Tuning a guitar in 5ths?[views:5839][posts:9]__________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 12:45am - Snowden ""] I have a fretless Ibanez Iceman that I'm thinking of tuning in 5ths. This is partly because I've been playing a lot of fiddle and mandolin lately and have been really liking that tuning for melody playing, and party because playing chords on a fretless is kind of a lost cause anyway - in 5ths I'd at least be able to hit power chords with no trouble. Has anyone here tried this? Because I've got a few questions: 1. does anyone make flatwound sets in the right sizes for this tuning? 2. if not, is there anywhere I can get mix-and-match flatwound string sets? 3. how do you deal with the high string? Seems like it would have to be impossibly thin unless I'm tuning super low. 4. even if I start at low C, my highest string ends up 3.5 steps above normal, ouch. 5. is this a terrible idea? |
| _________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 8:53am - Snowden ""] You guys are breaking my heart. |
| __________________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 8:54am - largefreakatzero ""] I'll go with #5. |
| _________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 8:58am - Martins ""] It's not a terrible idea. It's tuning a guitar like a violin or a cello I just think you'll need such small strings that your you'll need to up the tension in the truss rod a lot. Nevermind the fact that the strings might feel unbelievably loose or unbelievably tight. It's been done before though, so try it. |
| __________________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 10:38am - Conservationist ""] Sodopedia has an entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_fifths |
| ______________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 11:27am - ouchdrummer ""] Snowden - dude, what happened to your face? Seriously, it looks like you got the shit kicked outta ya? |
| _________________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 12:15pm - eyehatehippies ""] I've done it with the octave strings on a 12 string before, sounded cool. You can buy individual strings, and figure out which ones will work best for alt tunings. |
| ___________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 12:41pm - metalguy ""] www.juststrings.com |
| _________________________________ [Nov 17,2009 4:24pm - Snowden ""] ouchdrummer said:Snowden - dude, what happened to your face? Seriously, it looks like you got the shit kicked outta ya? That's actually an old picture taken right after I got back from the ER after a nasty bike spill. You can't tell, but I had stitches in my mouth which felt really fucking weird. I'm handsome again now, but still have a scar inside my lip. Anyhow, I've given this some serious thought and I think I'm going to try DAebf# with no high string for now - I'll only need one extra string and won't have to worry about finding individual flatwound strings. If that works out, I might cut a new nut (!) so I can add high octaves to the low D and A. |
| __________________________________ [Nov 24,2009 10:31pm - Snowden ""] All right I did this and so far I like it. D E A b f#. I think I'm going to look into getting a blank bridge and new nut so I can space the strings evenly. |