Nashville Tuning

[Light]

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..

A high-strung guitar puts just as much tension on the bridge, so if you are worried about it coming off, don't do the Nashville tuning thing. You could get a really nasty whack to the face when your bridge flies off.


Light

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

 

[Light]

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).

Nashville tuning is very common among country groups who have more guitar players than they know what to do with. It adds a unique texture.

Paul Simon plays a lot of high-strung guitar, as he usually has too many guitar players in his band (two + him for each of his last two tours).

Alex Lifeson of Rush uses a lot of high-strung guitars, doubling parts done on other guitars, for what he has called, "the best intonated twelve string guitar you will ever hear," which is one of the important parts about a high-strung guitar. The one I keep high-strung, I made a new fully intonated saddle for, as the intonation points are completely different for the three low strings (my first acoustic, which rocks. I had Janis Ian sign it when I was in Nashville for one of Berklee’s annual spring break Nashville trip. Special thanks to Pat Pattison – one of the world's greatest teachers – for setting up the trip every year).


Light

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

 

[Light]

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.

Well, mostly true. Some chords sound pretty strange on a high strung guitar, such as the Jimi Hendrix "Purple Haze" sharp nine chord, or anything else which has a major 7th or a minor ninth between two of the notes on a normal guitar. On a high-strung guitar, all of a sudden you may have a minor second in your chord, and if you aren't expecting it, that can really ruin your day (or at least your take).


Light

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

 

[Harvey Gerst]

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

Wow, and I love how the inverted voicings of a Nashville 6 can create interesting fingerpicking patterns. Different tastes, I guess.

 

[Sloan]

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

Wow.
I guess that puts a damper on my plans of one day owning a hurdy-gurdy...

 

[Dani Pace]

Iv'e got an old Kramer Farrington, thin body with a somewhat thin and tinny sound. I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this tuning on a thin acoustic and if so how does it sound? Just thought I'd try and get a little input before I try it, thanks.

 

[philboyd studge]

Wow, and I love how the inverted voicings of a Nashville 6 can create interesting fingerpicking patterns. Different tastes, I guess.

I think you guys are both right. I haven't found much use for it for single note improv work but for a defined riff it's ok. Fingerpicking on a high string however is outstanding.....everything sounds good.

I try to keep the Maccaferri hidden cause when I play it, I get lost in the sound for a half hour or so. They are also a great tool in songwriting because you'll think of things that won't come up in regular tuning.

The '54 Maccaferri was his attempt to make a cheap entry level guitar that played well. They were plastic. Stan at Mandolin Bros. apparently came across a few hundred of them in a warehouse around 25 years ago and I bought one then for $200 I think. It was brand new in a brown alligator chipboard case wrapped in brown fish wrap paper. It was like going back in time to open it up. There's a tag with those old poster illustrations that says: "Mr. Dealer, please don't set me in a sunny display window"

 

[andyhix]

Alright, I'm convinced!

Tonite, I'm taking my crappy old honer $100 acoustic out of the closet and stringing it this way, just for kicks. A new sound, without having to learn new fingerings - the reason I never get real far with alternate tunings. I'm actaully kinda geeked about it.

 

[philboyd studge]

Tonite, I'm taking my crappy old honer $100 acoustic out of the closet and stringing it this way, just for kicks. A new sound, without having to learn new fingerings - the reason I never get real far with alternate tunings. I'm actaully kinda geeked about it.

You're gonna have fun, though you may have back off the truss rod a bit due to the light tension.

 

[BlindCowboy]

Iv'e got an old Kramer Farrington, thin body with a somewhat thin and tinny sound. I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this tuning on a thin acoustic and if so how does it sound? Just thought I'd try and get a little input before I try it, thanks.

Like I was saying about my Dean, it seems that thin and tinny guitars lend themselves best to the Nashville tuning. As for input, ask yourself this. Do you currently use your Kramer or are you using another guitar and that old thing just sits in the corner? If it's sitting in the corner and you put the high set of a 12 string set on there, you won't be able to put it down for about 3 days.

So, you get a brand new, unique, useful instrument for a total cost of about 8 bucks.

 

[drathbun]

Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" from The Wall has the acoustic strumming portion recorded with a high strung Ovation. You can see David Gilmour playing the high strung Ovation on the David Gilmour Live DVD.

 

[Light]

You're gonna have fun, though you may have back off the truss rod a bit due to the light tension.

There is not actually less tension. Remember, they design sets of strings to be pretty much ballanced across the fingerboard. In other words, each string exerts aproximatly the same amount of force.


Light

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

 

[philboyd studge]

There is not actually less tension. Remember, they design sets of strings to be pretty much ballanced across the fingerboard. In other words, each string exerts aproximatly the same amount of force.


Light

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

I don't agree. A .021 E and a .052 E tuned to the same pitch don't have the same tension.

 

[Light]

I don't agree. A .021 E and a .052 E tuned to the same pitch don't have the same tension.

Sure, but .021 is not what is not the low E from a 12 string set, and is WAY too small for that low E in a Nasville strung guitar.

From D'Addario's website:

In a standard light gauge set, the low E is a 0.053, and exerts 26.0 lb of force.

On D'Addario's highstrung set (which I think is too light), the low E is 0.027 and exerts 27.1 lb. Not exactly the same, but very close.

This is not an opinion, this is a fact. No disagreement possible. Hell, the


Lights

highstrung

If the guages are not ballanced reasonably well, then they will cause the neck to twist, and that is (obviously) bad. They won't ever be exactly the same, but within 10 lbs or less.


Light

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

 

[Dani Pace]

OK cool!!! My old Kramer is back in use again, just wish I had discovered this tuning a long time ago. I've been working on some kind of celtic folk tunes lately and this has opened up some really cool sounding drone tones (just what I was missing.) This has been like a breath of fresh air, thanks guys.

 

[philboyd studge]

Sure, but .021 is not what is not the low E from a 12 string set, and is WAY too small for that low E in a Nasville strung guitar.

From D'Addario's website:

In a standard light gauge set, the low E is a 0.053, and exerts 26.0 lb of force.

On D'Addario's highstrung set (which I think is too light), the low E is 0.027 and exerts 27.1 lb. Not exactly the same, but very close.

This is not an opinion, this is a fact. No disagreement possible. Hell, the


Lights

highstrung

If the guages are not ballanced reasonably well, then they will cause the neck to twist, and that is (obviously) bad. They won't ever be exactly the same, but within 10 lbs or less.


Light

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

Whatever, that's how I got the Maccaferri and it works for me.

 

[philboyd studge]

OK cool!!! My old Kramer is back in use again, just wish I had discovered this tuning a long time ago. I've been working on some kind of celtic folk tunes lately and this has opened up some really cool sounding drone tones (just what I was missing.) This has been like a breath of fresh air, thanks guys.

That's great to hear......you can really get lost in that tuning.