I was taking a poll with this question at my school's music alliance when I got curious what tunings the people on here like.
Also, I have a $50 bet going with a friend, so in short, favorite tuning(s)?

E, Eb, or D standard

E Standard, I hate downtuned guitars...

B standard, or drop A if I'm feeling frisky.

E standard on the six strings, B standard on the 7 string.It was Eb for many years but I became sick of the extra slack after a while.

B standard.

C Standard.

D standard

Drop A, Drop G and A standard are my favorites. Nothing better than that disgusting chuck. E standard is also my favorite.

my band and i tune to C# but usually im just eb

E Standard

the only reason I would think of change the tuning on my guitar would be to have floppy string or tight strings that are ready to snap
heavy slack string to hide the fact that i can't play heavy and that this should fix the problem (the differences are that you can only play a few lower tone that is it and that is all that why they invented 7 string guitar isn't it)
I use E standard tuning my only limit is those extra lower notes that i reach somewhere else
beside all the theory you learn are wrong unless you transpose pitch chart to exact fretting position on guitar (witch mean i can play with anyone in any key without looking anywhere but the inside of my eyelids while the other down tuned moron who thing is so heavy as to look at my hand cause he can't figure out where I' m playing

(you don't see me changing the tunning of a piano do you?)

I like my tuning either...
Drop C#
or random (half step or two for each string randomly, roughly by ear), for more chaotic deconstructive music.

Doesn't it depend on the style? E.g. for thrash, power, traditional, and old school death E or Eb standard is usually best -- But real doomy Sabbath inspired stuff requires lower tunings, but usually not lower than C standard. Open tunings are good for slide blues. Drop tunings are excellent for br00tal deathcore.

E standard is definitely the best to learn in, don't bother with drop tunings until you've mastered E standard, and even then be hesitant - at least, that is the route I am taking. I could be wrong. Full disclosure: I can't really play guitar very well.

Related to this... Is there an old post somewhere on which bands play in which tunings on which albums? I'd be interested in that.

I'd say standard e for black metal, c# for some death metal. Very few bands pull off b and A tunings especially live. Some sounds like a muddled mess.

E standard, Drop D, or D Standard. I like to keep it simple, plus most songs are in these tunings so yay!

E standard
D standard
D A D G A D (D-modal or "Celtic" tuning)
C# G# C# F# G# C# (same as above, except a half-step lower)





Er, no. The entire character of the guitar changes when the tuning changes, and there are certain chord shapes which are completely impossible in standard tunings. Hell, there are in general just a lot of things that you can do in alternate tunings that standard does not allow for, regardless if it's E standard or A standard.

I pretty much stick with C standard and drop B. I think I'll eventually drop it to B standard, though.

B standard and D standard for both bass and guitar.

I've got two guitars, one at standard and the other one on C (or occaisonally drop Bb). Both have their uses and are great for certain things.

D standard 90% of the time, drop C 9% of the time and Open Dm about 1% of the time. I need to actually write something in that tuning.

I really like D standard. All purpose tuning, not too high and not too low.

E Standard, mostly C standard though.

D standard pretty much it, for me. It's just low enough to sound a bit darker than normal, but it doesn't sound nu-metal.

And if you feel that your strings get too loose when you down tune, you should try setting up your guitar in that tuning.

I tune to B standard with the low six strings from a 7-string guitar. You really need that extra thickness when you tune that low, or you'll drop out of tune after strumming a few chords.

Of course I play a lot in E standard, and sometimes fuck around with crazy Sonic Youth tunings like F#F#F#F#C#C#.

I just tune to E standard to keep my bass's strings from falling off.

D standard for me.

That combined with some 11-54s is just heaven for me.

F#F#F#F#C#C#!? wtf!?

E Standard

It's serious business, man. I've never encountered any other band that experimented with alternate tunings as much as Sonic Youth. There's even a website dedicated to it:

http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/tuning.html

You know Sonic Youth? Damn, you fucking rock!
And to Reaper_of_Souls, due to the fact that Sonic Youth uses cheap guitars (which as anyone knows, sounds shitty), they rely heavily on weird tunings, which is smart. The tuning iamntbatman stated is an offspring off of ostrich tuning.

E standard for me. Drop D if I need it to play a certain song or riff

Out of curiosity, what WAS that bet exactly? Did you win?

I always keep it in E standard.

I either play E standard or C standard. I don't do this because I like to limit myself or anything, I just really like those tunings

I exclusively play in A standard and have done so for a few years now. Everything else is alien to me now.

I use 7 string guitars and six string basses, so B standard and A standard. Would like to upgrade to 8's and 7's sometime though.

You wouldn't need them. You can easily tune a 7 string down to match an 8 string. It'd be just like tuning a 6 string down to B. Plus, bro, do you realize how thick that neck is? It's fuckin' ridiculous.

My friend said most guitarist play drop D or drop C due to the rise of Metalcore and I said bullshit, a majority of people play at e, d, or c standard, so that's how this started...
And Bloody_Spike is right, 8-string guitars' necks are fucking thick and uncomfortable to play. (Using an under-over technique makes it easier, if you can do it right).