Tunings that are pleasing to the ear

[Hoss632]

Curiousity got the better of me this morning. Do you find that there are certain tunings that sound better to your ear than others? For instance for me I find that I enjoy Drop C#, Drop B, and Drop G# (for 7's or baritones) quite a bit. Drop B probably the most out of all of them.

 

[teqnick]

My 3 guitars are in these exact tunings, so I feel you.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

whatever my guitar is tuned to, but in most cases anything lower than A sounds like a compressed fart to me.

power chords sound more musical in standard than in drop tunings, but that's the price you pay for being able to do that hammer/pull jumpy-aroundy drop-tune-riff sound. science has still not been able to determine if this has been a net gain, or a net loss for society.

 

[Yul Brynner]

Standard tuning pleases me. Sometimes drop d. Sometimes d standard. On rare occasions drop c.

 

[cindarkness]

Drop C over all.

 

[c7spheres]

I like standard down a half step on 7 string (Bb standard) I tune to 432hz (not to start another debate or anything). It just feels better and less annoying to me. I tried many others but always come back to it. Drop C# and Ab and Ab standard too but I find those more limiting in terms of a one tuning for everything. Whatever resonates with you most is what you should use but certainly trying out differnt stuff over a long period of time makes what you do and don't like more immediately obvious especially whn you have multiple guitars and can a/b them real fast. It's worth the effort.

 

[prlgmnr]

DADGAD

CGCEGC

 

[ezboarderz]

for 6 strings, i personally love C# standard. Its just dark enough to get that growl but still retaining some of the brightness of not being super low.

for 7 strings, i like drop a quite a lot since you have a 6 string in standard tuning but the low A for chugging/darker stuff. Its also about as low as you can go on a tube amp before the notes start to sound squishy where you need to dial it in more in the djent style (cutting lows and boosting high mids).

I have tuned down to drop F which was fun but i felt like i had to play those thicker strings more like a bass than power chords, but its still pretty rad. I want another 7 string to get more variety on 7 string tunings, but drop a currently does it for my death metal needs.

 

[TheBloodstained]

I think tone has more to say than tuning in this case. I spend most of my time in standard tuning on 7-string guitars / 5-string basses, so I guess B standard is my personal sweet spot for my own projects. I do however love a lot of bands that does some really low tuned stuff, for example Humanity's Last Breath, Vildhjarta, Meshuggah, whenever Periphery does 8-string stuff, etc. etc. etc.

 

[CanserDYI]

DADF#AE
DAEAC#E

 

[Shawn]

B standard has always sounded good to me but I also have always liked drop A. Also in my band we tune our 8 strings up a half step. I think F# sounds better.

 

[Zalbu]

The older I get the less interested I get in drop tunings. D# standard and C# standard sounds just right for my ears, not really a fan of D standard for some reason though. For 7 strings I like A# standard, anything lower than that starts sounding muddy

 

[Crungy]

On my 7's it's been drop G or A standard lately. I still like playing in B standard or drop A but drop G/A standard is what I like most.

8 string is drop E all day.

6 string guitars.... Kind of depends. E standard or drop B. Maybe something in between there but it really depends on what I want to play.

 

[MFB]

It's less about tunings overall and more for what genre/style they're in:

Indie/alternative always seems to be best between standard and Eb, although Cursive do tune to D Standard and I wouldn't have guessed that.
Thrash, E-D standard sounds best, I don't think I've heard anyone really use lower than that for it, but not saying they can't.
X-Core always ends up being a drop tuning, either D/C/Bb and like thrash it makes no difference to me.
Melodeath/death metal? Put that shit in C Standard or B Standard and let it ride. Same for doom, maybe even down to Drop A/A Standard.

Y'all can fill in the rest

 

[Fenriswolf]

Drop C, I never really grew out of metalcore

 

[l1ll1]

D Standard or Drop C and any Strat comes alive.

 

[BenjaminW]

Standard and half a step down are my favorites. Quarter steps down/up are also really good as well.

 

[bastardbullet]

A standard and drop A has been my go to for my 7's since so far. Also i'm liking the A E A D G A D combination a lot.

 

[Moongrum]

The guy who ran Dwarfcraft, Aen, his tuning is nice DADAAE. The double A has a nice chorusing effect.

 

[gnoll]

E is good. D# is good too. C# is okay if the music calls for something lower. I don't seem to like D that much for some reason. And C is too low, it makes the music lose intensity. Anything and everything in C would sound better in C#.