alternate tunings...
 

I know somewhere on this site they have a bunch of different tunings Sonic Youth has used, but I can't find them. Anybody know where they are?

nevermind, found it

this is a good site too:

http://www.daydreamnation.co.uk/expr...detunings.html

ooh, spot on, even better than the one I was originally looking for, thanks!

no prob.

Don't try the melt banana tuning on there though.. unless you want your strings to break..

It could be done with some 8's or if you don't play aggressive with 9's

I like the idea of alternate tunings and they are great to play in (You can make so many awesome melodies with them) but It feels like I'm ripping off Sonic Youth too much.

it does feel a lot better playing in alternate tuning. Especially because you can just play open strings and it sounds good.

Always wondered: How do people figure out what alternate tunings bands use?

Good question. Also, why do people have alternate tunings, and then figure out how to make regular chords with them? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

A good ear? I'm willing to guess most bands with alternate tunings reveal what they are some point, though...

the alt tunings that i use are for different reasons.
one of my guitars is tuned to
g
g
g
g
b
b

and our other guitarist is tuned to
g
g
g
g
d
d


ie when we play open its a g chord.
that guitar is usually used for songs that i play melodies on one string or songs that i jam to cause i use the low strings for drones and it gives the guitar a very deep sound.

another guitar is tuned to
e
b
e
e
a
a

i made this tuning then years later found out that lee has one that is near identical. thisn one is good for power chords and more rocking songs, i can get i nice rocking sound with it. i usually find a tune in a different tuning and then realize what chords im playing. i also use standard a lot. alt tuning isnt an ideology with me. sometimes it works, sometimes it dont

Also, do you usually use different strings for this, other than the usual? I would imagine you would, but I've imagined wrong before, so...

sometimes i put a .13 instead of the 1st string...

heavy string gauges (jazz strings i think) are prefered for detuned tunings and is what i mostly use, because i like to have a more rich bass tone so drop D to drop C is what i play right now i prefer an open tuning, DADABE or DADABD for easily doing power chords though i'm not doing alot of rock type stuff... i've been thinking about trying F#A#F#A#F#A# for kicks, i think its the tuning Efrim of godspeed/silver mt zion used (or uses???) or its a variant of that tuning and it seems somehat similar to SY's EG# xpressway tuning. though i think the F#A# tuning will require a lighter string gauge because its tuned up from standard...

My guess is that you work out what is being played and then you find a tuning that makes it easy to play in.

As I've said before, I'm tuned to Polvo "Celebrate the new Dark Age"/"Today's Active Lifestyles"-era tuning (check my thread on Today's Active Lifestyles if you wanna know what that tuning is), but it's went out of tune a little bit and sounds great. It DIDN'T sound great, though, until I used some heavy gauged Ernie Ball strings for my guitar; good strings can make a TON of difference.

I really actually like playing in standard, it sounds very nice... but yeah, it really doesn't matter what tuning you play in; even in standard, you're probably going to be a LITTLE out of tune if you don't constantly check with a tuner every 15 minutes of guitar torture.. just go with whatever sounds good.. I use a whammy bar a lot, so I'm constantly tuning up or down a slight notch..

This doesn't really go here but fuck it. Would banjo strings sound very good on an electric guitar? Obviously it wouldn't have the authentic banjo sound, but would it even be worth doing before I splurge and buy some banjo strings?...

I think that's what The Monks' guitarist did. Though I haven't listened to The Monks.

Been using F#F#AF#AA myself lately man--I'd recommend it!

i think they just had a banjo...