Lowest tuning with a 25.5" scale guitar

[idunno]

I dont know how people play with such spaghetti strings! At 25.5 in standard I need at LEAST a 10 gauge set with a 74 on the seventh. Might try an .80 for G#.

 

[in-pursuit]

I went down to dropped G# with a 64 for a while, I imagine that I could probably go down another full tone with something between 70 and 80 but I've got a feeling that anything below that wouldn't be to my liking.

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

Technically you could tune as low as you want, but after a point guitar strings will just slack up too much and it will barely sound at all.

 

[Purelojik]

F# standard with 14-70. but i'd rather stay at A standard drop G with 13-68. yea there really is a difference. im using Crunchlab/Sd jazz pups. Mahog body with maple cap maple and ebony neck.

 

[Thor_]

What is the lowest tuning you have achieved with an 25.5" scale guitar and with what string gauge? i have an ibanez rg1527 with .10 to .56 strings, tuned one step down. i would like to try some 8-string guitar tunings but i think that the scale is too short to go more than one step down.

Why on earth do you think you'd need a .056 for D tuning?

But to be on topic, I've used a .064 for B flat tuning and a .070 once for dropped A. I did this on a floyd rose guitar and had little trouble with intonation, and the strings had more than enough tension.

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

Lowest that sounded good to me was an 85 tuned to G.

 

[Explorer]

When I was tuned in full fifths, my 25.5" ran from Bb0 (.125") to B4 (.007 Octave 4 Plus). (My 28.625" was tuned a whole step lower, from Ab0 to A4.)

At this point, all four of my 25.5" 8-strings are tuned EADGCFAD, with a .090" on the lowest string. I'm a fan of light and extra-light strings, and the .090" is in line with the progressive tension of the rest of the strings.

I was lucky to have noticed early on that the Schecter 8-strings had a shorter saddle on the lowest string on their Hipshot saddles. I wrote to Hipshot and found out that they sell them, so I ordered quite a few. I had to have someone grind off about 2mm off the end of the saddle for the lowest string, and I had to get a shorter spring. I've found that I feel less constricted if I have the shorter saddles on everything from A2 on down in pitch.

I don't like taking a chance on breaking a tuning machine, so I unwind the wrappings of the lowest strings so I can feel the core through the machine, but can still have at least half a wind around the machine. That keeps the wraps from unwinding from being free/unanchored and just rattling around between the machine and the nut.

Something which I had thought would be self-apparent, but which isn't to everyone, is that a lot of guitar amps don't do well with an instrument which goes down to at least E1. I hadn't really thought that someone might judge a low-pitched instrument due to an amp which is inadequate, but when I took one of my guitars to a local shop which has a huge stock of used pedals, the guys who work there wanted to play my guitar while I and one of the employees went out for lunch. I came back and they were talking about how bad the low end was, but they were playing through some standard guitar amp. I plugged it into a larger keyboard amp with better and flatter frequency response, and they were surprised that it sounded better. *sigh*

I think if I were to grab a single amp for my purposes, I'd probably pick up a larger Trace Elliott acoustic amp.

----

In reading lots of threads here, I've found there to be two main sorts of posters who assert it just doesn't work to tune so low: those who have never tried it but were just repeating the common wisdom, and those who didn't put a large enough string on the bottom to have a tension even approaching the rest of the strings.

OP, if you're going to attempt going low, then base your string choices on the appropriate tension. As most string sets lighten up towards the bass, you might instead investigate the idea of progressive tension, in which the tension gradually increases as you go lower.

----

Anyway, these are just my opinions and experiences. No one has to like them for themselves, but it works for me.

Good luck!

 

[wlfers]

You should be able to do A no problem with a 25 1/2" scale guitar.

Yep. I do A standard w/ a pack of 9 and a halfs and a 56 on the A. I don't know if they make 9.5 packs for 7 string- probably an answer I could easily find by searching =D.

 

[skykill3R]

hey, thank you all for your replies
i think that the main problem is the saddles, they are already way to far, almost near the end of the tremolo, with my 7th tuned to A and a gauge of 0.56.
I'll try an 0.68 for a G tuned 7th string and see if i can achieve correct intonation.
If not i will have to change the saddles? my tremolo system is ibanez edge pro 7

 

[hereticemir]

I know that band god among insect tune down to f standard but they use a custom set with a 90. i believe it is.

 

[BabUShka]

I'm currently using 10-46 with a 59 on bottom: Drop A tuning with a 25.5 scale Ibanez.
For standard tuning, its perfect. Drop A, playable.. But next time im going for a thicker string gauge for the 7th string for tighter drop A.

As for my 6string Epi with 24.75 scale, I can tune it down to B with 54-12 strings without problems.. I dont know why I have to use 59 to archieve the same with a 25.5" scale 7stringer.. Weird, but thats not a problem.. Kinda feels manly to play thick gauges on a 7stringer in drop tuning.

 

[Stealthtastic]

You can get any tuning, with any length.
Just have to have new strings every time you want to change tunings. haha

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

You can get any tuning, with any length.
Just have to have new strings every time you want to change tunings. haha

No, depends on the amount of trevel your saddles have too.

 

[Floppystrings]

Roger from Mortician has been playing in G standard since 1994.

His strings don't even look that big.

Roger J. Beaujard - Guitars

His guitar isn't really "clear" but more like a wall of sound:

 

[Atomshipped]

Why on earth do you think you'd need a .056 for D tuning?

But to be on topic, I've used a .064 for B flat tuning and a .070 once for dropped A. I did this on a floyd rose guitar and had little trouble with intonation, and the strings had more than enough tension.

Personally I use 10-52's for DADGBE and I wouldn't mind going even thicker...some people just like more tension.

 

[Dvaienat]

I've heard of people using a 25.5 for F# and E1 before. You just need very thick strings. 13-60 + 80 being ideal for F# and 14-68 + 90 for E1. I have intonated my 24.75 at F using a 74, so you needn't worry about the intonation on a 25.5.

 

[ImBCRichBitch]

I go Drop G on my Mockingbird, and sometimes F# on my Warlock. I havnt tried going lower but maybe you can. Wont know till you try.

 

[Floppystrings]

Oh and, what about Meshuggah's Nothing, the original non-reissue.

That was 25.5 scale with F# I think, (somethin mega low).

 

[AcousticMinja]

As low as you want!
But yes, with the proper setup, right string tension (more to taste, really), etc... I think you'll be fine going as low as you feel like.

I use a .119 on my 25.5" 7 string in C1#


Be experimental! It's lots of fun.

 

[CrownofWorms]

I have my rg7321 in F standard with a .70 for the low F. I get plenty of clarity with it.

Same Here, but its F#. I don't understand why people are having tension problems with that kind of gauge strings.