I have a 200$ standar dean V. I play brutal death metal/pornogrind on that, it is tuned to C. I play all my normal stuff on my Jackson. I was wondering what happens if I keep it in C without getting it ajusted to C. Could someone tell me what happens?

If the guitar is set up to sound/play good in E standard, and is tuned to C, you might notice these problems:

- Strings are too loose or flabby
- Strings do not hold intonation well and go out of tune if played hard
- Certain frets are more out of tune ( intonation isn't set correctly )
- Either buzzing/excess string rattle or uncomfortably high action, due to the action or neck adjustment.

Actually, I play my un-adjusted guitar in C and it sounds just fine. I think C is the lowest you can go without really having to adjust it.

I seriously doubt it sounds "fine". I'd be surprised if it sounded better than "mediocre".

Well, I like it. That's all that really matters, right?

Trouble is, if anyone else listened to it, they'd think it sounded kinda bad. It's cool that you like how it sounds, but if you're in a band (not sure if you are), it's noticable.
or maybe you're just lucky and it actually sounds good, but i have my doubts



I thought that when I tuned my guitar down to C, I wouldn't have to change that much, but it really sounded terrible past the 6th fret, especially noticable on the lowest string. The strings were either too loose or too close to the fretboard, whatever, I had to raise them, then fiddle around some more.

I know dick all about it, too, so it's still probably not right. All I know is that at the 12th fret sounds like it's actually an octave up, rather than slightly off.

Hardtail will give you less gyp if you tune it differently, though you may experience intonation problems and the like, and the difference in tension to what you were using in E. With a floating trem system you'll probably encounter more problems.

A good setup is worth the money if you plan on keeping it in C.

Well, the one that's in C now I'm gonna raise a half step so I can do drop B, and my new one I am gonna get set up to play in B standard.

I knew that you can drop your your guitar into C tune only if it is a unique body (don't know if that is the correct term... i refer to guitars whose body and neck are done by only one piece of wood), then you can do it with guitars like Gibson, Epiphone etc etc.

my guitar is in c and stays in tune well. All i did was get bigger strings than i had before.

^ Yeah, if you don't have a tremolo or a bridge that supports a tremolo (id est a through-body bridge in most cases) getting a heavier gauge in strings will solve most of your problems - as well as giving your guitar a more brutal sound.

This post isn't correct at all. Any guitar can be tuned to anything.

Hmmm... Maybe... or maybe not... well a friend of mine, who plays Stoner Rock since a cople of years, told me NOT to do that unless you have a guitar like the one I mentioned above. In fact I don't know this, since I play another kind of metal and I don't need to retune my guitar.

It's completely false. There isn't anything special about neck through or set neck constructions that make them safer for low tunings. Bolt on can be tuned down just as well. What your friend told you is wrong.

The only danger associated with down tuning your guitar, is if you use strings that are too thin and do not adjust the truss rod so that the neck retains tension on it. Even then, the danger is slight to none as far as actually damaging the guitar, the more likely result will be the guitars neck bending back slightly making intonation, action, and fretbuzz bad.

I assume by "adjusting" you mean the truss rod mainly, as well as minor adjustments to the bridge, or somewhat more significant adjustments to springs on a trem system if you have one.

Compare the tension of the set of strings that came stock on the guitar (usually 9-42 or 10-46) tuned to standard, and compare that to the total tension of the strings you are using now tuned to whatever tuning you use. If there is a significant difference in tension, have it checked by a professional (most guitar shops have someone who can do this). Minor adjustments to a cheap guitar can be done by most in-store technicians, while more significant adjustments and those on high end guitars should be done by a luthier, or at least someone who has been educated by a luthier on doing this properly.

Good resource:

D'addario string tension chart: http://www.daddario.com/upload/tension_chart_13934.pdf
This chart is close enough for your purposes even if you are using a different string company, unless you have heavy core strings or something unusual (some GHS and DR are a bit heavier). Ideally you can get the string tension numbers from the company that makes them, but some companies don't help their customers with information.

The only odd thing I have seen with very heavy strings would be the GHS 60-10 and 70-11 sets, a friend used them to tune the E and D respectively, and the necks on two cheap guitars curved slightly up, so the thickest string was crossing over the edge of the fretboard. I have never seen this otherwise, but don't use ridiculous string sets like those unless you have a guitar set up for it (I don't even know how it would be set up). Reasonable variation such as light top/heavy bottom (10/13/17/30/42/52) is fine, just don't have 30++ pounds of tension on one side and 15 on the other.

As far as I know, those sets are designed for the special drop A tuning that Zakk uses occasionally, A-A-D-G-B-E.