String Guage Question for Eb or D

[BluesPlayer76]

Hey folks - been a while since I've been on here.

I have the Steve Vai Pia guitar (my Covid guitar as I ordered it early Feb 2020, and got it Dec 2020). Wonderful axe. Standard tuning. .09 on it.
I've joined a band where our two male leads sometimes struggle with the high notes and we discussed dropping the guitars to an Eb or D Standard tuning (in other words NOT drop D but keeping the standard tuning relationships) for a few songs.

I have a JEM 7V7 which I would love to take down off the wall and dedicate it for those songs which we go lower. I've never changed strings on it - pretty sure it begins with .009 like all Vai guitars.

Eb wouldn't be a problem with the current gauge but what about D? Would it be a good idea to bump the high E to a .10 and follow suit with the other strings?

Thanks

Spencer

 

[Crungy]

Is it time to restring the 7v7? Otherwise if it has fresh strings you could just retune and reset your float for whole step down and see what you think.

 

[BluesPlayer76]

Hmmm....I think you answered my question, in a way.
As usual I skip steps. I should find out first if we're doing Eb or D, then assess a new setup.
FTR - I'm too chicken to reset my float lol. I'll work on comupters all day but I don't want ot mess with the instrument.

 

[Ubereem]

Just tune down as is and see how it feels. Literally takes 30 seconds. 10s for D standard would be fine. I've tuned down with a basic 10-46s and its play good.

 

[Scordare]

If the singers are wanting to downtune for only a few songs..just get a Digitech Drop pedal.

 

[Pippo]

+1 for the Digitech The Drop.
With the band I'm in we have the same issue of playing some songs, that are too high on the vocals for our singer.
Hence, the bassist, the other guitarist and I are using the Digitech.
Works like a charm and you don't have to switch guitars on stage.

If you still want to downtune, I personally use 9-42 for both E and D# standard and 10-46 for D. D# is a little more flobby, but still perfectly playable unless you pick and fret really hard.

 

[PuckishGuitar]

I run 10-52 for both Eb and D at 25.5” scale. I like higher tension on the bass strings personally, but 10-46 would work just as well. Best way to start is calculate the tension with your current strings in E standard and find closest match for the other tunings. There’s a great thread in the Beginner’s forum with good calculators.

I have a Whammy DT and I just can’t get into the tone when pitched down or up, the original pitch sometimes bleeds through and the tone feels a bit digital. Great for practicing and it may work live where those artifacts get covered over by the band, but be aware it’s not perfect.

Don’t fear the Floyd adjustments, embrace needing to set it up and it’ll become easier!

 

[Pat]

I find if you go up 0.5ish gauges on the high strings and 2ish on the low every semitone you detune you get the same tension. This is a great tool https://tension.stringjoy.com/

So I use:
E standard - 9-42
E flat - 9.5-46
D - 10-48
C# - 11-50

 

[TheShreddinHand]

If you want to keep tension similar to what you’re used to across all 6 strings with 9-42 in standard you need Daddario 9.5-44 for Eb and 10-46 for D standard. The screws on the back will need a small turn (in one direction or the other) to get your tremolo to stay parallel to the body but these gauges will get you real close.