Solution for various tunings, same guitar

[VBCheeseGrater]

So our band plays mainly covers, only 2 of which (slipknot) i use my 7 string on - for songs in B standard or Drop A. All our other songs are in drop c# or eflat tuning, so i can't use that guitar on any other songs except those two slipknot songs.

I'd really like to use the 7 string on our eflat standard songs, but since it's in B/E standard i'd have to tune the whole thing down a half step, so I always just use another guitar.

anyone have a good NON TONE SUCKING solution to detune the 7 string a half step instantly? I was thinking the whammy drop pedal, does it suck tone? Any other good ideas? I also considered having the guitar tuned to A#/Eflat standard for the bulk of the songs and using a Capo for the slipknot songs but im not sure a capo works on a seven, plus i'd surely .... up my fingering

EDIT: Also, the other band members refuse to detune a half step for he slipknot songs, to them B tuning is already ridiculously low, so that's not an option (but perhaps the best solution)

 

[Ghost40]

I used to be in a cover band (recently) that played a lot of Slipknot. Being in drop B (most songs), they were the lowest tuning we used. Some drop C, some drop D, etc...

I would have 3 or 4 guitars and think, man is this a pain in the a$$, not only do I have to transport my cab, head and pedal board, I have 4 guitars to move AND keep track of on stage (yes, people will steal your shit). So I tuned down to drop B, and learned the other cover songs in that tuning, just transposed higher on the neck. This also made me a better player. Being able to transpose a lot of the stuff we did on the fly. Not to mention, I only had two guitars on stage. One was a backup. I haven't found a pedal/rack effect that could drop the tunings AND not suck the life out of my rig. Take it for what its worth. This doesn't work for everyone. But it worked for me.

Nowadays we do all original work and I just tune to drop C#.

 

[ArtDecade]

Drop the songs from your set.
-or-
Play them in a different tuning.

Buying a Harmonizer to play two cover songs is a bit ridiculous. Plus - unless you are going Eventide, they rarely sound good on the fly.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I would have 3 or 4 guitars and think, man is this a pain in the a$$, not only do I have to transport my cab, head and pedal board, I have 4 guitars to move AND keep track of on stage (yes, people will steal your shit). So I tuned down to drop B, and learned the other cover songs in that tuning, just transposed higher on the neck. This also made me a better player. Being able to transpose a lot of the stuff we did on the fly. Not to mention, I only had two guitars on stage. One was a backup. I haven't found a pedal/rack effect that could drop the tunings AND not suck the life out of my rig. Take it for what its worth. This doesn't work for everyone. But it worked for me.
.

Yeah i'm trying to keep it at 2 guitars, but so far i've had to bring 3 to each gig. This is mainly an issue where i really love playing this particular guitar, and want to use it more, but less guitars is a major bonus. I do a similar thing with slipknots drop B tuning - since psychosocial is in drop A, for easy tuning change I play duality in B standard instead of drop B - pretty easy transition really for that one. thanks for the transposing suggestion i def may try just straight up moving every thing up a fret - the open strings are the only challenge

Drop the songs from your set.
-or-
Play them in a different tuning.
Buying a Harmonizer to play two cover songs is a bit ridiculous. Plus - unless you are going Eventide, they rarely sound good on the fly.

Agreed, for 2 songs it is kinda crazy - especially a good one, which i'd need unless there's a magic box i don't know of. As for a different tuning, i really think that's the best idea, but my band mates are not exactly ss.org lurkers and think a# tuning is unheard of - tried it to no avail. I checked out the capo thread, looks like that may work for seven, if not, transposing should not be all that difficult. those seem to be the best options so far. Thanks again

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Tune to the lowest tuning needed and capo the fret at the highest. Throw a drop tuning on the lowest, or second lowest, string for good measure if you do any switching to drop tunings on the fly.

I played in a cover band in high school, we I needed to be able to play songs in E standard, D standard, and a couple heavier ones in C standard. I would just tune to C Standard and capo the 2nd fret for D and the 4th fret for E. Since you're shortening the scale to affect change in tuning you don't run into intonation problems, at least no more so than any conventionally fretted guitar.

Unless you're playing a song that requires significant use of the 24th fret, you'll be fine.

Easy, straight forward solutions are much better than adding convolution to your rig with harmonizers and such, especially if you don't want to drop a lot of cash.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Other than the capo or 'drop those songs' options you could look into a Morpheus DropTune Pedal. I heard they were pretty decent for giving you pretty much any tuning you want without destroying your tone.

Alternatively, if you have a little bit of cash and a store that sells the Peavey AT-200 guitar (a guitar that allows you to switch to any tuning you want on the fly) you could try that out. It's in the $500 US range.

 

[xCaptainx]

What about the Line 6 JTV-89 or JTV-89F? they sound MUCH better than the previous Variax guitars and would mean you simply bring one guitar? change tunings at the switch of a tone knob!

 

[JordanStGodard]

anyone have a good NON TONE SUCKING solution to detune the 7 string a half step instantly?

I know for sure Impending Doom uses/used the Morpheus DropTune playing live. It's actually a good deal now that the price has been reduced from ~$210 to ~$150 new. I haven't had experience with it first hand but might actually buy one down the road. It's apparently a great quality pedal.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I know for sure Impending Doom uses/used the Morpheus DropTune playing live. It's actually a good deal now that the price has been reduced from ~$210 to ~$150 new. I haven't had experience with it first hand but might actually buy one down the road. It's apparently a great quality pedal.

This. I asked their guitarist about it when I saw them back in October, and he told me that he didn't notice any tone-sucking from it as long as it was the very first thing in his chain. It did exactly what it needed to during their set, so it may be a good investment for you.

 

[Chuck]

Corey at GeminiGuitar on YouTube uses one in his videos and it sounds great to my ears

 

[7stringDemon]

Ditch the covers and write for 7 strings

Could also get a second guitar. Might be an easier solution. Find a cheap used fixed bridge. Maybe a Schecter or LTD of some sort.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

^^ haha were a bar band. No tours or anythjng for us. Old fogies I suppose, but having fun and our crowds do to.


The morpheus looks like a possibility. As for auto-tune guitars, my whole issue is in wanting to use this specific seven string more (its a modded arz307). Im going to see how the capo route goes. Pretty sure I can pull it off.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

 

[Fromeasttowes]

Grater.. Who are you playing with and where in the 757 area? We just played roger's in chesapeake a couple weeks ago.

 

[155]

get more guitars or less tunings...

 

[conjurer_of_riffs]

I think the whammy DT is a good solution. You could also try the AT from Peavey. Peavey.com

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Grater.. Who are you playing with and where in the 757 area? We just played roger's in chesapeake a couple weeks ago.

The band is called Grind Method. Weve been playing capt rons alot, booked there all year. I forgot about rodgers I should shoot them a message. What band are you in?

 

[op1e]

Just move them all to drop A, only a step difference. Or tune your 7 to A standard, move those other songs from C# to C. Then you can just drop tune your 2nd string from D to C. I have two D Tunas on my main 7 so I can do such things on the fly.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I tried tuning the 7 down a half step (A#/drop G#) and using a capo at the first fret for the slipknot stuff. I was surprised a standard capo worked fine on a seven. Works great at the lower frets. Cheap, no tone loss, and now i can use the guitar for our eflat stuff and even drop c# in a bind. Since i always have to bring it to every gig for those two songs, it'll be nice to use it for other stuff finally.

this is the guitar it's for....

 

[BeyondAntares]

hmmm ...

don't get a guitar with a floating trem .


...

or buy multiple guitars, thats why none of my guitars have the same tuning.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Trick im not a floating trem fan for that reason. Even drop tuning is a pain with floyds. I block them off when I use them. I have plenty of guitars I can bring. The whole idea is to only have to bring two to the gig. If I see a drop tune whammy cheap I might snag one or a morpheus. We cover so many different bands it would be good to have, even with the capo working ok.