What tunings do you use?

[Vegetta]

7 String Drop G/G# and Bb standard
6 Strings Eb, Drop C and D
Baritone Drop G/G# and Bb F Bb F Bb Eb

 

[DestroyMankind]

Ltd 607b-BEADF#BE
Ltd ec-1000-D#G#C#F#A#D#
Telecaster-Standard
Ltd viper baritone-A#D#G#C#FA#

 

[TheBolivianSniper]

Bb standard on my stealth 7, drop F# on my Ormsby and thinking about getting another 7 once I have the cash bc drop A is where downtuned guitars sound best for riffing imo

 

[The Mirror]

which strings do you use for open C? does that mean its a C chord, or standard tuning down a third?

CGCGCE is the Open tuning. Meaning a C major plays when you hit all the open strings.

I use custom strings. 10-13-17-28-38-58 on a 25.5 scale guitar. No way you can get any balanced tension with a premade set, since you have what amounts to two drops in that tuning (both G->C).

Tuning is fantastic since every other string is a octave and you can simply repeat any pattern or chord two strings higher. The E is of course an irregalirity but it easily offers the ability to form a major chord with just baring any fret. I've experimented with going full octaves (CGCGCG) but it's not really worth it getting the needed 8.5 string for that.

 

[Schizo Sapiens]

My tuning philosophy is "not too far away from standard tuning". Dropping couple of strings is OK (CGDGBE), dropping the whole tuning (Eb standard or D standard) - not my thing. I kinda want my tunings to be combatible with each other and with my bass. I guess, it's because I love to experiment with and write in different tunings but can't afford to get a bunch of guitars for each of them, so I'm trying to get the most from what I have )

So it goes:
Main guitar (Epiphone S): E standard, DropD, CGDGBE (wrote a bunch of stuff in that tuning), DADFAE (just one track for now).

Strat guitar (Homage HEG): always is E standard, because floaying tremolo. I did tune it to DropD to record some clean parts, but that's it.

Telecaster with bridge humbucker only (no brand, built by some local dude): BF#BF#BD# tuning, open B. I chose that over the other Devin Townsend tuning (CGCGCE) because it works better with bass in BEADG. I use custom string sets for that: 10-13-18-32-44-62. Sometimes I tune it to BF#BF#BD, BF#BF#BC#, BF#B#AD or AEBEAD.

Seventstring (Schecter Omen-7). Usually in AEADGBE, BEADGBE, or ADADGBE (fun tuning which cures you of 'always chugging on 7th string' syndrome and makes you approach things more creatively). Sometimes in BEADF#BE or AEADF#BE for that 'six-string baritone' vibe.
I don't go lower than A on 7th string because of 25.5" scale. I'd love to experiment with stuff like GCGCGCE or GDADGBE or some other variants, but I need another guitar for that. Maybe someday...

Bass (Godin Freeway 5) is usually in standard BEADG or tuned depending on a song that I need to record - AEADG, ADADG or CEADG (for CGDGBE tuned stuff). No drastic retuning, always same string gauges.

I haven't tried 8 string guitars, but if I ever do, I'd try F# standard and DropE, but EAEADGBE makes most sense to me, I guess.

 

[Ben Pinkus]

For my metalcore band we're in both Drop F# and Drop A (both on 7's)
For my other bands, mostly in standard

 

[Esp Griffyn]

My EVH Frankie is in E standard, but it does have a D-Tuna so it can go to drop D and back in an instant.

My Ibanez K-7 is in B standard, but I might return it to the factory A standard one of these days.

 

[Repo251]

so am i reading it right, the open E is the top string, doesnt need detuning, hence the 10 guage, correct?
and you dont play lead lines on this tuning, it's more for rhythm with tons of overdrive, no?

CGCGCE is the Open tuning. Meaning a C major plays when you hit all the open strings.

I use custom strings. 10-13-17-28-38-58 on a 25.5 scale guitar. No way you can get any balanced tension with a premade set, since you have what amounts to two drops in that tuning (both G->C).

Tuning is fantastic since every other string is a octave and you can simply repeat any pattern or chord two strings higher. The E is of course an irregalirity but it easily offers the ability to form a major chord with just baring any fret. I've experimented with going full octaves (CGCGCG) but it's not really worth it getting the needed 8.5 string for that.

 

[Repo251]

certainly it seems to me that the rock metal etc guitarists are the ones who experiment the most with tunings... some really innovative ideas on here..

 

[The Mirror]

so am i reading it right, the open E is the top string, doesnt need detuning, hence the 10 guage, correct?
and you dont play lead lines on this tuning, it's more for rhythm with tons of overdrive, no?

Obviously you also play leads in Open C. You can play leads in any tuning after all.

I'd argue that it is even easier to play leads in Open C because of the easily recognizable octaves in the tuning. You have to relearn scales and patterns, though, of course.

For many people I'd wager Open-C tuning was something they came into contact with through Devin Townsend (he plays almost exclusively in Open C or B) and if he isn't capable of playing leads I don't know who is.

 

[ElectricBaliset]

When I predominately played 6-strings, I used a ton of open and alternate tunings. My favorites include:

* CGCEGC (Open C, based on the 'Vestopol' pattern rather than the more familiar/traditional variation)
* CGCEGD (Open Cadd9)
* CGDGCE (another Open Cadd9 variant)
* DGDF#AB (Open Gmaj9)
* CFCEAbC (Open Fmin/maj7)
* CGDGCD (Orkney/Open Csus2)
* DGDGAE (Open Dsus2sus4; PowerTab listed this as Old Spanish tuning back in the day. This was probably supposed to be Open G [with someone having mistakenly tuned the second string down a whole step rather than the first], but I ended up trying this tuning out, copped it, and loved it for years.)
* DADGAE (Open Dsus2sus4, DadGad-ly)
* DAEGAD (Another DadGad-ish Open Dsus2sus4)

I'd play in these and other tunings, usually transposed down such that the lowest string was somewhere between C and A. If the tuning was an open triad or some simple extension, I'd go back and forth between the major and minor variants.

After I acquired my first 8-string, I started to revisit standard and dropped tunings; I always wanted to play with extending the tunings I was already using, but I learned quickly that extended range instruments have fairly restrictive practical upper and lower bounds on tuning, so something like e.g. BF#BF#BD#F#C# was pretty much out of the question. My 8s are usually tuned such that the middle 6 strings make up a standard or dropped 6-string tuning, flanked by strings a fourth apart on either end (e.g., GCFBbEbGCF, EAEADF#BE, etc.).

I do something similar with my 7s - they're usually just in or around B standard, with the third string variously tuned to F# or G.

After getting used to playing primarily 8s for a while, my 6s are now usually just somewhere between C and A standard, occasionally with the low string dropped. I grew up on a steady diet of nu-metal when I was first learning the guitar, so in a sense it feels like I've come full circle with my tuning habits.