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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Acoustic Tuning.
Hi, Iv'e been wondering if anyone could tell me what tunings do people use on their acoustic's because their strings seem to be very loose, they seem to be playing songs that are in standard tunings however they can bend the strings around really easy. When i play in standard tuning my strings seem to be tight. Any thoughts on this ?
Thanks Gazza.
i sometimes use d tuning i can still play the same open chords in d
the easiest way to bend strings is to put on a lighter gauge string. if you feel your strings are too tight try a lighter gauge, substitute a normal 10, 11 or 12 gauge for a 9 gauge. 9's may be too light and sound out of tune if you're a heavy handed player like me? also i find ernie ball strings bend easy. too easy for me. de-tuning two steps may also help but then you'll have to transpose all the songs you play up two steps!
thank you
how does one do drop d Tuning
yeah drop d is super easy once you get the hang of it - just tune your low E string down a whole step to D. i usually just match it to the 4th string (D string) but an octave lower, you can hear when it locks in.
one thing i noticed about string tension tho is it really depends on what gauge strings you're running. i switched from 12s to 11s on my dreadnought a while back and it made a huge difference for bending and general playability. felt like a completely different guitar honestly. 10s might even work if you have a lighter touch but i find they sound a bit thin on an acoustic.
also worth mentioning that some guys tune down a half step or a whole step (like Eb or D standard) which loosens everything up quite a bit. lots of older folk and blues players did that. makes bending way easier without changing strings.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Acoustic Tuning.
