Simple Eb Tuning with an EX-7

[marnold***]

Switching my floating Floyd to a different tuning is a major pain and overly complicated. If I want to learn a song that is in Eb (Hendrix, SRV, among others) I used to just transpose the song in Audacity. That doesn't work so well with some instructional videos I have. It's hard to transpose an entire DVD.

I found a really simple solution--one I should have realized years ago. The Whammy function on my Digitech EX-7 has a "Reverse 2nd down" setting that will drop the sound of the guitar down a full step when you put the pedal toe-down. I set the wet/dry mix to 100% wet. I eyeballed the pedal itself about 1/2 way and then used my tuner to tweak it. It actually works remarkably well. With such a slight drop in pitch, even chords sound pretty good with a minimum of tracking warble.

The main reason I wanted to do it is because my (relatively) new George Lynch Behind the Player DVD teaches "Mr. Scary" and "Tooth and Nail." On the DVD, he plays both in Eb, even though "Mr. Scary" is in standard tuning on the original recording.

[Robert****]

Good idea Marnold, thanks for the tip!

[Eric***]

I'm probably supposed to know this, but why is it difficult/impossible to change the tuning on a guitar with a floyd rose?

[6stringdrug]

eric, I could be wrong, but im pretty sure the tuning issues are because the floyd locks the strings at both ends. I dont use tremolo on any of my axes, so floyd setups I usually shy away from, but my bandmate doesnt play his floyd strat in our band cause we play mulitple tunings onstage, open d, keef tuning, drop d, Eb, std. Makes for interesting setups, and he just doesnt even bring that axe to rehearsal or gigs

[marnold***]

I'm probably supposed to know this, but why is it difficult/impossible to change the tuning on a guitar with a floyd rose?

If it's floating, it is difficult. It's not impossible, but it is a time-consuming PITA, especially if you intend on going between both tunings. If I had it blocked it wouldn't be a problem. Then it would just be a matter of loosening the locking nut, retuning, and tightening the nut back down again. Because mine is floating, the pull of the springs balances out the tension of the strings. Tuning down a step would mean that the bridge would no longer be level with the body, the springs would be pulling harder than the strings, and subsequently the guitar would not stay in tune.

When it is blocked, the trem is set so that it is dive-only, usually by jamming something between the body and the block in the back if the guitar. There is no balancing act, so changing the string tension wouldn't matter. That's why EVH can use his D-Tuna and not cause his Floyd to go all out of whack.

6stringdrug: do you really change to all those different tunings on the fly without changing guitars? Even with a fixed bridge, that would seem to take a while. I suppose that once you have enough practice with it it's not as hard.

[6stringdrug]

I usually bring 2, sometimes 3 guitars to a gig. we organize our set so we can just switch guitars in between necessary tunings, if i need to change a individual guitars tuning i do it on set break or our drummer will do an extended intro so we have time to do it. It's all very coordinated and we practice it all in rehearsal. We don't use all the different tunings in every show, but in our repitoire(?) we have at least 6 different tunings we use. I started experimenting on my own and rarely write original stuff in standard tuning anymore. Its usually open d or keef tuning. I love what he did with that tuning and I'm having a lot of fun playing around with it. We are starting to add some metal and the big drop tunings in there mean I might have to add another guitar to accomadate that. BTW, that is good info to know about the floyds. I dont use trems, on my strat i just screw the claw down as tight as I can and toss the whammy bar in my parts box. But my coguitarist has trems and uses them on all his axes. His floyd equipped jackson is his favorite, he just doesnt use it live at all.

[Spudman***]

Thanks Rev. I haven't tried that yet. I do love my EX7 but I also love having other guitars tuned down as well. Still I'm going to give it a try. I appreciate the tip.

[SuperSwede]

You need one of these fine geetars Marnold.. I´m still not sure how they make the transposing floyd thingy work but its mighty cool!
http://www.steinberger.com/ZT3.html

[marnold***]

Ahh yes. The TransTrem. Never tried one. I believe that's what you hear at the beginning of Van Halen's 5150 album. When I first heard it, I thought my tape player was eating the tape.

[marnold***]

In that DVD, Lynch also points out that he uses an octave effect on "Mr. Scary." It's not so obvious on the record because of all the layering. The DVD shows his settings on a Boss Octave OC-2 which I figured I could emulate on my EX-7 by moving to the Octave Down->Octave Up whammy setting, putting the pedal toe up and setting the level to 9:00 (aka 75% dry, 25% wet). It adds a menacing quality to it. Nice to discover new tricks for an old toy.