I've been tuning my guitat E A D G B D. That high D makes major chords nice n' minor-ey. You also get tasty barres out of the high three, or you hold them in a tri-tone style and get a clean major out of them.

FuzzBob wrote:

tipcat wrote:C# G# C F G# A#

also fond of DADGAD, DADF#AD (open D), and DADGBD, on which I capo extensively.

DADGAD is the best tuning in the universe. Tune it down 1 step to CGCFGC and move it up, down and around with a capo, and you can play almost anything.

I always tune down 1/2 step to C# in all of my tunings and capo away. SO good. Open D is my current favorite. I almost never play in standard tuning. It just sounds like ass to my ears most of the time.

Low to high: C# G# C# D# C# F
(or Db Ab Db Eb Db F, whichever you prefer)

i use E G D G B E a lot, not that crazy but still fun. open E is a also sweet, my band has a grindcore-ish song in this tuning, way catchy.
i wanna try tuning into mandolin tuning.

I have two odd tunings I came up with on my own.
I'm just reading these off my little korg tuner, I've included all the little details as well.

440hz, b=flat #=sharp

Eb
Eb
Bb (+30)
G#
Bb (+20) so the B, on the 3rd string is a bit sharper than the B on the 5 string.
Eb

a new project I'm working on features this tuning.

the other.

F# (tuned pretty low)
F#
Eb (tuned higher)
F#
F#
B

sack of smashed assholes wrote:I have two odd tunings I came up with on my own.
I'm just reading these off my little korg tuner, I've included all the little details as well.

440hz, b=flat #=sharp

Eb
Eb
Bb (+30)
G#
Bb (+20) so the B, on the 3rd string is a bit sharper than the B on the 5 string.
Eb

a new project I'm working on features this tuning.

the other.

F# (tuned pretty low)
F#
Eb (tuned higher)
F#
F#
B

Taking liberties with temperament. I love it.

I'm now playing an E, E, E, E, E, E. I'm a bumble bee. I make buzzing sounds and flitter about. I'm totally getting on my gf's nerves. But the single high E tuning stays, but it'll move over to a smaller scale guitar.

I like DGDGFD

I didn't read the whole thread, but I may be the only one who does not generally like alternative tunings. I have a hard enough time figuring out where I am on the fretboard in standard tuning. It took me years to memorize all those patterns for scales and modes, I can't bring myself to have to relearn them again for different tunings. That's not to say I don't try different tunings once in a while but generally I avoid them. I also don't want to get into writing songs with different tunings, thats a pain for playing live. I remember watching my friend's band play one time and he had like four guitars on stage just because of the different tunings. Annoying!

Although, I am very interested about learning about tunings that try to use just intonation- more from a scientific standpoint I guess.

Although... I;d love to learn pedal steel at some point in the future and that's probably the most crazy use of alternate tunings, because they are changing constantly with the pedals.