I am officially FED UP with downtuning

[opprobrium_9]

That just sounds like absolute cr@p though :lol:

SOUNDS LIKE THE DEATH OF 1000 SLAVES - AND THUS AWESOME.

[Adam.M]

I have to say, i recently got a Ibanez MTM2 (which is really awesome and i will be changing the truss rod cover so you can't tell its a signature model) and this is tuned to Drop-B stock, and when i picked it up, it felt like standard but tighter... i was expecting slack strings but this is amazingly tight, even harder to bend/play than the 10's i have on a standard tuned guitar!

Also sounds amazing, maybe a bit too low though.

You don't HAVE to drop tune to play metal, but it's an option.

[CJ]

i would downtune, but i'm too lazy to change the tunings.

[tomjackson]

That just sounds like absolute cr@p though :lol:

SOUNDS LIKE THE DEATH OF 1000 SLAVES - AND THUS AWESOME.

Surely the death of 1000 slaves would sound pretty bad?  

What strikes me is that this kind of music is meant to sound powerful, but it doesn't, it sounds absolute cr@p!
There's nothing wrong with tuning down, as long as what you play is good!

[TomAwesome]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I have a 7-string tuned down to drop G#, and another guitar that takes that tuning and slaps a low D# under that. It's all still tuned to A440. :P

But really, who gives a cr@p if someone wants to detune? I agree that you shouldn't have to tune down from standard to be heavy. Plenty of bands do just fine tearing it up in standard. Detuning is just a different kind of sound. It's not "wrong" just because it isn't necessary. You shouldn't have to have botique hand made scatterwound pickups to get good tone, either. ;)

[MDV]

That just sounds like absolute cr@p though :lol:

SOUNDS LIKE THE DEATH OF 1000 SLAVES - AND THUS AWESOME.

Surely the death of 1000 slaves would sound pretty bad?  

What strikes me is that this kind of music is meant to sound powerful, but it doesn't, it sounds absolute cr@p!
There's nothing wrong with tuning down, as long as what you play is good!

Ok, you and tom both, TRY to listen to whats actually going on in there.

When you have some idea, report back.

If you already do, then....oh, $%&# it, there was some sort of rant coming but frankly I couldnt give a flying fuck

Drop B:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MIMW0aHN0ks

Drop F#

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4A_tSyJBsRQ

[temps]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I hate to say it on this otherwise friendly forum, but this is a really, really stupid post.

edit: incredibly, unbelievably, peerlessly stupid

[CJ]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I hate to say it on this otherwise friendly forum, but this is a really, really stupid post.

edit: incredibly, unbelievably, peerlessly stupid

unfortunately, that wasn't too brilliant of a post either. lets try to keep things civil here...

[temps]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I hate to say it on this otherwise friendly forum, but this is a really, really stupid post.

edit: incredibly, unbelievably, peerlessly stupid

unfortunately, that wasn't too brilliant of a post either. lets try to keep things civil here...

I'm trying. That was the civil version :lol:

[CJ]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I hate to say it on this otherwise friendly forum, but this is a really, really stupid post.

edit: incredibly, unbelievably, peerlessly stupid

unfortunately, that wasn't too brilliant of a post either. lets try to keep things civil here...

I'm trying. That was the civil version :lol:

can we see the non-civil version, just for fun?

[MDV]

If you cant play metal in A-440 you shouldnt be allowed to play guitar

no you dont need your guitar in Drop-Z ... just learn to play properly. and no, i dont buy the 'it sounds more brutal' or whatever point you're trying to make

THE END

I hate to say it on this otherwise friendly forum, but this is a really, really stupid post.

edit: incredibly, unbelievably, peerlessly stupid

I agree. But if someones gonna be an idiot, and it seems davey is set on that with this, then thats what they're gonna do. It doesnt hurt anyone to let him say what he wants without harsh rebuke. Dare I say it, its *just* guitar tuning and totally personal preference that hes mistaken for a podium for daveycentric generalisations, but if you arent uptight about the matter, friendly discussion around the it is entertaining enough, if all involved are capable of it.

[noodleplugerine]

I sort of agree with the OP, I mean, some bands get great chug from standard or Eb tuning, opeth, testament come to mind.

I think your tone can be suited to make things more heavy if your tunings don't.

[Antag]

While I don't agree that just because I'm fed up with mega down-tuning then everybody else must be too, I think Davey has a point:  You can achieve plenty of heaviness with E or Eb tuning.

Over the years I've tried all sort of tunings, C was my "standard" for several years & I went as low as A.  But all the different gauges of strings & different setups got a bit of a pain in the arse after a while, so I've settled on Eb as my standard tuning.

I find that once I go lower than D that I'm compromising on speed & precision - either the strings are flapping around all over the shop, or I have to use such a heavy gauge that it becomes tiring to play (OK, a decent setup would solve much of that, but IMO 13-62 is harder work than 10-46 for really fast alternate picking & palm muted riffing no matter how well you set the guitar up).

Davey - it must me a sign of ageing but don't worry, it comes to us all.  Welcome to geezer-dom  :P

JMHO, YMMV etc...

[Roobubba]

Well it's pretty obvious it sounds heavier, though it makes stuff easier to play with less string tension which is cheating a bit imo.

Not with heavier strings :P

Well i use 11's in standard tuning, there's only 1 more gauge you can go up to and that's to 12's. That won't be very much tighter, in fact it's probably much easier to bends strings etc. with some 12's in drop b or drop a than it is to do that with 11's in standard tuning.

Umm... How do you work that one out???  Even before I went custom and got 14-68 (6-string baritone), I was using 13s.
This string tension argument is a strange one, and I don't understand it. I suspect it may be the view of people who don't really know what they're talking about. IMHO of course...

[Ratrod]

For some time now I've been fed up with downtuning too. Shure it can be fun but I always feel so bound to play the same old typical downtuned riffs.

The same goes for saturated distortion.

Remember that death metal band that covered Dirty Deeds?