Variations on New Standard Tuning

[macgarnacle]

I tuned my guitar to NST (C-G-D-A-E-G) a while back to see what it was all about, it seemed weird and I ended up tuning back to standard pretty quick. About a month ago I decided to give it another whirl and fell in love with NST, tuning in 5ths extends the range of the instrument so much and having that minor 3rd interval at the top makes it a bit more melodic and less drone-y. I have spent the last month getting acquainted with this tuning and writing a shit ton of songs and riffs.

The other day I was watching an Isis video where Aaron Turner was giving a tour of his gear and he was saying that Isis usually tunes to drop-B with the high string also tuned to B (B-F#-B-E-G#-B) but that they sometimes drop the low B down to F# an octave below the next F# (F#-F#-B-E-G#-B). The tuning looked interesting so decided to try and bastardize this Isis tuning with NST.

What I ended up with is G-G-D-A-E-G. I have a super low G then a G an octave above then the next 3 strings are tuned in 5ths and then the minor 3rd at the top. With this tuning my 6 string classical guitar has more range than an 8 string! My only issue at this point is that the low G is as floppy as my ball sack on a hot day, I have to find out if I can get a larger gauge nylon string to counter this. If I can't it won't be a huge deal because I am not doing any sort of shredding in this tuning, mostly droning heavy riffs.

Has anyone here ever messed around with NST? What did you think of it and did you try to make any variations on it?

 

[distressed_romeo]

I've tried NST before, but don't currently have an instrument set up for it. I really enjoyed it the last time I tried it. Try tuning the top string down to F#, or to a unison E with the second string if you want some more variations.

Someone on this board needs to tune an eight-string FCGDAEGA!

 

[ixlramp]

How about dropping the A and E: GGDGDG? Monster power chords and harmonic partials 1 2 3 4 6 8.

I have my 6 string 'bass' (in fact it's an ERG: i am not a bassist!) in fifths E B F* C* G* D*.

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

I use an all fifths tunning on my guitar, FCGDAE. It's great, but very unusual.
One of the great things about it is that voicing chords with large spaces between the voices is really easy.

 

[Sponge]

Do any of you find that the spacing with tunings like this work better with gain than a regular tuned guitar?

I use open C with a low G as a primary tuning and find that getting the root, 5 and then 3rd on the higher octave (1,5,+3) instead of a 1,3,5) gives a very powerful wall of sound and broad frequency range. Please do share some things you have found in your tunings, they sound very intriguing.

 

[ixlramp]

Do any of you find that the spacing with tunings like this work better with gain than a regular tuned guitar?

It's been years since i had something tuned in 4ths. But yes, i do. 5ths seems ideal for distorted chords: they spread out and become clearer. It's easier to retune to a harmonic series sequence of strings.

My variations on 5ths tunings have been, intervals in semitones low to high:

(5 string bass)
7577 tuned CGCGD
5777 tuned CFCGD
7773 partial NST
7772
7777

(6 string bass)
77777

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

I find the spacing makes gritty chords clearer.

__Em__Gmaj7#11_Am__C7_G+
E|-7--9--------5---6--3--
A|-7--9--------3---7--2--
D|-5--9--------2---5--1--
G|-4--7--------2---5--0--
C|-4--7--------------
F|-------------------

It also allows me some more unusual and ambiguous chords types
that I like to use.

E|-2---4----3---6--8---0----1---3---2----11--12-----9--
A|-2---5----3---6--9---2----2---2---2----11--8------9--
D|-3---7----4---7--9---0----1---3---2----7---8------10-
G|-5---8----3---------------3-------3----7---9--10--10-
C|-4--------------------------------------------6------
F|-----------------------------------------------------