Hate to admit it...standard BEADGBE sounds brutal

[Andromalia]

So are the rest of those bands.

Wrong.





























Max Cavalera uses 4 strings guitars.

 

[Origin]

Most if not all black metal I've heard is either standard sixes or not straying very far from it, with a very occasional song with sevens or something similar, and as you know if you get into it, it can sound very, very heavy. When the guitarists can actually play anyway..

 

[Ben.Last]

As has been said, "brutal" or whatever we want to call it doesn't come from the tuning. How one tunes their guitar is simply a tool to play with the fingerings that work for the individual.

 

[Triple-J]

I like to use drop-A because I picked up a book on how to play jazz on a 7 which features a lot of chords and scales all in that tuning plus I'm a huge fan of Page Hamilton and I've been learning a lot from his dvd recently which is in drop-D but I'm not a fan of drop-A with distortion as it sounds way too nu-metallic for my liking.

Apart from that it's standard B tuning for me as so many of my tab books are for standard anyway plus there's some stuff I love to play which isn't heavy at all but is actually detuned or played on baritone's such as The Cure who tend to play a lot of stuff on baritone 6's.

 

[Inazone]

Heavy has a lot more to do with playing style and EQing than tuning. My main band plays six-string in standard tuning, and we rarely play more than two songs in the same key in a live set or even on an entire album. I was hanging out at a friend's studio, and one of his clients was talking about gear with me. I put one of our unmixed new songs on there, and he asked what we tuned down to. I pointed out that not only was it in standard tuning, but that we rarely even went "all the way down" to a low E in the entire song. It was more about the pickup/wood combination and EQ settings.

I've thought about tuning my sevens down, but always resist on the grounds that I'd never need to go lower than B. Of course, that's also with clean female vocals, so I actually need more range on the high end.

 

[-One-]

I've never actually written in anything below BEADGBE on my 7-string, or CGCFAD on a 7-string, which have lately become my two most preferred tunings, although I also venture into 6-string DGCFAD.
I'd really like another 7-string for a modified drop tuning I came up with though (GCGCFAD), as it is the 7-string equivalent of 6-string drop C, but allows for single finger powerchords on the low G as well as the low C.

 

[Metal Ken]

Carcass and Arch enemy both play(ed) in B standard. Arch enemy changed to C when Angela joined. Two of my favorite bands.

They actually switched before she joined. The "Burning Japan" live album from the Burning Bridges tour was in C standard w/ Johann on vocals.

 

[BobUBastard]

Thanks for all the responses...what string gauges is everyone using if you tune standard on a 7? I have 10 to 59 Daddario's on my 26.5 scale, but im thinking of going lighter. I read somewhere that both Dino and the guys from Meshuggah use light strings. I've been playing with "Bridge Cable" for so long that the extra tension is getting to me. Also, i've notice that I get more string buzz with thicker strings because I like moderately low action with slight relief in the neck.

 

[Richie666]

Tbh I've never been sold on drop tunings. They might be great for the chunga chunga stuff, but they just put the notes on the fretboard in a less logical position for scales and chords, which is lame. I've always stuck with standard, whether its B or E standard.

For certain chords and voicings it is logical. However you're totally right about scales. I find you can play 9th chords very easily as well as root fifth third chords or any variation.

As for the original topic, hell yes BEADGBE can be heavy as tits, but every tuning has it's place

 

[hutchman]

My old Death metal band tuned to standard B on sevens. And we we brutal and heavy as fuck. My current band is not as heavy (although I like this band way more) and we tune to Bb.

So any way there are many, many examples of bands that prove that low tuning does not mean heavier.

 

[Dethfield]

One thing i really like about 7 and 8 string guitars is that for the most part, you dont have to tune down to play songs in lower tunings because the notes are already there. The band im in right now is considering playing a few songs that are not in standard E, but im not worried about changing tuning because i have my 8 strings. This is why i have never found a need to tune any lower. The only reason i tune my 8's to drop E (EBEADGBe) is to get full access to the lowest octave. My universe is tuned standard is will always stay that way.

 

[eventhetrees]

This thread was an interesting read... got me thinking about my tunings haha.

Generally I only tune to standard to jam with songs and what not. But with my band and when I write songs it's mostly Eb/Drop C#, or C# Standard/Alt Tunings (no drop B's yet). I just like the way half step tunings sound to me, like open strings and just the feel overall. Also with Eb I can get the low G# if I want by just going an octave below my A string, that's always fun to do too, when desiring that low sound, makes for fuller chords (SiKth haha...) My 7 is tuned to Bb, to keep with the Eb trend I have haha.

 

[Hellbound]

On my Shecter 7 string 26.5 " scale I play in D standard with low G on the top string. Love it. Get to play along with many Dimmu Borgir songs and also the awesomeness of low riffage to have that Messhugah-ish sound.

Once again I love this tuning and don't plan on changing any time soon.

 

[Antimatter]

I play in standard tuning on a six but occasionally drop D or C.
When I get my 7 soon I'll probably have it in Bb, but I'll have to get used to the wider neck.

 

[fuzzboy]

I don't discriminate. I wrote 15 songs with 8 different tunings, so there you go

 

[damigu]

standard B on a 7 string kicks hard ass.

 

[Soopahmahn]

Also, i've notice that I get more string buzz with thicker strings because I like moderately low action with slight relief in the neck.

9's will still be snappy, just don't puss out and go lower than a 54-56 for the B. Also, at a given setup, heavy strings will buzz less than light strings due to their extra tension. That's the definition of more tension - less wobble and quicker damping.

 

[RawrItsRaptor]

as of now, I am digging the first six strings in drop b, the seventh string a low G# than I normally just keep my six in standard and badabingbadaboom.

 

[Joelan]

I was drawn to playing 7 partially because I love standard but wanted to get the brootalz sometimes, so standard is where I shall stay

That said, I'd like to get a fixed bridge 7 with a longer scale to mess around with A standard and other tunings, but that's just mostly because I like D standard on a sixer but I'm accustomed to having 7 strings now.

 

[Tawm]

Mayhem was so brutal that they put dead animals on stage and killed each other, and they always played in E standard.

De Mysteriis was in standard, everything else is D standard or Eb