Playin half step down (Eb)

[Blaze]

Lately I've been doin this studio session & had to play half step lower (eb), it is pleasant,easy and nice ..
I wonder why we do not always play this way as Trower, Hendrix, Ray Vaughan & many others ,in our owne guitar gigs.
We could install larger strings improve the sound of our instrument, facilitate the strings bending and for singers, singing effortlessly ..
I guess that we must follow the standards and other instruments register and of course the singer himself.
Some guitar builders say it may affect the neck and the structure of the guitar, I doubt a bit,maybe if you go from standard to 1/2 step to often.
We might have to make adjustments to play a half_step lower and have a good action on the neck.
I know that many guitar player play this way out there so i guess this is for me to convince my musician buddies to play that way .

Any thoughts about it ...

Blazes:dude:

[Jipes]

I do like it as well but I've never played an entire concert with this tuning rather couple of songs (mainly SRV and Hendrix tunes). It's true that the bending is much easier that way :dude:

[Andy]

ditto one of my axes always stays a half step down, I had to tweak it a bit so I leave it that way.

[Spudman]

It feels tons better to me too, and I read a study that showed that all the harmonics and overtones all compliment each other better than at A440. I'd love to be tuned down all the time. Alice Cooper and Queensryche etc. are doing it too because as we age our voices aren't quite what they used to be and it certainly makes it easier to hit the upper notes.

I keep one locking tremolo guitar at Eb all the time along with a fixed bridge guitar. It makes playing along with some recordings easier if they are already at that pitch than trying to re-tune each time.

[peachhead]

Weird that this came up, as I've been thinking about it lately. I've never done that- maybe whenever I get another guitar, I'll just leave one tuned that way. But out of curiosity, what issues would I possibly run into, that I would have to tweak it?

[Andy]

I had to raise the action on mine as it was super low to start with.
plus you loose a little tension on the neck/tremelo that can effect action as well.

[marnold]

I had my Floyd downtuned to Eb for a while. I really needed something heavier than 10s. My problem is that I have several sets of Speedloader 10s that I got for a song. With the reduced tension both in springs and strings, I found that my Floyd got wonkier. If I really need Eb, it's easier to temporarily downtune my hard tail Fender.

[Plank_Spanker]

My band plays a half step down to help out our singer. I don't notice any magic from it.............................it's just a half step down.

[ZMAN]

Trower uses very heavy strings, 12,15,17,26,36,46. To do this he tunes down a whole step to D. He doesn't seem to have any issues with his guitar.
I tried this with a set of tens and feels really good. I always have one guitar tuned down a 1/2 step for blues. Albert King, SRV, Hendrix all used that tuning and SRV used huge strings, and bends were common place. I haven't seen any issues with the guitar using those tunings.

[Spudman]

Chris Duarte told me one night that he uses a custom set of GHS (sponsored) strings on his Strat. I asked what gauge and I nearly fell over - especially when he offered me a couple of sets. He was using 011, .015, .018, .030, .040, .050. Back then I was still using 9s and just knew that if I put that set on my guitar I'd slice my fingers and blow out some tendons. He then handed me his beloved 63 Strat and said "Here, check it out. It's not that bad." That was the moment I discovered tuning down. He tunes down 1/2 step and true enough - it wasn't that bad. If I could just get keyboard players to go along with it then the world would be a grand place because that combo of tuning down with those strings sounds really fat.

[TS808]

Most of the time when I see that players are tuning in E flat, they are using much heavier strings than 10's. Even at a 1/2 step down, SRV was known to tear up his fingers a good bit while playing. There's a story in his biography where he tore the tip of his index finger while playing, and he actually super-glued the skin back on to finish the set.

I've never tried tuning down on any of my strats...10's are pretty manageable for me and I like the tone with 10's. I've tried 11's before and really didn't notice much of a difference.

[Blaze]

Here s an article about Stevie guitar set up ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan's Guitar Setup

This page contains detailed information on Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar setup. The information comes directly from the article "Supernova Strats" by Dan Erlewine as published in February 1990 issue of Guitar Player magazine. That issue featured Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck together in one interview as they were touring in tandem at the time. The Supernova Strats article actually contains details on Jeff Beck's setup also, but for the purpose of this page I have included only the Stevie Ray Vaughan related information.

In November 1989 longtime Guitar Player magazine repairs and modifications columnist Dan Erlewine had the chance to go over Stevie's guitars with a fine-toothed comb. He spent the day with Rene Martinez, Stevie's guitar tech and compiled a detailed report on virtually all aspects of the setup on the guitars Stevie was touring with at the time. Stevie Ray with #1
The guitars

Stevie's guitars were all pre- 63 model Fender Stratocasters, except for "Charley" (outfitted with the Danelectro "lipstick tube" pickups, it was made from kit parts at Charley's Guitar Shop in 1984). They all have names, too: Number One, Red, Butter Scotch, Charley, and Lenny. The only significant change from the stock on these Strats has been the addition of 5-way switches and a good coat of shielding paint in the control cavities. Number One, the beat-up sunburst that we all know, is Stevie's main squeeze.
Neck adjustment

With all the guitars, neck straightness (or relief) is the first thing I checked, sighting down the fingerboard. A fingerboard should either be dead flat or have a slight up-bow, known as relief, in the direction of the strings' pull. Stevie's guitars had approximately .012" of relief around the 7th and 9th frets, and then leveled out for the remainder of the board.
String gauge

Stevie tunes his guitar down a half-step and uses GHS Nickel Rockers measuring .013, .015, .019 (plain), .028, .038, and .058. On this particular day, Rene had substituted an .011 for the high E to keep down the sore fingers that blues bends can cause. Rene changes strings every show for each guitar that gets played.
Fretwire

If you're trying to evaluate action, it's nice to know what size and shape of fretwire is used on any guitar. Number One's frets measure .110" wide by .047" tall. These frets would have started out at .055" tall when they were new, and were probably either Dunlop 6100 or Stewart-MacDonald 150 wire.
String height

I measured the distance from the underside of the strings to the top of the fret at the 12th fret on both E strings. Rene Martinez describes "I set up all of Stevie's the same: 5/64" on the treble E string and 7/64" at the bass E."
Fingerboard radius

Knowing the radius of the fingerboard can help in setting up a comfortable bridge saddle height and curve. Stevie's Number One was somewhat flatter than the vintage 7-1/4" radius. Rene has refretted the neck at least twice, and in the process the fingerboard has evolved into a 9" or 10" radius in the upper register. This isn't the result of a purposeful attempt to create a compound radius, which allows string-bending with less-noting out; it just happened.
Bridge saddles

Stevie's Number One wants to break high E and B strings at the saddle every chance she gets. Rene showed me why the strings break, and how he takes care of the problem: As a string breaks out of the vintage Strat tremolo block/bridge top plate, it "breaks" or contacts, the metal directly; this causes a slight kink that weakens the string. With the bridge saddles removed, Rene uses a Dremel Moto-Tool to grind the holes edge until the lip is smooth and gradual, and any binding is eliminated.

Number One uses vintage replacement saddles (the originals wore out long ago), and they're not all alike --some have a shorter string slot than others. The high E and B strings may contact the front edge of this string clearance slot as they rise toward the "takeoff point" at the saddle's peak. The kink formed by the contact stretches into the saddle peak during tuning, and breaks right at the crown. Rene elongates the slot, again by grinding, and then smoothes any rough metal edges. Finally, he slides a 5/8"-long piece of plastic tubing (insulation from electrical wire) over each string to protect it from the metal "break points." He uses the heaviest piece of tubing he can get that still fits down the tremolo/block hole. Even with this, the high strings still cut through the plastic quickly (sometimes in one set), and when they do, the strings break. Rene plans to try a Teflon wire insulation if he can find the right size.
Nuts

Stevie's Number One, Lenny and Charley have standard Fender-style nuts, but Rene makes them from bone. Stevie prefers the sound of bone, although for studio work he had Rene make brass nuts for Scotch and Red.
Tremolo setup

Vaughan's standard vintage tremolo uses all five springs. Rene prefers the durability of the stainless steel Fender tremolo bars. He puts a small wad of cotton at the bottom of the tremolo-block hole to keep the bar from over-tightening and becoming hard to remove if it breaks. He emphasizes the importance of lubricating all the moving parts of the tremolo system, preferring a powdered graphite-and-grease mixture (the grease holds the graphite in place where it's needed). He lubricates everything that moves: mounting screws/plate; all string "breaks" and contact points, including the saddle peaks; where the springs attach to the block and claw; the nut slots; and the string trees.
Pickup height

As a reference point I laid a precision steel straightedge along the frets for making the measurement. Stevie's pickups were raised fairly high. I measured from the straightedge to the polepiece tops: On the treble side, the bridge pickup touched the straightedge, and the middle almost touched the straightedge, and the neck pickup was 1/16" away. The bass side measured 1/32" at the bridge pickup, 1/16" at the middle, and 1/32" at the neck.
Tuning machines

We've covered about everything except tuners, and there's nothing secret here. Stevie Ray's tuners are all originals, and each has three full string winds to get the best angle at the nut.

[marnold]

Stevie's choice in strings was insane even at Eb. WRT Trower, I would think that an .046 E string would be as limp as a wet noodle tuned to D. I had by Squier '51 tuned to Eb for a while and found I preferred a D'Addario 010-052 set for the extra tension on the low end. That 011-050 set would probably work out nicely.

[Jimi75]

All my guitars were tuned to Eb. I started doing so because I have spent a huge amount of time on playing SRV and Hendrix stuff. I can not say if it is of any advantage. My JV Strat is tuned regularly and I fell no big difference. More and more players tune to normal E again, it better if you play along with cds and if yo play sessions a lot with other players.