Nashville Tuning

W

Whyte Ice

The Next Vanilla Ice
How could I get a Nashville tuning on my guitar? I read that Nashville tuning is E4, A4, D5, G5, B4 and E5 where as standard tuning is E3, A3, D4, G4, B4 and E5. I don't see how tuning up a whole octave for some of the strings would be good for my guitar.
 
Ok, the two high strings stay the same (the high E and B). Remove the lower four strings from your guitar.

Now, you open a fresh set of light guage strings and you throw away the two low strings (the low E and A).

You're left with an E string, a B string, a G string, and a D string. These go on in place of your normal G, D, A and E strings as follow:

The new high E string goes in the G position and is tuned up to G (same note as the third fret on the first string).
The new high B string goes in the D position and is tuned up to D (same note as the third fret on the second string).
The new high G string goes in the A position and is tuned up to A.
The new high D string goes in the low E position and is tuned up to E (one octave below the high E string).

There ya go.
 
Haven't heard of this before, but couldn't you also buy a twelve string set and split it into a high pitched and standard set?
 
Well I don't quite do it Harvey's way, I simply use the high strings off a 12 string set at standard Spanish tuning. That's an octave up on the low E, A, D, and G strings...and a .009 G that can take the pitch.

The six strings left over can be used as a set of extra lights on a guitar set up for it.
 
mshilarious said:
Haven't heard of this before, but couldn't you also buy a twelve string set and split it into a high pitched and standard set?
Click to expand...
That is the high pitched part of a Nashville tuning set. Standard 12 string is made up of one regular set, a duplicate high E and B, and then the strings I mentioned above.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Ok, the two high strings stay the same (the high E and B). Remove the lower four strings from your guitar.

Now, you open a fresh set of light guage strings and you throw away the two low strings (the low E and A).

You're left with an E string, a B string, a G string, and a D string. These go on in place of your normal G, D, A and E strings as follow:

The new high E string goes in the G position and is tuned up to G (same note as the third fret on the first string).
The new high B string goes in the D position and is tuned up to D (same note as the third fret on the second string).
The new high G string goes in the A position and is tuned up to A.
The new high D string goes in the low E position and is tuned up to E (one octave below the high E string).

There ya go.
Click to expand...


Or, just go to the store and buy singles of the octave stings from a medium gauge twelve sting set, which is what Nashville tuning is. The octaves from a twelve string set. On my Nashville guitar, it goes 0.012", 0.016", 0.010", 0.014", 0.020", 0.030". On mine, the only wound string is the low E (0.030"), but you could also use a wound 0.024" for the A string. If you are going to go wound, you want a heavier string, as it takes less tension to get a wound string up to pitch. You could go up or down a little on these gauges, but this is where I have found I like the sound. Any lighter, and the G string (huh huh hu... he said g-string) breaks within the first day or so of playing, and I don't play my Nashville guitar much. I haven't actually tried heavier, but you could give it a try.

I also just found that D'Addario makes a "High-strung/Nashville" set of strings. Theirs goes 0.010", 0.014", 0.009", 0.012", 0.018", 0.027". But like I said, I think that is too light.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
mshilarious said:
Haven't heard of this before, but couldn't you also buy a twelve string set and split it into a high pitched and standard set?
Click to expand...

Yea, but then you are wasting half the set (twelve strings sets are lighter that 6 string sets, because, well, you have twice as many strings).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Light said:
Yea, but then you are wasting half the set (twelve strings sets are lighter that 6 string sets, because, well, you have twice as many strings).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
Click to expand...

We're not in a situation where you'd be changing strings very often for if you use the 12 string highs as I suggested, there's only one wound string. My plastic '54 Maccaferri is only used for recording and the strings are at least 10 years old.
 
Light said:
Yea, but then you are wasting half the set (twelve strings sets are lighter that 6 string sets, because, well, you have twice as many strings).
Click to expand...

I see.

I'm still making payments on the set I just got for my 8 course lute . . .
 
I've never heard of nashville tuning, but I am now kinda interested to try it out. What sorta sound does this produce? Obviously a higher pitched sound, I realize...What songs would I know that have this tuning on it? is it normally used on Acoustics, electrics, or both?
 
andyhix said:
I've never heard of nashville tuning, but I am now kinda interested to try it out. What sorta sound does this produce? Obviously a higher pitched sound, I realize...What songs would I know that have this tuning on it? is it normally used on Acoustics, electrics, or both?
Click to expand...

Originally it was used to double the acoustic rhythm guitar, sometimes with a capo for a different texture.....G at the fifth fret for C for instance. But it has a lot of other applications in fingerstyle also.

Never thought of trying it on an electric, that could be interesting for West African riffs and the like.
 
I have a Dean acoustic that is a good guitar, but just a little shallow. I strung it with the high set of a 12 string set (D'addario) and it is now beautiful. This tuning fits this guitar perfect. It's been that way for about 1 1/2 years.

As for what it's used for? I use it as an accompaniment. It's nice when i'm playing with a group that has more than 2 guitars; when i've got a duo song swap; as the lead over an acoustic rhythm; etc... A flavor. A very useful one in my opinion.
 
andyhix said:
I've never heard of nashville tuning, but I am now kinda interested to try it out. What sorta sound does this produce? Obviously a higher pitched sound, I realize...What songs would I know that have this tuning on it? is it normally used on Acoustics, electrics, or both?
Click to expand...
By pitching the bottom four strings an octave higher, it moves them up to where there is no longer a conflict with most voices. It produces a wonderful and ethereal "chimy" sound, and doesn't require playing anything different since the tuning is still EADGBE.

Since the highest note in any chord will now be on the inside G string, it also creates beautiful new chord voicings that work very well on fingerpicked parts. We keep a small bodied parlor guitar and a dreadnaught here at the studio, both with Nashville tunings (it's also called a "high-strung 6").

Played together with a regular 6 and panned to the same place, it also creates a psuedo-12 string sound, or panned, a stereo 12 string.
 
You've just pointed out the new life for my 25 yo beaten up Takamine that has a lifting bridge that's not really worth fixing and I'm always afraid will snap in half when I restring it, but otherwise sounds and plays not too bad. Thanks guys..
 
I breathed new life into a Martin Backpacker using Nashville tuning and a set of SIT strings (see post above). And with a capo at the 5th fret, it sounds something like an autoharp!
 
Question, just curious but what does Nashville tuning do for you? I've never heard of it (that's why I checked out this thread). Just wondering what it is used for (I realize that the name probably implies something).
 
Listen to the intro to the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses: 2 acoustics, one standard, the other tuned in Nashville tuning, panned L + R. Very rich, chimey sound.

Nobody mentioned it, but Nashville tuning doesn't lend itself to "picking"; it works better for rhythm strums.
 
mshilarious said:
I see.

I'm still making payments on the set I just got for my 8 course lute . . .
Click to expand...


I would think so!!! Nylon strings are bad enough for guitar, but when you start getting into odd instruments, it gets all that much worse, (sitar strings are like $70). I just sold a guy a set of autoharp strings which had been lying around the shop for years at the cost we priced them at when we got them (probably 10-15 years ago, at least), and they cost the guy $225. Today, they would have gone for about $450-500.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
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