Tuning Down

[-E5150 StarWanderer-]

I can tell you all one thing; you can play ANY Sabbath-song in ANY key or tuning, worst case scenario is you'd have to (for example) swap the darkest notes on a riff to an octave higher, which then again kinda ruins the riff, but my point is it's doable. (I'm really into the philosophy of breaking the rules, but i also know you can't truly break the rules until you know them)
Not trying to ruin your conversation here, just wanted to point that out.

Now i'm going to pick up my Epiphone EB-0 Bass and pretend to be Geezer ;-)

Very true, in most cases I can transpose the song to another key in order to play it on my tuning. I could of course tune my guitar down, but I don't want to mess up my guitar's setup.

I use Eb tuning, so I have to transpose most of the Ozzy era material in order to play it. For an example, I play A National Acrobat in the key of D minor, when it's originally in E minor (correct me if I'm wrong). Like Monster Boy noted, I can't of course play songs that have open chords and notes correctly, but I'm able to play most of the songs I want in Eb as well.

Another trick I use to play songs that are originally in the C# tuning is the usage of the dropped C# tuning. By downtuning the low e string I can play songs like Children Of The Grave and Into The Void without having to tune every string down and ruining my setups. I do have to play the riffs little differently, but this allows me to play the guitar parts correctly.

[Axe fiend]

I appreciate the list of tuning for each album you put on here Axe Fiend!!

That is a great list by Axe Fiend.

Cheers!!

The only contentions I have are that "Sweet Leaf" is also in C# tuning. I think because it comes out sounding in the key of A led people to believe it is standard tuning. But if you listen to the middle section, Tony hits the low C# string open, which is the key to figuring out the tuning. Also, watching them play Sweet Leaf live shows that it is definitely in C# tuning.

I think you're right, when they played it live ('71 - '75), it would have been in C#, but I think the studio recording is in D (Full Step Down)

The other songs I would contend are "Laguna sunrise" and "Fluff" which both seem to be in standard tuning.

Yep, I think you're right. come to think of it though, I'm not sure what the tuning would be for "Orchid", "Solitude" or "Don't Start (Too Late)", there seems to be a pattern (On the ones we know of) where Tony plays acoustic stuff in standard tuning. I guess we'll learn more as we go along.
I'm also thinking that "Supertzar" is probably in Standard tuning as well.

[Monster Boy]

I think you're right, when they played it live ('71 - '75), it would have been in C#, but I think the studio recording is in D (Full Step Down)

Ah, I thought you meant it was in standard tuning, a mistake that a couple of Sabbath tab books I have looked at made. I just compared the middle part of Sweet Leaf to Into the Void and they are both in the same key, so I'm pretty sure Sweet Leaf is also C#.

Yep, I think you're right. come to think of it though, I'm not sure what the tuning would be for "Orchid", "Solitude" or "Don't Start (Too Late)", there seems to be a pattern (On the ones we know of) where Tony plays acoustic stuff in standard tuning. I guess we'll learn more as we go along.
I'm also thinking that "Supertzar" is probably in Standard tuning as well.

Interesting question about Solitude. It sounds in the key of G minor, which seems like a reasonable key to play a song in so standard tuning would be my guess, but there are no real hints, ie. no open strings that I can tell anyways, and there is no video of them playing this live to see what frets Tony is playing. I'd say it's very unlikely to be in C# tuning though because that would mean he is playing the song in Bb, which would be really outside the box for Tony. Orchid sounds in B major, but I'm pretty sure he is playing it in D major because of the chord voicings, so that is most likely tuned to C#. Don't Start is another one that's hard to tell, I'll have to get back on those last two, football's on!

[Axe fiend]

Ah, I thought you meant it was in standard tuning, a mistake that a couple of Sabbath tab books I have looked at made. I just compared the middle part of Sweet Leaf to Into the Void and they are both in the same key, so I'm pretty sure Sweet Leaf is also C#.

I went back and listened to "Live At Last", watched various videos on Youtube of Sabbath playing Sweet Leaf and I think you're right, it is C#, they just play it in a strange position (8th fret).

Interesting question about Solitude. It sounds in the key of G minor, which seems like a reasonable key to play a song in so standard tuning would be my guess, but there are no real hints, ie. no open strings that I can tell anyways, and there is no video of them playing this live to see what frets Tony is playing.

When I can't determine it from what Tony's playing, I'll usually strap on the bass and track along with Geezer to see if he's playing any open notes, although it can be really difficult considering how he's buried in the mix a lot.

[Billy Underdog]

Interesting question about Solitude. It sounds in the key of G minor

Well, it is in G minor. And since there's only two chords and none with open strings (atleast from what i can hear) there's no difference as to what tuning he's using, is there?

[Monster Boy]

Well, it is in G minor. And since there's only two chords and none with open strings (atleast from what i can hear) there's no difference as to what tuning he's using, is there?

Makes almost no difference for playing the song, yes. Knowledge has many uses though, and just because a piece of information isn't practical doesn't necessarily make it useless. In other words, it's fun to try to figure it out. Solving puzzles is fun! There are subtle differences in timbre as you move up the fretboard though and if you want a cover to sound "just right", it is very helpful to know what the original tuning is. So there

[Tilman]

Makes almost no difference for playing the song, yes. Knowledge has many uses though, and just because a piece of information isn't practical doesn't necessarily make it useless. In other words, it's fun to try to figure it out. Solving puzzles is fun! There are subtle differences in timbre as you move up the fretboard though and if you want a cover to sound "just right", it is very helpful to know what the original tuning is. So there

Regarding Solitude:

It has been a few years, but I´m quite sure, that the song sounded best in D-G-C-F-A-D

While the two chords during the verses may not be open chords, I found a tab, in which the tuning was the D tuning (as above) and there were open strings in the repeating licks. It just sounded better, playing the notes (as intended) in that tuning.

[Monster Boy]

Regarding Solitude:

It has been a few years, but I´m quite sure, that the song sounded best in D-G-C-F-A-D

While the two chords during the verses may not be open chords, I found a tab, in which the tuning was the D tuning (as above) and there were open strings in the repeating licks. It just sounded better, playing the notes (as intended) in that tuning.

I was thinking maybe he was playing it in A minor, interesting. I'm pretty sure there are no open strings though. The main reason I think that is the slide into the root note from a full step down (happens at 0:03, 0:09, and so on). Wouldn't be possible to slide from open to 2nd. But it's very possible it's being played around the 5th fret in a D tuning instead of 3rd in standard.

Listening back to Sabotage (football's over), the songs are actually slightly sharp of C# tuning. That's the sort of thing that happens when you aren't using electronic tuners. This helps explain why the mellotron in Megalomania sounds a bit out.

Anyways that's ultra picky. Don't Start seems to be tuned down, sounds like slackened strings somehow. It comes out as "just about F" being the starting pitch, but it just makes sense to me that he is starting on the 3rd fret, like Symptom of the Universe, because it is really an introduction to SOTU with its own track name. Sort of reminds me of how Iommi used to play that intro to Black Sabbath, and it's very similar to that intro in terms of tonal structure. And the main riff of SOTU does seem like a recomposing of Black Sabbath, doesn't it? So anyways, my vote is for just about D G C F A D tuning on Don't Start.

Supertzar sounds in E and has that little chugga sound so my guess is standard tuning there. The main clue for me is that it sounds like he is playing octave Es using the open E string and 7th fret on A string at 1:17, 1:22, and all spots like that throughout the track. Also, it makes sense that he would want to play in standard tuning when using a choir.

AIGI is in E, and since it is keyboard driven I think Iommi probably tuned standard here as well, but there are no open string references so that is a pretty weak guess. Same kind of thing with Who Are You?, it is in D minor, no way he used a C# tuning there and played it in F minor. Probably standard there.

Fun, see?

These are all guesses by the way, no way of knowing for sure.

[Monster Boy]

So, a revised list for the Ozzy years:

Black Sabbath: Standard

Paranoid: Standard

Master of Reality: all tracks tuned down 3 semitones except "After Forever" which is tuned down 2 semitones, and "Solitude" which is most likely standard tuning

Vol IV: most tracks pretty much (each song varies slightly) down 3 semitones except "Tomorrow's Dream" "Cornucopia" and "St Vitus Dance" which are all much closer to 2 than 3, and "Laguna Sunrise"which is standard. My guess is that Geezer tunes his bass to standard on the song "Changes" to match the keyboard but I'm not sure.

SBS: All songs tuned down to C# except "Fluff" which is standard, and "Who Are You?" which is probably standard again, (a keyboard thing?). SBS and National Acrobat are both significantly higher than C#, but not enough to call it D, kind of like the songs on Vol. IV. Side two the songs are more dead on.

Sabotage: All songs right around C# except Don't Start* which seems to be tuned inbetween 2 and 3 semitones down to a really out of tune D (assuming the song starts on the 3rd fret E string, which it may not) and "Supertzar" and "Am I Going Insane" are both most likely standard.

TE and NSD both in standard tuning.

On the detuned albums, it's best just to tune your guitar to each song individually, that is if you are trying to play along, because most of the songs are not tuned to an exact C# or D. If you use an electric tuner it'll sound wrong. Of course if you are just playing on your own, tune however the hell you want!

Note, I didn't go through the standard tuning albums because I just assume they are tuned exact, but I'm probably wrong about that. They are all "just about" standard tuning if not exact in any case.

* I wonder if perhaps the guitar for DS(TL) was tuned the same as SOTU but the tape was slightly sped up to make it sound more "dazzling".

****FX is tuned in W! Actually, the guitar sounds like it is in between C# and D tuning, closer to D. You can tell at 0:33 when you hear what would have to be the 3rd and 4th strings ring open. I know, I have gone too far with this one, but there you have it!

****I am using this page http://leware.net/temper/js/acc.htm for my reference pitches.

[Ochlocracy]

So Vol. 4 changes pitch slightly? I though my SG couldn't hold lower tunings. I feel dumb and relieved at the same time.

[Tilman]

Ok, one more comment from me:

The first two albums could be played in standard tuning, probably.

There are a few reasons, why this is not the case:

First off, I saw some live recordings (Paris, the "Copper" stuff they played. There is a video around, some of you may know that one) where you ca see the fretboard quite good on some occasions and Toni definitely has the guitar tuned down).
(Look at the studio recording of Paranoid, for TV, as well)

This makes sense, as this was the beginning of him playing with his fingers as they were. The wounds were quite "fresh", so playing tuned down relived his fingers from pressing too hard.

Geezer played rhythm guitar, before swapping that for a bass guitar, so he would have had it easier to play, as well.
(Back then, basses were quite hard to play, so tuning down really made a difference)

Third: Try playing in those two tunings (standard and D - tuning), there is definitely a difference and I would bet that D sounds "more right" , than standard tuning.


A lot of sites say that the first two albums were played in E standard and played live in standard D, but I still don´t believe that those albums were recorded in E - standard

Here is another reference:

http://playaguitarforfree.com/tony-i...black-sabbath/

[-E5150 StarWanderer-]

I was thinking maybe he was playing it in A minor, interesting. I'm pretty sure there are no open strings though. The main reason I think that is the slide into the root note from a full step down (happens at 0:03, 0:09, and so on). Wouldn't be possible to slide from open to 2nd. But it's very possible it's being played around the 5th fret in a D tuning instead of 3rd in standard.

Listening back to Sabotage (football's over), the songs are actually slightly sharp of C# tuning. That's the sort of thing that happens when you aren't using electronic tuners. This helps explain why the mellotron in Megalomania sounds a bit out.

Anyways that's ultra picky. Don't Start seems to be tuned down, sounds like slackened strings somehow. It comes out as "just about F" being the starting pitch, but it just makes sense to me that he is starting on the 3rd fret, like Symptom of the Universe, because it is really an introduction to SOTU with its own track name. Sort of reminds me of how Iommi used to play that intro to Black Sabbath, and it's very similar to that intro in terms of tonal structure. And the main riff of SOTU does seem like a recomposing of Black Sabbath, doesn't it? So anyways, my vote is for just about D G C F A D tuning on Don't Start.

Supertzar sounds in E and has that little chugga sound so my guess is standard tuning there. The main clue for me is that it sounds like he is playing octave Es using the open E string and 7th fret on A string at 1:17, 1:22, and all spots like that throughout the track. Also, it makes sense that he would want to play in standard tuning when using a choir.

AIGI is in E, and since it is keyboard driven I think Iommi probably tuned standard here as well, but there are no open string references so that is a pretty weak guess. Same kind of thing with Who Are You?, it is in D minor, no way he used a C# tuning there and played it in F minor. Probably standard there.

Fun, see?

These are all guesses by the way, no way of knowing for sure.

I don't know if the problem is with my tuner, but I have to tune my guitar slightly sharp when I play along songs from SBS and Paranoid as well. In fact, I have to do this fine-tuning with number of songs by the 70's bands.

[Billy Underdog]

This makes sense, as this was the beginning of him playing with his fingers as they were. The wounds were quite "fresh", so playing tuned down relived his fingers from pressing too hard.

From what i understand the accident happened in the mid 60's, so by this time he'd be pretty used to playing with his "thimbles".
(I was going to check the Jethro Tull R&R Circus-perfomance, but the only video apparently allowed on youtube was so bad i could'nt see anything...)

[Monster Boy]

A lot of sites say that the first two albums were played in E standard and played live in standard D, but I still don´t believe that those albums were recorded in E - standard

Here is another reference:

http://playaguitarforfree.com/tony-i...black-sabbath/

The best reference I can think of is to use your ear. Watching video he plays the song Black Sabbath on the 3rd fret, and listening to it and using something like this http://leware.net/temper/js/acc.htm, you can tell how the guitar was tuned (assuming the tape speed was not manipulated afterwards). I decided to do this with the first two albums now and, as I sort of expected, the tuning is not exacty to A 440 on most of the songs. The surprising thing is many of the songs are actually a bit sharp of 440, as opposed to the common conception that Iommi tuned down. Here are the results I got, not completely accurate because I was using my ear instead of some mechanical instrument, but my ear is pretty good. You can test it yourself using the site I linked by adjusting the pitch on the wheel until it fits the song. The only songs that are tuned down any amount at all are Sleeping Village/Warning. Here's my list, all readings are approximate:


BS
A440 except
Wicked World – A 445
Sleeping Village/Warning A 435

Paranoid

War Pigs A 445.11
Paranoid 445.11
Planet Caravan 445.11
Iron Man 446.61
Electric Funeral 446.61
Hand of Doom 448.99
Rat Salad 448.99
Fairies 448.31

I wonder if looking at these tunings may be a key as to what songs were recorded on the same day.

Edit: Thinking about that last idea, I thought that might help explain why the tunings on Vol IV vary so widely: The album took longer to record and most songs were recorded on different days. Here are the tunings:

The C# songs:

WOC: A440
The Straightener: A 440.58 (clearly recorded at another time and spliced in)
Supernaut: A 448.99
Snowblind: A 445.45
Under the Sun: A 443.96

The D songs:

Tomorrow's Dream: A 437.47
Cornucopia: A 432.44
St Vitus Dance: A 433.77

The standard tuning songs are dead on 440.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Much later

I thought of a better way to do this (after going through every song on the first 6 albums...yikes. My brain hurts). My ear has a little trouble when you get down to 2 or 3 cent differences. Maybe I could use Audacity to isolate a single note from each song and determine the frequency that way. I'll see if I can figure that out. Not sure why I care, but oh well.

[YouSaidItAll]

Depends on what Sabbath tunes you're playing. For example, if you're playing something from "Paranoid", you'd use: E-A-D-G-B-E (standard tuning). If you're Playing something from "Heaven and Hell", you'd use: Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Bb-Eb (Half step down), Something from "Born Again": D-G-C-F-A-D (Full step down), or something from "Vol. 4": Db-Gb-Cb-E-Ab-Db (One and a half step down).
Sabbath tuning by albums AFAIK:

- Black Sabbath (Standard Tuning)
- Paranoid (Standard Tuning)
- Master Of Reality (One and a half step down) Except "After Forever" (Full Step Down)
- Vol. 4 (One and a half step down) Except "Laguna Sunrise" (Standard Tuning)
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (One and a half step down) Except "Fluff" (Standard Tuning)
- Sabotage (One and a half step down) Except "Supertzar" (Standard Tuning)
- Technical Ecstasy (Standard Tuning)
- Never Say Die (Standard Tuning)
- Heaven & Hell (Half Step Down)
- Mob Rules (Half Step Down)
- Born Again (Full Step Down)
- Seventh Star (Full Step Down) A little sharp of a full step.
- Eternal Idol (Half Step Down)
- Headless Cross (Half Step Down)
- TYR (Half Step Down)
- Dehumanizer (Half Step Down)
- Cross Purposes (Half Step Down)
- Forbidden (Half Step Down) Except "Forbidden" and "Can't Get Close Enough" (Not sure what tuning they're in, I'm sure someone on here knows.

This is absolutely bang on. Though I feel compelled to add The Devil You Know to this list:

The Devil You Know (Half Step Down) Except "Rock and Roll Angels" and "Follow The Tears", which are both in Drop C# (C#-G#-D#-F#-A#-D#).


And now for a brief run-down of Tony's guitar tunings throughout the years...

OZZY ERA

I'm seeing a lot of talk of Tony playing with his guitar tuned down to D during the Ozzy era. This is not the case (with the exception of After Forever).

During the Ozzy era, aside from After Forever (which is in D), everything else was tuned to E (Standard tuning) or C# (One and a half steps down).

- Black Sabbath (Standard Tuning)
- Paranoid (Standard Tuning)
- Master Of Reality (One and a half step down) Except "After Forever" (Full Step Down)
- Vol. 4 (One and a half step down) Except "Laguna Sunrise" (Standard Tuning)
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (One and a half step down) Except "Fluff" (Standard Tuning)
- Sabotage (One and a half step down) Except "Supertzar" (Standard Tuning)
- Technical Ecstasy (Standard Tuning)
- Never Say Die (Standard Tuning)

For live shows, the tuning they were in would match the tuning of the album they were supporting (Ex. Paranoid Tour = E, Master Of Reality Tour = C#, etc.), which makes perfect sense, except that they would play the entire set in that tuning, including songs from albums in different tunings. For example: On the MoR, Vol. 4, SBS or Sabotage tours, since they were tuned to C#, when they'd play something off of the first two albums (let's say Wicked World or War Pigs, which were originally in E), it would be played a step and a half lower than it was on the original recording. For the Technical Ecstasy or Never Say Die tours, songs from MoR, Vol. 4 and Sabotage were played a step and a half higher than the original recording (They didn't play any songs from Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on this tour, but if they had, they same would apply to these songs). This is why when you listen to recordings of that era, some of the songs will sound DRASTICALLY different from the original version.

When the original band reunited in '97, Tony and Geezer started changing guitars onstage to enable them to play all of the songs in their original keys. A couple of exceptions/technicalities: Dirty Women was played in C# despite having originally been played in standard tuning, and although the other songs originally played in standard tuning were now being played in Eb, it was close enough. For example: On the Reunion album, they're playing all of the songs from the first two albums in Eb, and everything else in C#. For subsequent live shows, they started toying with this a bit and slowly started playing more and more songs in C#. By 2005, nearly the entire set was played in C#, leaving only The Wizard (transposed up a half step), Black Sabbath and Paranoid being played in Eb.

DIO ERA

Everything from the Dio Era is tuned to Eb. Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules, Dehumanizer and The Dio Years tracks and The Devil You Know are all in Eb. The only exception to this is Follow The Tears and Rock and Roll Angel from The Devil You Know, which are both in drop C# (C#-G#-D#-F#-A#-D#), which is Eb with the bottom string dropped to C#. Not the same C# tuning that was used for Master Of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage. Live shows for the Heaven and Hell, Mob Rules and Dehumanizer tours were also played in Eb tuning. However, for the Heaven & Hell reunion tour (2007-2009), they were tuned to D, but this was just for the live shows.

GILLAN ERA

The Born Again album with Gillan is in D (Full Step Down). They also played in this tuning for the live shows.

HUGHES ERA

Seventh Star is in Eb, it's just a little flat. When they played live, it was in Eb, so perhaps the master tapes were just a little slow.

MARTIN ERA

Everything from the Tony Martin Era is also all in Eb with the exception of the two tracks from Forbidden (Forbidden and Can't Get Close Enough).

[Jaydeeboxster]

There is some fantastic info contained in this thread which is really helpful to those of us not so talented that play along to the albums.

Being one of the not so talented, and also being lazy and not wanting to continually retune my guitar, I was thinking of buying a Morpheus drop tune. Has anyone played one of these (wouldnt mind some feedback before spending >£100).

[Monster Boy]

I was thinking of buying a Morpheus drop tune. Has anyone played one of these (wouldnt mind some feedback before spending >£100).

I've never heard of one of these before, just looked it up, seems pretty cool! As I noted above though, if you are trying to play along with Vol. IV for example, just setting the pedal to C# tuning won't quite get you in tune with the recording, you'll have to use your ear to fine tune it from there. But yeah, this sounds like a pretty sweet device for sure.

---------- Post added at 03:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:48 PM ----------

During the Ozzy era, aside from After Forever (which is in D), everything else was tuned to E (Standard tuning) or C# (One and a half steps down).

Try tuning your guitar to C# and playing along with Tomorrow's Dream, St. Vitus Dance, and Cornucopia, you will see for yourself that those songs are quite a bit sharp of C#, closer to D in fact. (TD is 10 cents short of D, 90 cents sharp of C#, Corn 30 cents short of D, 70 cents sharp of C#, STV 25 cents short of D, 75 cents sharp of C#. All approximate of course.) Other than that, well DS(TL) is also inbetween C# and D, I agree with you.

[YouSaidItAll]

Try tuning your guitar to C# and playing along with Tomorrow's Dream, St. Vitus Dance, and Cornucopia, you will see for yourself that those songs are quite a bit sharp of C#, closer to D in fact. (TD is 10 cents short of D, 90 cents sharp of C#, Corn 30 cents short of D, 70 cents sharp of C#, STV 25 cents short of D, 75 cents sharp of C#. All approximate of course.) Other than that, well DS(TL) is also inbetween C# and D, I agree with you.

It's true that some of the Vol. 4 tracks are rather sharp from C# (closer to a D, as you've mentioned), can't argue with that. That is certainly a technicality that will prevent a consensus from being reached on what we would consider these tunings to be (Is it C#? Is it D?). For anybody that wants to play along to the recordings, I think the best way to go about it is to tune your guitar to C#, and just try and play the first note of the song and tune THAT to the recording, along with every other string (obviously).

[MrCrowley95]

Hi there!
I'd like to ask about Reunion's two new songs - Psycho Man and Selling My Soul. How 'bout them? In my opinion Psycho Man is in C#, but I cannot be sure. I actually play Selling My Soul in C#, couse I made my own tabs, but I am just a begginer, so I'm not sure. Should I transpose all notes to E? or the other tuning?

Cheers!

[Monster Boy]

Hi there!
I'd like to ask about Reunion's two new songs - Psycho Man and Selling My Soul. How 'bout them? In my opinion Psycho Man is in C#, but I cannot be sure. I actually play Selling My Soul in C#, couse I made my own tabs, but I am just a begginer, so I'm not sure. Should I transpose all notes to E? or the other tuning?

Cheers!

Hey! Psycho Man is definitely in C# tuning, Selling My soul I have no idea though because I don't hear any open strings in there. It comes out sounding in the key of Bb minor, so I doubt it is standard tuning because I don't think Tony Iommi has ever written anything in that key. C# sounds reasonable, i have no idea though.

[MrCrowley95]

All right. I'm going to still play Selling My Soul by my way - in C#, but I'm already sure 'bout Psycho Man. Thank you

[Jaydeeboxster]

I finally took the plunge and bought a Morpheus Drop Tune and thought some feedback might be of interest. I tried it in the shop with a PRS Tremonti and a Marshall JDM amp. I tried it on most settings of the amp (and volume settings on the guitar). Results varied a bit, seemed polyphonic or artificial on some clean settings, but pretty good on driven sounds. Since I was planning to use mainly with driven tones thought I would take a chance on it.
Got it home and plugged in to my Cornford Harlequin (5w valve amp) with Pearl Overdrive pedal and tried with my Jaydee SG and a strat copy and what a revelation. Its sounds brilliant on both clean and driven tones, you would not know that you havent detuned your guitar. Works well even turning the volume on the guitar down. I have only really tried 1/2 step and 1 and 1/2 step down so far but am really impressed with it in my setup.
I am guessing that the problems I had in the shop were amp related (even though I didnt like the guitar to play not sure I can blame it) possibly because it was a modelling amp? (be interested in views of anyone else who has used one).
Anyway my advice is if you fancy one try it in your own setup first as they arent the cheapest bit of kit.

[Musicman11]

I'm still fairly new to the guitar and playing music as a whole, and to be honest I don't really know how to tune down guitars. I can do Drop D and that's about it, so what exactly should I be doing? I'd like to be able to tune my guitar down as far as possible for heavier sounds. Can you all help? Thanks, Musicman11.

[Billy Underdog]

I'm still fairly new to the guitar and playing music as a whole, and to be honest I don't really know how to tune down guitars. I can do Drop D and that's about it, so what exactly should I be doing? I'd like to be able to tune my guitar down as far as possible for heavier sounds. Can you all help? Thanks, Musicman11.

Just drop D and tune the rest of the strings like you do when tuning in E. If you use a tuner, the notes would be D - G - C - F - A - D. From there you can continue with drop C, then standard C-tuning, and so forth... I don't think you can get much lower than B with a regular guitar, but if you've got a 7-string or a baritone-guitar, i guess you could get pretty low. I myself use standard B on my baritone.

Then there's a whole lot of open tunings, but that's another story. (and another way of playing)

[Musicman11]

Just drop D and tune the rest of the strings like you do when tuning in E. If you use a tuner, the notes would be D - G - C - F - A - D. From there you can continue with drop C, then standard C-tuning, and so forth... I don't think you can get much lower than B with a regular guitar, but if you've got a 7-string or a baritone-guitar, i guess you could get pretty low. I myself use standard B on my baritone.

Then there's a whole lot of open tunings, but that's another story. (and another way of playing)

Thanks, so it's drop D, then 5th fret tuning, 5th then closest immediate string. Use the 5th fret of the D Tuned Low E to get the A to sound the same and so on to go down a step?

[Billy Underdog]

Thanks, so it's drop D, then 5th fret tuning, 5th then closest immediate string. Use the 5th fret of the D Tuned Low E to get the A to sound the same and so on to go down a step?

Yep, exept 4th fret on the G-string, ofcourse... Just like a regular tuning, only lower...