Have You Ever Used New Standard Tuning?

Ah yes, the old dammit I broke a string and I don't feel as much like re-stringing as I do playing so let's see what I can do thing. 

Just out of curiosity, I still don't to cords for crap after all these years dabbling, for any of you who use the new turnings, do you think it would be easier for someone such as myself?

Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: Good used guitars to look for would be Ibanez and Schecter.

Did we just agree on something

There is usually quite a few guitars on ebay for sure, although I prefer not to buy from there if I don't have to.
My personal choice is always sevenstring.org (and the site metalguitarist.org is kinda a sister site to that).
SS.org are VERY wary of low post count members when it comes to the buying sell and trading section of the forum. People have been ripped
Not a problem for someone like myself who has been a member there since September 2008 and has an average post count per day of 13.5 and has around 6750 posts and has bought from members in the past, but certainly if you're a new member you have to prove yourself as trustworthy and honest as both a member and trader. They ask for "references" which will be links to other forums where you've bought, traded or sold, or ebay.
Lots of great guys on SS.org and given I have more of an interest in guitars and metal than I do prog, you can imagine I love hanging out there.
Metalguitarist.org is even MORE wary of newer members, but it's still a good place to get good deals.

Good used guitars to look for would be Ibanez and Schecter.
I bought an Ibanez RG 7421 from a guy at SS.org and love it. It costs me 250 USD, and the frets were in amazingly good condition for a 10 year old guitar, and once I put new pickups in there it had a tone that was good enough for a professional level instrument.
The RG 7621, RG 7420 and RG 7620 are all great instruments too and can be had for good prices.
You'll find most SS.org users are aware of the realistic market values for their guitars, so you're unlikely to be ripped off.

The Pessimist wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: The Pessimist wrote: I use my own little tuning that goes a bit like: CGCGBE Basically one half of the guitar is drop C but with the shaping of drop D, and the other is standard. Basically this means i can hit really brutal riffs but still be able to play solos in scale shapes I'm used to. Disadvantages being obviously having to learn my full scales again, and learning solos can be a bitch. Incidently, didn't At The Gates tune all their strings a fourth lower than standard tuning? Not sure about At the Gates, but Carcass used 5 semi tones down, B standard though. Having a 7 string means I can chug along to Carcass when I feel like it, then put on some Opeth later and play that too These days, bands use anything from E standard all the way down to C below C standard. I've played an 8 string guitar before and it had a low F#, and honestly, I can't imagine C standard below C standard, because F# was already insanely low. In fact, the lowest I ever go is A anyway, and even then I don't normally play in drop A, usually just B standard 7 string tuning (B E A D G B E). Well just listen to Blinded By Fear and you'll definitely hear a low B in there. Whether the rest of the strings are tuned that way I don't know... And yeah, you're right about Carcass, and Meshuggah also have a very peculiar tuning (F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb correct me if I'm wrong). In their case though, it's very effective, with the guitar being more of a percussive instrument than a melodic one in metal. Although, I am surprised no one has mentioned the use of strange tuning in classical music. My classical guitar teacher has his 8 string arrange like thus: E E B D G C E F (the first four being copper wound, the second four being nylon). The stuff he plays though is almost impossible in standard tuning 6 string, even though he doesn't go below bottom E. And you are so lucky to find a 7 string. I've been looking for ages and they are either extortionate or not for sale As for going bottom C? It's so they can make the guitar just as brutal as a piano that's my hunch anyway

I wouldn't call Meshuggah's tuning peculiar, it's just an 8 string tuned down one semi tone, no different than tuning a 6 string down 1 semi tone, just it has 2 extra strings.
I'm not sure where you're looking, but I pretty much always see 7 strings going for reasonable prices, even bargains sometimes.
I'm about to get a new 7 string later this month or early next year. It's 2899 AUD brand new, but I'm buying one used that has barely been played by it's owner and has 700 dollars worth of modifications on it, but he's selling it for only 1300 AUD. When I saw the price I knew I had to jump on the deal and I told him within a month the money would be sorted.
You just gotta keep your eye out for those kinda deals, because while they aren't there every day, they do pop up from time to time.

Hmm... This sounds interesting.

mono wrote: I meant that when I tune my E string down to C, it sounds awful.

I would have assumed judging from the kinda of guitar player you were asking for in your "looking for a guitar player thread" you would be tuning below E standard anyway

Negoba wrote: Thanks for the ideas on string guages. I guess that would fix my worries about bending my truss rod by over tightening the high end and over loosening the low.

I'm a big fan of a 52 gauge for C, but it depends on what gauges you use tuned to E standard.
I was always a 9-42 guy, so 52 for C makes sense, 54 for B and 56 for A.
Try out anything between 52 to 60 and see what tension and feel works for you. f**king around with NST and getting the correct string gauges to work with it WILL need a set up for it to work at it's best, there is no way around it. Truss rod, intonation and possibly nut slots cut to a correct size or new nut entirely will absolutely be required.
This is why I just don't bother with all these alternate tunings, partly because I only really own one guitar I play regularly and once you want to go back to your original tuning you're compromising because of the differences in nut slot sizes which affects tuning stability.

The Pessimist wrote: I use my own little tuning that goes a bit like: CGCGBE Basically one half of the guitar is drop C but with the shaping of drop D, and the other is standard. Basically this means i can hit really brutal riffs but still be able to play solos in scale shapes I'm used to. Disadvantages being obviously having to learn my full scales again, and learning solos can be a bitch. Incidently, didn't At The Gates tune all their strings a fourth lower than standard tuning?

Not sure about At the Gates, but Carcass used 5 semi tones down, B standard though.
Having a 7 string means I can chug along to Carcass when I feel like it, then put on some Opeth later and play that too
These days, bands use anything from E standard all the way down to C below C standard.
I've played an 8 string guitar before and it had a low F#, and honestly, I can't imagine C standard below C standard, because F# was already insanely low. In fact, the lowest I ever go is A anyway, and even then I don't normally play in drop A, usually just B standard 7 string tuning (B E A D G B E).

yeah... it can disadjust your guitar and might need a callibration after... don't do this at home... the best thing to do is having each guitar with that different tunning...

I never play guitar and have no clue how to tune it to that, but I am interested. How would I be able to find out how to do so?

mono wrote: Petrovsk Mizinski wrote: mono wrote: C as the bass chord... most guitars can't play this correctly. What do you mean by this? Guitars can quite comfortably be tuned down to an octave below C standard if you use the correct scale length and string gauges. Most 25.5 inch scale guitars will easily be able to get down to A standard with no issues, so C standard is not much of a stretch at all. My 7 string guitar is a 25.5 inch scale instrument and it handles drop A with no issues provided I use a 56 gauge string. I meant that when I tune my E string down to C, it sounds awful.