Show Me Your 9 String Tunings (2017 Edition)

[TWF]

There had been a thread with a similar name a couple of years ago. And I remember many discussing — and being sure — that 9 string guitars would be 8 strings with an additional high a (or g string) when they become more "mainstream". Now we have the RG9 for the masses (I own one myself) and its three low bass strings added to the standard 6. Time for a reissue of the thread, what do you think?

Currently, I play standard/factory tuning:
C#F#BEADgbe

I love to have 3 bass strings, 3 "treble" and 3 "high" strings.
The continuation of perfect fouths intervals make sense, yes. But I have to admit that I have never been a fan of C# and F# as open strings.

I am thinking about trying out tuning one step lower:

B(0)E(1)A(1)D(2)GCfad

This looks much more natural to me. In the end, this is a 6 string in D tuning plus bass strings in standard (5-string bass) tuning.

What do you think? What's your approach to 9 string guitar playing?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

PAGING @Hollowway

 

[bostjan]

There had been a thread with a similar name a couple of years ago. And I remember many discussing — and being sure — that 9 string guitars would be 8 strings with an additional high a (or g string) when they become more "mainstream". Now we have the RG9 for the masses (I own one myself) and its three low bass strings added to the standard 6. Time for a reissue of the thread, what do you think?

http://www.sevenstring.org/threads/9-string-tuning.166277/

Naw, most folks thought it'd be a low C#

 

[GunpointMetal]

A, E, A, E, A, D, G, B, E

The first 7 are 7-string drop A, with the two lowest strings being an octave lower than their counterparts. At this point its arguable whether I'm playing a short-scale 9-string bass with extra high strings, or a long scale guitar with three extra low strings, as the lowest string is the same pitch as a 5-string bass tuned down one step.

 

[Winspear]

BEADGCFAD is very nice indeed.
I use perfect fourths myself and a high treble so I'm in EADGCFBbEbAb, or would be BEADGCFBbEb in a typical 9 string. Or C#F#BEADGCF if standard
Anything is good for me if in perfect 4ths, but usually I'll take a typical standard tuning for a string number and tune down a step (D standard 6, A standard 7, E standard 8 string like I have done).

Minor 3rds tuning is beyond awesome but will only give you the range of a 6.

 

[Halowords]

BEADGCFAD is very nice indeed.

What he said. That is what I went with. However, I am thinking of selling my 9-string to get something for a high-A string (or high-G, depending) instead. The BEADGCFAD tuning makes sense when you play it, as would the C#F#BEADGBE. The patterns stay the same, and the high-E on the 1st remains intact, only there are two frets lower(!). Point being, notes are more-or-less where you left them, only you can go quite a bit lower than your six- or seven-string.

For me, I found that I tend to play more leads/melodies and have not found a string I love at the B0. I think I can tune up a bit and come up with something that has a high-G or high F# that might be more suitable to my (seemingly ever evolving) tastes, and I may end up just keeping what I've got with that, and saving up for the headless custom job I am coveting. Time will tell. I really like it, and it fits in with how my brain sees the notes and patterns for "guitars" in my head (which is pretty much as standard tuning). However, I find myself gravitating toward wanting (if not actually needing) one string higher for playing with chord formations, melodies, and the like.

Take that for what it's worth.

 

[Hollowway]

PAGING @Hollowway

Sho nuf! I was skimming the latest posts and saw this thread and got all excited.

Anyway, for all my ERGs I use standard tuning and just stack strings up in forths for the lower strings. Abandoned A4 years ago. Partly because it's a bear to get a string tuned up that high, but mostly because my tiny brain couldn't adapt to a higher string. But for whatever reason, I can play 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s with ease - provided the additional strings are added below, not above, and provided that they're in "standard" tuning. I will drop the lowest string a whole step on occasion, but otherwise I want to be able to riff on the lower strings in the same way I'd do on the E, A, D strings on a normal guitar. That requires 4ths. Because of that, I think it's vastly easier to learn to play and ERG if the uning is kept in the G#0, C#1, F#1, B1, EADGBE realm.

However, one cool thing is to change what string you tune up a major 3rd from, as opposed to a 4th. Ben Elmer turned me on to this. So, on a regular guitar, you can do typical barre chords because of the G to B interval between the 3rd and 2nd strings. But, if you have a 7 string guitar, and move that major 3rd interval to the 4th to 3rd strings, you now have the guitar tuned BEADF#BE. So if you play the typical barre chords with the root on the lowest string, you can still use the same shapes and get the same chords - but now lower. It's like you suddenly have a baritone guitar with an additional high string. If you fret that high string, it's fine, because it's just adding a 5th to a barre chord with the root on the lowest string. If you do an 8 string guitar, it would be F#BEAC#F#BE. In this case, fretting the second to the highest string would give a 5th to the chord, but the highest string adds a minor 7th, which would definitely color the chord.
Anyway, it's a cool trick that takes very little alteration to a standard tuning, yet allows you to really easily mess around with super low chords.
For 9s, I really don't do any chording on the lowest string. It's really hard to get it to sound good.

 

[bostjan]

I've been doing eight strings with high A4 for nearly a decade now, and I love the layout, but the first couple of years, I did stumble every once in a while going back to a seven without a high A4. To put things into perspective, though, I did learn to play the lute as a teen, and the lute is tuned ADGBEA, just like the top six of my eight. I think that helped me wrap my head around the layout better.

 

[Halowords]

However, one cool thing is to change what string you tune up a major 3rd from, as opposed to a 4th.

I won't tell you how long it took me to figure out what you meant here, except to say it took me too long.

(I)f you have a 7 string guitar, and move that major 3rd interval to the 4th to 3rd strings, you now have the guitar tuned BEADF#BE. So if you play the typical barre chords with the root on the lowest string, you can still use the same shapes and get the same chords - but now lower. It's like you suddenly have a baritone guitar with an additional high string. [snip] If you do an 8 string guitar, it would be F#BEAC#F#BE.

I really, really like that. It allows more chord complexity (which is part of what I like in theory about adding a high-A string to a standard guitar tuning, and you can get most of that benefit by moving up a few frets), and makes barre chords more practical. Plus, you get the extra range and more-notes-under-finger to play with.

For 9s, I really don't do any chording on the lowest string. It's really hard to get it to sound good.

Agreed. And on that note...

What is the lowest or (completely subjective, I know) best note/tuning/string-gauge you've found for the lowest string on your 9-strings for guitar work (as opposed to turning it into a really-short-scale bass)? I know that topic has come up before, however I am still mulling over what to do with my 9th string.

-Cheers

 

[PBC]

I've experimented with several tunings. The main thing I question is the placement of the Major Third and if I want the extra strings to be P4 or a P5 apart.

9 String (L to H):

C#{F#/G#}C#F#BEG#C#F#, the 8th string is either a P4 or P5, usually a P5, 1st string is F#4

Open E Standard: BEBEADBE

9 String Standard: C#F#BEADGBE

Drop B: BF#BF#BEG#C#F# (Extended a la All Shall Perish tuning)

Drop A: AEAEADGBE

Open A Standard: AE[ADGCEA]E, A standard in the middle with P5 extra high string, great for chords. Have trouble adjusting with using the interval for soloing and runs.

I applied this same token to my 10 strings.

Open G# Standard: G#{C#/Eb}[G#C#F#BEbG#]EbG#, that's G# standard with open tuning on the highest strings with a G#4.

I do the same with A taking the tuning above and tuning it up a half step, but the A4 at 25.5" is looking for an excuse to snap, so I don't play it that much. So I tuned it down. G standard in this variation would also work but it's so low on the bottom end.

A Standard Extended: AE[ADGCEA]DG, this is my favorite 10 string tuning which is basically A standard with two extra high strings. It's not quite as good for chording, but fits within the scale lengths and standard shapes.

I agree that the extra high strings are more appealing to my ear than extra low strings.

Agreed. And on that note...

What is the lowest or (completely subjective, I know) best note/tuning/string-gauge you've found for the lowest string on your 9-strings for guitar work (as opposed to turning it into a really-short-scale bass)? I know that topic has come up before, however I am still mulling over what to do with my 9th string.

-Cheers

I've used super light gauges, (.080 for A0 & G#0 up to .092 as well), to try and be as clear as possible. I found that with the 10 and 9 string variations that the lowest string just gets lost in a chord strum. Power chords/P5 work okay for anything C#1 and above, but again that differs for personal taste. The Drop A with A0E1, I can barely discern the A0. It most likely has to do with amps and settings, so there is still much experimenting to be done.

 

[GunpointMetal]

What scale length are you playing at that you can get away with even a 92 for A or G#? I'm running a 118 for A on a 30" scale and its JUST barely tight enough. I was using a 124 but the difference in string sound from the A to the E was too great.

 

[PBC]

What scale length are you playing at that you can get away with even a 92 for A or G#? I'm running a 118 for A on a 30" scale and its JUST barely tight enough. I was using a 124 but the difference in string sound from the A to the E was too great.

Hey gunpoint,

On my 9 and 10 strings the scale lengths are 30, 28.625, and 28. I'm using LaBella Strings, which I believe you might be using as well if I recall your response in an older thread. The strings have a heavier mass so the tension is deceiving for their gauge, I will admit that they are extremely light. The trick is balancing out the strings with other super light gauge strings. For example for those tunings I use a .065 and .067 for C#1 and .048 for A1 and .052 for G# or G. The .065 C# is the best I've ever heard the note. I tuned the 7th string down to C#1 and kept the .090 C#1 as well on the 9th string. Just to see the difference, The heavier string is very grunt/short scale bass while the super light gauge sounds more guitar like. However, each half step once you get to C#1 is a whole new beast. I've taken a break on trying to get anything in the 0 octave to sound halfway decent, but I might revisit it soon. I've tried from .080-.142 on those notes and I decided to not go over .100 since the string girth becomes too close to the surrounding strings and I dislike the tone.

What kind of amplification are you using for your double drop A? That might shed some light (help us) get some decent definition for these low notes.

 

[Hollowway]

Agreed. And on that note...

What is the lowest or (completely subjective, I know) best note/tuning/string-gauge you've found for the lowest string on your 9-strings for guitar work (as opposed to turning it into a really-short-scale bass)? I know that topic has come up before, however I am still mulling over what to do with my 9th string.

-Cheers

I'm using a .106 at 30" for C#1, and I still think it's a little floppy. It's a Kalium. So I think I'm going to go up to .118. And on my G#0 string at 30" it's .142. Those are both 23.5 lbs, but that just doesn't seem to give it enough stiffness at 30". So I'll probably go to .118" for the C#1, and maybe .158" for the G#0. But we're definitely in bass territory with those strings. I think that the gray area of the string size/scale length is diminished by the string spacing and other strings, though. In other words, even if I played a piccolo bass, it's not going to sound like a guitar, because the string spacing and pickups are designed to sound like a bass. But move those strings to guitar spacing, through an Aftermath in the bridge position, and let me plug into a Fryette Pittbull, and that same instrument is going to sound like a guitar. So I'm not super worried about that issue.

The overriding factor is that there is a limit to how low we can tune an instrument. I've got this Quake bass being built, which will be tuned to C#0, which is ridiculously low. It will be interesting to see how it sounds.

 

[GunpointMetal]

What kind of amplification are you using for your double drop A? That might shed some light (help us) get some decent definition for these low notes.

I actually went to Kalium a while back. I was getting "dead" sets from LaBella with strings that were starting to oxidize so I stopped ordering them. I run my 9's through a L6 Helix with a kind of interesting signal chain. The signal is split with a crossover split at 300Hz and then I run the >300Hz signal into one boost-gate-amp model and the <300Hz signal into another boost-gate-amp model with different gain and EQ settings on each part of the signal. Both amp model outputs are then merged back into a single Mesa OS 4x12 IR and blended till I like it. I find I need to boost/distort the low end a little more than the top end to get them to sound equally saturated. I'm also not too concerned with the fundamental on the low A as long as it sounds "good" with the rest of the guitar.

 

[TWF]

Thank you guys for your feedback!

@Winspear @Halowords :
What string gauges would you recommend for BEADGCFAD on my 28" RG9?
Plus: Is there a six string set for D tuning you could recommend?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ixlramp]

Here's one i haven't used on a 9 string but have used on a 6 string bass.
Neutral thirds (350 cents) which is fairly usable for playing quartertone music.
http://sevenstring.org/threads/retune-to-play-quartertone-scales-microtonal-beginners-guide.161530/
Ideal for ERGs as a reasonable range is preserved.
I calculated gauges for this too, pick 9 from 74 59 48 38 30 24w 17p 13p 10p 8p.

 

[Halowords]

Thank you guys for your feedback!

@Winspear @Halowords :
What string gauges would you recommend for BEADGCFAD on my 28" RG9?

These are what I use for now (the gauges are all listed there):
http://store.kaliumstrings.com/inde...tring-sets/standard-tuning/g9h-11-118-mt.html

You could probably also ask MFkitten here or email them at the Kalium site for recommendations. They work well for me on my Agile 92730 (which is a multiscale that goes from 27" to 30").

 

[Winspear]

Thank you guys for your feedback!

@Winspear @Halowords :
What string gauges would you recommend for BEADGCFAD on my 28" RG9?
Plus: Is there a six string set for D tuning you could recommend?

Thanks in advance.

10 13 17 28 38 50 65 85 115 110 could cut it, wouldn't bother with less than a 105
10-46 would be usable for the 6 string part but I think 10-49 sets exist.

 

[Winspear]

That set linked above is really on point BUT it's totally balanced, meaning the trebles are as tight as the wounds nearly. Wouldn't recommend it personally, especially as it's a tight wound set to begin with. The wound portion would be fantastic though!

 

[TWF]

Thank you!