

got back to standard E after a week or so having tuned to standard D. sure feels good to be back

hm ... i'm using 0.13 jazz strings and i'm playing in standard C, sometimes i drop it down to A#.
i

I keep my Jackson KV2 King V tuned to D standard for my band. My other guitars are usually tuned to standard, or a half step down if I'm playing some Malmsteen.

My entire deathmetal band plays in standard and is still ultra heavy.

/ Like the guy from Sepultura said - *insert latino accent* - "You don't have to tune low to be heavy!!". Which is true, funny though, 'cause sepultura never ever have had guitar tones that i would consider heavy but...

Metallica's black album was recorded in E, not sure if the top string was also E or dropped to D, and it was a lot heavier than say, some Slipknot albums which were recorded in C dropped B!

Standard sounds awesome because of how tight everything sounds.. For death metal we play in standard, buy my stoner/doom metal band plays in Z flat because its funny when the low end breaks everything.

Written by Guest on 04.02.2008 at 07:14

I keep my Jackson KV2 King V tuned to D standard for my band.

I have the exactly same guitar tuned in the same tuning you have. Cheers!
My other guitars are tuned in standard E (my Ibanez RG7 of course with the B at the bottom) but they don't have a tremolo lock (except for the Ibanez) so I frequently use drop D tuning as well.

Written by Remus on 16.02.2008 at 12:10

/ Like the guy from Sepultura said - *insert latino accent* - "You don't have to tune low to be heavy!!". Which is true, funny though, 'cause sepultura never ever have had guitar tones that i would consider heavy but...

Metallica's black album was recorded in E, not sure if the top string was also E or dropped to D, and it was a lot heavier than say, some Slipknot albums which were recorded in C dropped B!

I agree that you don't need to tune low to be heavy...but The God That Failed from the Black Album is recorded in Eb, to get a heavier sound So tuning low can make a song heavier, but it isn't necessary to make a heavy song!

Standard. I can't stand ultra-low tunings.
OCCASIONALLY I use drop-d too. Very sparingly.

I just use standard tuning for my guitar and bass, my friend/college switches tuning types depending on what kind of song we're doing and whether it's one electric or acoustic.

I play in standard E, and thank goodness DragonForce does too! I despise Eb tuning; it is a waste of my time to tune an entire guitar down a half step. Drop D isn't too bad for some stuff, but really the only time I use these other tunings is when I'm playing songs that are tuned that way. I've tried some funky tunings when playing some neo-bluegrass and weird stuff like that, i.e. Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp by Led Zeppelin, but I always come back to E.

I always play in standard D - DGCFAD. I am used to playing a lot of Death material and that is the tuning they play in, along with many other Death Metal bands. I love how it can sound very heavy but also not too heavy.

Written by Hangar XVIII on 25.02.2008 at 16:33

OCCASIONALLY I use drop-d too. Very sparingly.

I used to do that, but now adays it follows too much Metalcore and I'm not a fan of Metalcore. (I have a friend obsessed with Metalcore which is how I know this)

Yeah, standard D is pretty useful, that's lowest I go on my bass since going lower screws up the pegs. I get my low pitch to add to anything that I'm used playing in Standard E, and walking bass liners starting in and around the low D is much fun.

I'm a standard kinda guy. I may do some downtuning for certain things, but for the most part standard is all that's really Neceserry.

Written by Lord TJ on 08.05.2008 at 21:33

I always play in standard D - DGCFAD. I am used to playing a lot of Death material and that is the tuning they play in, along with many other Death Metal bands. I love how it can sound very heavy but also not too heavy.

Written by Hangar XVIII on 25.02.2008 at 16:33

OCCASIONALLY I use drop-d too. Very sparingly.

I used to do that, but now adays it follows too much Metalcore and I'm not a fan of Metalcore. (I have a friend obsessed with Metalcore which is how I know this)

I've started to tune to D Standard insead of drop D.

I play in standard d or in dropped c tuning
many of COB or death songs are in standard d tuning

i play in Drop C and D standard.

im normally in standard tuning or half a step down

Written by Lord TJ on 08.05.2008 at 21:33

I always play in standard D - DGCFAD. I am used to playing a lot of Death material and that is the tuning they play in, along with many other Death Metal bands. I love how it can sound very heavy but also not too heavy.

Written by Hangar XVIII on 25.02.2008 at 16:33

OCCASIONALLY I use drop-d too. Very sparingly.

I used to do that, but now adays it follows too much Metalcore and I'm not a fan of Metalcore. (I have a friend obsessed with Metalcore which is how I know this)

You seriously don't use a tuning because its popular in a genre you don't like?

Written by Zombie, M.D. on 04.06.2008 at 09:57

You seriously don't use a tuning because its popular in a genre you don't like?

Kind of, it just makes me think of bands like BFMV and Killswitch Engage when I play stuff in that tuning and then I don't enjoy it.

i honestly don't like playing in those C standard and drop C tunings. i find it makes it sound to sloppy. i much prefer standard tuning cause u can d anything on it and it still sounds heavy. i'll occaisonaly use drop D but...yeah

Mainly drop C, standard D, or drop Bb. You gotta have the right guitar though, because I've noticed that some guitars lose sustain when dropped below D.

Most instruments aren't designed to go so low i.e. standard A or B, it can really fuck up the action on the guitar as well as the pegs.

Written by Remus on 16.02.2008 at 12:10

/ Like the guy from Sepultura said - *insert latino accent* - "You don't have to tune low to be heavy!!". Which is true, funny though, 'cause sepultura never ever have had guitar tones that i would consider heavy but...

Metallica's black album was recorded in E, not sure if the top string was also E or dropped to D, and it was a lot heavier than say, some Slipknot albums which were recorded in C dropped B!

Its not just the guitar string tuning or gauge that make something sound heavy, you have to think about the amp being used and then the mastering of the song.

My band plays in C, and then for one song we play in drop B, using PEAVEY 5150s for our amps too. Distortion on Rythm channel... monstrous!!

Also the ENGL amps are beasts!.

The dropped D... To play Lamb Of God

Usually my bass is standard, drop D, 1 step down, or seldomly, 1 1/2 steps down

At the moment I have two main 6-string electirc guitars, acoustic guitar and a 5-string bass.

The first electric geetar is in standard E, the second - a baritone scale - is in standard C or B, depending on wheter I play with the band or record stuff at home.
The acoustic guitar is in open C major. It's pretty nice a tuning, something to doodle around with.
Bass is tuned to standard B.

I should get a couple of more guitars soon, which will be tuned r B (7-string) and the other, 6-string, probably drop-D or Eb.

Standard E is a must. You can learn and play _music_ more easily when using a familiar tuning.
C/B is for Medicated: our vocalists vocalrange is at it's best in C. And the sound rocks also. I change the tuning down to B when I record stuff - then I'm able to record the bass lines for songs more easily. This doodling with tunings should come to an end when I'll get the 7-string guitar.
Umm. Drop D? There are some cool bands which use drop-tunings, so it'll be cool to learn/play their songs also.

I honestly don't like drop C or even C standard. i feel like it just makes the playing boring.

i like standard and drop D

I always use standard E