Downtuning with "vintage" spec frets / radius?

[fltlll]

As the thread name inquires, who here tunes down at least a whole step on a guitar that has more traditional specs w/regards to frets and radius?

The reason I ask is because I have a squier that I have downtuned to drop C, and it feels very "plastic"-like... I know that is one BIZARRE word to use as an adjective, but it feels cheap (as opposed to when it was tuned to E).

I've got an Ibanez SV420 which has medium-ish frets and a viper neck, and I'm afraid the same thing will happen to it when I downtune it...

Not only that, I'm thinking of building my own Esquire-style guitar, and I would DEFINITELY save some $$ if I used a standard tele neck.

Thoughts?

[Loomer]

Well, I've a had a few Les Pauls over time, tuned to B and below, and that never caused me any trouble. I know of a few bands that tune way down on Strats too. So I say go for it :)

[Madsakre]

Use bigger strings. set up your guitar properly.

[fltlll]

Use bigger strings. set up your guitar properly.

Well, I use the exact same strings that I have on my schecter (same scale, same tuning) and it still feels "off." I've had my Schecter be my main for a good 7 years now, and it plays better than most any guitar I can think of (even moreso than my EBMM JPM, which I've had for longer and costs 2x as much). In no way am I inexperienced with setting up guitars, so maybe just that particular guitar isn't cooperating? I should try to tweak it more when I get the time...

[Sancho]

I wouldn't tune down below Eb on a Strat with a vintage radius and small frets. Not saying it can't be done, but I prefer big frets for downtuning.

[djl]

Have you checked the neck relief with the downtuned strings? Downtuned strings = less tension = flatter neck. Might be worth loosening the truss rod a bit, or trying higher gauge strings. Having a too flat neck will definitely make the guitar sound bad as you will lose a lot of the dynamics