# Jim Root signature Fender



## iamtetsuo (Aug 31, 2015)

Recently watched Jim Root rig rundown on YouTube where He mentions he's tuned to drop A. However, his signature guitars have 25.5" necks and (from what I can tell) a typical nut size... Does anybody here own a Jim Root signature, who can confirm that his signature axe is capable of comfortably playing in that tuning? 

In my experience, it's a nightmare getting a 6 string guitar with typical necks, nuts and bridges to tune that low e.g. String guages require the nut to be filed, intonation is hard to get right, trouble keeping it in tune etc... I'm generally of the opinion that if you want to tune a guitar lower than C, you should get a baritone or 7 string...

What's your thoughts on this?


----------



## Jake (Aug 31, 2015)

My 24.5" PRS SC245 and 24.75" ESP Eclipse both can be played just fine in A and I've never had to file a nut to fit strings that work. I've used a 12-56 for A on my PRS and it's been just fine. 

Also I keep a 25.5" RGA121 in Ab which also is just fine.


----------



## JD27 (Aug 31, 2015)

Absolutely can if properly setup. I don't tune either of my JR models lower than Drop C... but I do have my RD Silverburst (24.75")and SZ2020EX (25.1") tuned to Drop A#. I use LaBella custom set 12-16-22-38-52-68.


----------



## iamtetsuo (Aug 31, 2015)

My Fender mustang pawn shop special has a 24" scale neck, with a 43mm nut... When I put D'addario 12-60s on it, the 60 gauge did not fit in the nut groove, it kind of went over the top of the nut instead of resting nicely in the slot. I found it was always going out of tune and intonation was Damn near impossible... I could play it alright and it sounded fine but I didn't want to settle for fine... I wanted it to sound/play great and I wanted to be able to play it without re-tuning every 5 mins and didn't want sucky intonation. I believe a lot of people experienced the same frustration with low tunings on standard guitars... Isn't that why we have 7 strings and baritones?


----------



## crushingattack (Sep 1, 2015)

Besides the nut tuning the 6string with 25,5" to A is the same thing as 7 stringer with 25,5". And people are just fine doing that.


----------



## EarlWellington (Sep 1, 2015)

I have the Jim Root tele setup in A#, to go any lower I would have to drill the tuner out to accommodate the larger string


----------



## Vrollin (Sep 1, 2015)

for the love of god get yourself some nut files...


----------



## nicktao (Sep 1, 2015)

I used to have a few LPs tuned to AGCFAD and Drop C as well as Drop Bb and they all handled it very well.


----------



## OmegaSlayer (Sep 1, 2015)

Carcass played Ibanez and Gibson tuned in B-G-D-A-E-B in the early 90s
Though I must say that how Steele sound now live with a Les Paul is cringe-inducting.
That's floppy and untight fest.


----------



## bnzboy (Sep 1, 2015)

OmegaSlayer said:


> That's floppy and untight fest.



no guys like it floppy and untight


----------



## Spicypickles (Sep 1, 2015)

That's why you get way more than one guitar! Set them all up for whatever tunings you want and keep em there!


I have 6 electrics that I use regularly:


RG8 - F,A#,F,A#,D#,F,A#,D#
Agile 8 - Standard 8 string tuning
Fender Strat - E flat
Godin superstrat - Drop C
Warmoth Explorer - Open C Major (C,G,C,G,C,E)
LTD EC-400AT - AGCFAD


I just found what each guitar sounded best at and I just keep them in that tuning. No adjustments needed, I know what they sound like.


----------



## JaxoBuzzo (Sep 3, 2015)

I don't know, but I do know that I can't help but mouth water over his jazz master.


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Sep 3, 2015)

I'm surprised the JR guitars come stock with really thin-gauge strings. .10 - .46 

In actuality, he uses .11 - .58 in B and .12 - .64 in A. At least back in the day.


----------



## BouhZik (Sep 3, 2015)

iamtetsuo said:


> Isn't that why we have 7 strings and baritones?



If you have tuning or/and intonation issues with a 25,5 scale 6 strings in low tunings, you'll have the same issues with a 25,5 scale 7 strings. Thicker strings or an extended scale can be solutions. If the nut cant deal with thicker string you need to fill it or you'll have tuning issues for sure 

I had that kind of issues and I tried thicker strings, 26.5 scale... From my experience it was trading issues for other issues. I solved it by changing my picking technic! Now I'm fine in A with 56 gauge on a 25.5.


----------



## Mprinsje (Sep 3, 2015)

I play drop A with a 25.5 scale with a 59 gauge without any problems whatsoever. Hell, i do it on a 24.75 pretty regular and it still sounds fine. 

You can play every style of music in every tuning on every guitar possible, as long as you actually want to.


----------



## tm20 (Sep 3, 2015)

I want to know how mick and Jim can shred so easily in drop A considering they would be using heavy string gauge. Atleast when I try playing fast solos with my drop B guitar it's hard....or maybe they're just really good and I really suck :'( didn't they also do a song from their first album in f#? They said they never use 7 strings so I'm guessing they stuck with a 25.5" guitar


----------



## vkw619 (Sep 4, 2015)

I have a Jim Root Tele. I've had it setup in Drop B and in Drop C with a 60/56 respectfully and have had no issues. A slight bit a nut filing but other than that. All good.


----------



## MoshJosh (Sep 4, 2015)

Used to have my SG in drop A I didn't even have to do a setup after changing the string size haha ???


----------



## ThePIGI King (Sep 4, 2015)

One time, by accident, I broke my low E string on a standard 11 set, and I had a spare A string sitting around (a 36 or something like that), so I used that as my low A on a 25.5 guitar. In fact, my Low A is a smaller gauge than the B right next to it. However, it was a bit floppy for me, so I tuned up to Drop B instead, works much better!


----------



## rockskate4x (Sep 8, 2015)

It's all in the setup, dude. Something longer than 25.5 will allow you to use thinner strings and give you more tension but 25.5 is plenty for A.


----------



## Sephael (Sep 9, 2015)

I'd point out that production version of 'signature' gear does not mean that it is 100% to spec of the gear the artists actually uses.


----------



## Lemons (Sep 13, 2015)

Sephael said:


> I'd point out that production version of 'signature' gear does not mean that it is 100% to spec of the gear the artists actually uses.



Except that Jim uses his production models live almost exclusively


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Sep 13, 2015)

Lemons said:


> Except that Jim uses his production models live almost exclusively



I'm not 100% sure this is true. His main guitars are prototypes and one-offs nowadays. Not sure if they're CS-built or not.

But Jim has been known to also use 25'' and 24.75'' guitars as well. He just has professional setups.


----------

