# Drop A tuning. how do i do it?



## Whitechapel7

hey guys,

i am a little new to seven strings, i was wondering how i can tune to Drop A like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, ive tried WAY too many times and it sounds off. Thank you all


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## TXDeathMetal

Drop A tuning... how the fuck does it work?

Seriously though assuming that you are playing a 7 is that the tuning you're after will be as follows: A E A D F# B e. If you're in standard 7 string tuning (B E A D G B e) then you'll need to tune your low B string down a full step and your G string down a half step, just use a good chromatic tuner and you're ready to roll.


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## heilarkyguitar

TXDeathMetal said:


> Drop A tuning... how the fuck does it work?
> 
> Seriously though assuming that you are playing a 7 is that the tuning you're after will be as follows: A E A D F# B e. If you're in standard 7 string tuning (B E A D G B e) then you'll need to tune your low B string down a full step and your G string down a half step, just use a good chromatic tuner and you're ready to roll.


 Why would you change the g to a f#?


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## jordanky

TXDeathMetal said:


> Drop A tuning... how the fuck does it work?
> 
> Seriously though assuming that you are playing a 7 is that the tuning you're after will be as follows: A E A D F# B e. If you're in standard 7 string tuning (B E A D G B e) then you'll need to tune your low B string down a full step and your G string down a half step, just use a good chromatic tuner and you're ready to roll.


 
This.

But if you're confused by talking about steps and whatnot, assuming you're playing a seven string in standard tuning, tune your low B string to match your (5th) A string.


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## heilarkyguitar

jordanky said:


> This.
> 
> But if you're confused by talking about steps and whatnot, assuming you're playing a seven string in standard tuning, tune your low B string to match your (5th) A string.


 Thats all i do For a drop a w/ a seven. =AEADGBE . Personly the g to F# , I dont see the reason for it. Maybe someone will tell me that.


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## TXDeathMetal

heilarkyguitar said:


> Thats all i do For a drop a w/ a seven. =AEADGBE . Personly the g to F# , I dont see the reason for it. Maybe someone will tell me that.



The OP said he likes to play stuff like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence and that is the tuning they use, they tune their G down a half step to F#


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## heilarkyguitar

Ahh....Thank you sir . I see .


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## Cheesebuiscut

heilarkyguitar said:


> Thats all i do For a drop a w/ a seven. =AEADGBE . Personly the g to F# , I dont see the reason for it. Maybe someone will tell me that.



Say you tuned a 6 string to drop A, it would be AEADF#B. Now say you start playing a 7 and want to keep your tuning but add a high string... then it would be AEADF#BE. 

It changes where the third is.


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## Rick

TXDeathMetal said:


> The OP said he likes to play stuff like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence and that is the tuning they use, they tune their G down a half step to F#



Where have you seen this? Anything I've ever seen from them says they tune to AEADBGE.


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## metal_sam14

TXDeathMetal said:


> The OP said he likes to play stuff like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence and that is the tuning they use, they tune their G down a half step to F#



Pretty sure they dont mate, they just play 7's tuned AEADGBE


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## GuitaristOfHell

It's the same as Drop D on a 7, just drop the low B to A.


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## Guamskyy

Rick said:


> Where have you seen this? Anything I've ever seen from them says they tune to AEADBGE.


 


Only band I know that plays in drop A with an f# on a 7 is Volumes, but Whitechapel and Suicide Silence = regular drop A on a 7.


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## Scar Symmetry

As has been said, Whitechapel tune to:

7 - AEADGBE
8 - EAEADGBE


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## loktide

i think the OP might be referring to drop A simply sounding off-tune. if so, then try this:

i never rely on the tuner for tuning to anything below D or Db, since it will sound slightly out of tune. as you tune lower, it will become even more notable.

here's what works for me: tune all the higher strings and then your low A by ear. i find this to work much better than relying on the tuner for the low string. 

and no, it's not an issue of the tuner(s) i'm using. the tuner on my axefx, korg pitchblack, rackmount tuners, or any plugin i've tried shows the same weakness.


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## Tranquilliser

use really heavy guage strings.
that would work.


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## usagi

Your intonation is probably off.


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## potatohead

GuitaristOfHell said:


> It's the same as Drop D on a *6*, just drop the low B to A.


 
FTFY


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## garza

Whitechapel7 said:


> hey guys,
> 
> i am a little new to seven strings, i was wondering how i can tune to Drop A like Whitechapel and Suicide Silence, ive tried WAY too many times and it sounds off. Thank you all



What's your guitar and rig looking like?


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## Switch30

Use a gauge 60 string my guitar is very happy with drop A like that.


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## Scar Symmetry

For drop A really you want to be looking at 65.


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## Droman

use these for your Drop A tuning *D'Addario* EXL110-*7* Regular Lite *7* Electric Guitar Strings 10 to 59 and you should be fine...


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## Switch30

Scar Symmetry said:


> For drop A really you want to be looking at 65.




I've been in drop A for about 2 years, once you have a good set up the gauge 60 is really happy in A


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## TimSE

I play in drop A and have a standard set of 10s plus a .68. 
chug chug


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## Whitechapel7

its an Ibanez RG7321 with some shitty little 10 watt amp. right now it has Ibanez factory strings (D'Addario i believe) .009-.054


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## Dvaienat

Whitechapel7 said:


> its an Ibanez RG7321 with some shitty little 10 watt amp. right now it has Ibanez factory strings (D'Addario i believe) .009-.054


 
Well if you like the feel of those, buy a 9-42 set, and a 62 for the low A. Should give perfect balanced tension. 
Or get some heavier strings. They'll stay in tune better and feel like they have some weight behind them. 10-52 + 80 for drop A


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## Scar Symmetry

Switch30 said:


> I've been in drop A for about 2 years, once you have a good set up the gauge 60 is really happy in A



If that works for you then great


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## AcousticMinja

I like .56 in A. 
but don't listen to me, I like light strings. Go for the .060 or .064 like people are saying. You'll be happy with that.
That should work, along with checking your intonation... And if the tone is off still after all that, well...try a better amp. I'm not too sure you'll get a whitechapel/suicide silence tone out of a 10 watt amp.


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## Ghost40

I use drop B for most everything. Now and then I use drop A. Strings the same though, DR DDT 11s. They seem to do the trick for me. I have guitars dedicated for the tunings so they never change. They are setup for the particular tunings we use. Anyway, the 11s seem a little loose for the drop A, but not too bad. Check intonation if you are sounding start going out of tune the higher up the neck


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## garza

The string gauge is a bit too lite. I use a .060 for the A and .010 - .046, and Mark uses similar gauges. Thats a good starting point, hope this helps!



Whitechapel7 said:


> its an Ibanez RG7321 with some shitty little 10 watt amp. right now it has Ibanez factory strings (D'Addario i believe) .009-.054


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## Whitechapel7

garza said:


> The string gauge is a bit too lite. I use a .060 for the A and .010 - .046, and Mark uses similar gauges. Thats a good starting point, hope this helps!



thanks alot Chris. really helped hearing it from the real person


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## SCHE7EN

Well not quite the most experienced guy but just changed from regular 10's + a 56 to a 60' for all my A-stuff and works like a charm if you ask me. They sound really good too: Earnie Ball. Nice bass response, even though i use a 15 watts Pearl River.


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## CrushingAnvil

Twelfth fret E string harmonic, seventh fret B string harmonic = make them the same pitch.

There you go, dropped tuning.


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## CrushingAnvil

Whitechapel7 said:


> thanks alot Chris. really helped hearing it from the real person



As opposed to the rest of us robots?


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