Acoustic guitar Tip

[kq300325]

I recently had the idea (although im sure im not the first to have it) to put the capo on at the 1st fret, then retune the guitar using the 2nd fret as the first. This will relieve some of the tension in the strings and prevent the neck from becoming bowed and also making the bridge last longer as there is less tension in the strings.

Hope that makes sense! LOL!

Anyone else do this?

 

[Rokket]

I think that most guitars are build with that tension in mind. I am thinking that if you do this, you are going to have to readjust your truss rod after awhile. It may bow the neck back after having that tension off for a long time. I too, could be wrong...

 

[kq300325]

Thats a good point! i never thought of that! Although i was thinking more of relieveing tension from the bridge as i han an acoustic that the bridge came away from the body because of the tension.

But i suppose that by doing one thing you could cause another!

 

[Farview]

If you tune to standard tuning, the guitar should be made to handle that tension. That is normaly only a problem with cheaply made guitars.

 

[XLR]

I've seen guitarists capo at the first or second fret and tune lower, but that was due to structural problems with their guitars (bellying tops, in need of neck reset, bowed neck) that were helped just enough by the lowering of tension to make it still useable.

And aren't there 12 string models that are made to be tuned a step lower?

I've heard classical guitars that sounded better tuned a little below or above the A440 standard, but that's a different issue.

Maybe if you're concerned about it, just use a lighter gauge string set.

Tim

 

[Rokket]

Maybe if you're concerned about it, just use a lighter gauge string set.

That's a good point!

The only time I ever saw anything like that was when I was gigging and we played a lot of G-n-R in our set. They tune down a half step on every song.
The lead guitar player didn't like to lug around a bunch of different guitars, so he had tuned down, and would put the capo on to play songs in standard tuning. Eventually, we dropped most of those songs from our set, and he started bringing more guitars so he wouldn't have to spend hours with his processor trying to cop tones that way...

 

[5150 Musician]

I think that most guitars are build with that tension in mind. I am thinking that if you do this, you are going to have to readjust your truss rod after awhile. It may bow the neck back after having that tension off for a long time. I too, could be wrong...

That makes sense, but a hint of a bow is nothing bad.. an acoustic neck that's too flat will affect the tone of it in a more negetive way.

 

[XLR]

That makes sense, but a hint of a bow is nothing bad.. an acoustic neck that's too flat will affect the tone of it in a more negetive way

But neck relief of a 64th of an inch or so is a normal thing that many guitars are set up to have. Different than a bowed neck.

Tim