# Lowest tuning for 25.5" scale 7-string?



## techmetalshred (Oct 16, 2018)

I'm interested in buying this used Jackson DK7Q, which has a 25.5" scale length and wondering if I could get it to sound clean down to drop G or G#.

What is the lowest tuning that would be feasible on this short of scale length?


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## AC.Lin (Oct 16, 2018)

In my opinion, Drop G# is the lowest tuning you can get but it's really not optimal on a 25.5" scale.
You'll end up with a really thick B string and it will sound a bit muddy.


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## Albake21 (Oct 16, 2018)

Yup definitely Drop G#. That's what I play on my 25.5" and it works just fine, but it's definitely pushing it's limits. You'll need at least a .65 on the lowest string. If you want good tension though, .68 to .72 will work great. Just know that .72 can sound a tiny bit muddy so you need to compensate for that through pick ups and your rig. I use a .68 and it works fine if it's setup correctly. I think that's the sweet spot between not being too big and decent tension.


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## Alexlopez (Oct 16, 2018)

Drop G# IMO. 
I use 11-64 NYXL strings on that guitar.


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## AkiraSpectrum (Oct 16, 2018)

Depends on your preference for tension, tone, and includes things like pickups, amp, effects, etc.

With that being said, its true that longer scale lengths help reduce the low-end muddiness of down-tuned guitars. If you get tight and clear pickups, this can go a long way to achieving a reduction in low-end mud with shorter scales. What pickups are in the guitar? 

Unfortunately, because these things are so subjective, you really will never know for sure until you try it. Can you get away with Drop G on a 25.5" scale and still have good note clarity? Heck yeah, but it depends on various factors such as the tension you want in your strings--smaller strings will tend to give you better note/string clarity. 

Also keep in mind that 90% of the people on this board tend to like a lot of tension on their 7th string. For myself, I actually run a 10-59 set of strings in Drop A on a 25" (PRS SE-7) scale and am very happy with the tension. I've done Drop G# and Drop G on that guitar with a 62 (or 64--can't remember) and for me that was plenty of tension and I still had nice string clarity--largely due to the bridge pickup (Duncan Pegasus) I swapped in for the stock bridge pup. Again, depends on your preferences.


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## icipher (Oct 16, 2018)

i would never go lower than A on a 25.5. In fact, i find that in drop A, 26.5 or 27 works much better.


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## secretpizza (Oct 16, 2018)

Doesn’t Jason Richardson play drop G on his EBMM guitars? I recall from a NAMM video he uses a pretty light gauge too - something like .09-.59. So I guess it depends on what you’re comfortable with in terms of tension. I (and most people, I think) prefer 26.5” for anything other than B standard, but you can go lower with a good setup.


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## techmetalshred (Oct 16, 2018)

AkiraSpectrum said:


> Depends on your preference for tension, tone, and includes things like pickups, amp, effects, etc.
> 
> With that being said, its true that longer scale lengths help reduce the low-end muddiness of down-tuned guitars. If you get tight and clear pickups, this can go a long way to achieving a reduction in low-end mud with shorter scales. What pickups are in the guitar?
> 
> ...



Thanks for the insight dudes, it looks like the guy selling this DK7Q has upgraded to SD pegasus and Sentient, which I have never tried. I currently have a Jackson USA B8 with Dimarzio D-activators with a low .80 tuned to drop F on a 27" scale and it sounds great. I don't have much experience with 7-Strings but i'm real interested in trying this DK7 out. I play tech death metal/core and typically prefer a heavy distortion/bright/punchy tone if possible. I've got an axe-fx II so i'm sure I can dial something in.


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## techmetalshred (Oct 16, 2018)

Albake21 said:


> Yup definitely Drop G#. That's what I play on my 25.5" and it works just fine, but it's definitely pushing it's limits. You'll need at least a .65 on the lowest string. If you want good tension though, .68 to .72 will work great. Just know that .72 can sound a tiny bit muddy so you need to compensate for that through pick ups and your rig. I use a .68 and it works fine if it's setup correctly. I think that's the sweet spot between not being too big and decent tension.



What are the gauges of your whole string set for the 25.5 tuned to drop G#?


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## jephjacques (Oct 16, 2018)

Those are good pickups, they should work fine for the kind of music you play. I have a couple 25.5" guitars in G# but I wouldn't go lower than that. I use the ernie ball skinny top/heavy bottom 7 string set for basically everything from B standard to drop G# and it works great for me.


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## Flappydoodle (Oct 16, 2018)

Personally, I wouldn't go lower than A. It needs such thick strings for acceptable tension (to me) that it will start to sound like shit.

That said, In Flames go to drop A on 24.75 inches, so clearly it can work if you set things up properly and play with the required technique


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## Matt794 (Oct 16, 2018)

I'll be the odd man out here and say drop G is easy at 25.5", especially if you're not opposed to playing with beefy strings.

I have a 25.5" scale 7 string set up in G standard right now with a .074 for the G. It sounds fine IMO and it was as easy to set up the intonation as B was.


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## Albake21 (Oct 17, 2018)

techmetalshred said:


> What are the gauges of your whole string set for the 25.5 tuned to drop G#?


10-52 with a 68.


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## NorCal_Val (Oct 18, 2018)

Both my Universe and K7 are tuned down to A. It just seems to be the right mix of grind and string tension.


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## gujukal (Oct 18, 2018)

It depends on guitar and setup. My siggery 25.5" felt horrible in drop G while my Ltd aw7 handled it very well. Guys like Jason richardson and Mark ockubo play in g/f# on standard scale and it sounds good. It's easier to do it if you're not super picky with tension.


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## Rocks256 (Oct 18, 2018)

I have had Rg 7421 which was 25'5 . Down to low A it sound decent, hwoever anything lower gets muddy...waters  . I personally find 26'5 Perfect For B,A,G and 27 for F# and lower.
I wouldn't reccomend going lower than G1 maybe, try some 72-80 gauge , might sound a bit like mud.

Also i believe tuning lower than G1 Standard sounds like Bass with fuzz


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## Annonnymous (Oct 18, 2018)

I use a .60 string for my lowest (B) on my 26.5 Schecter. It's not as tight as I want it to be.
I can't imagine how thick that string should be for G#, let alone on a 25.5 scale guitar.


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## lewis (Oct 18, 2018)

I use Drop G# open tuning tuned to 432hz so lower (G#, D#, G#, C#, G#, C#) on my 25.5 scale 6er's and my recent string change saw me use these gauges:

12, 16, 24 (or 32 cant remember), 44, 56, 64

and it is fine.


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## Lorcan Ward (Oct 18, 2018)

I've gotten away using a 56 for drop G before. Intonation depends on the guitar and string gauge is just a matter of preference, for a lot of people its what they get used to or they just compromise by buying an unbalanced set. 

I don't really like tuning below C on a 25.5" or using strings thicker than a 59. Its crazy how quick the tone changes when only tuning down a few semitones or using thick strings.


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## FILTHnFEAR (Oct 18, 2018)

Even though I'd prefer to play in drop A, I had to use a 68 on the low end to get the tension I like, but at that point it's losing too much definition for my tastes. Currently in drop B with a 9-64 set.

I really need a 26.5" 7.


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## ixlramp (Oct 18, 2018)

Well obviously it depends on what you personally find acceptable.
There are 25.5" 8 string guitars. I have a 25.5" 6 string tuned in fifths from a low F .070 steel which is low tension but sounds good. Some people have tuned much lower. So a clean G seems completely doable as long as you accept a low tension string.


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## squids (Oct 24, 2018)

how about drop F# on a 26.5"? I prefer NYXLs but the lowest they go is 64 unless i go with a 74 on the 8 string set


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## gujukal (Oct 24, 2018)

squids said:


> how about drop F# on a 26.5"? I prefer NYXLs but the lowest they go is 64 unless i go with a 74 on the 8 string set


I use a 64 gauge on my 27" in F# and it sounds awesome, can't imagine 0.5" shorter scale will sound much different.


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## Rocks256 (Oct 26, 2018)

squids said:


> how about drop F# on a 26.5"? I prefer NYXLs but the lowest they go is 64 unless i go with a 74 on the 8 string set



Wow, 64 at F# must be sphagetti gauge. I use 60. for low A# on 7 and 44-9.5 on rest strings


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## Ji Sung (Oct 29, 2018)

Mark from Periphery used his wine JP7 for Ragnarok, which has a low F#. Granted he has a professional tech, but that's still a 25.5 inch neck. Not sure what string gauge he used though.


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## Winspear (Oct 29, 2018)

I've made an interesting 'psychological' observation myself.

Firstly there's the obvious answer; it depends on 1) your minimum tension requirement, and 2) your tolerance for darkness.
As a generic answer, I would say up to about 65 sounds bright enough before inharmonicity really starts to kick in and make things sound bad. Some would say you can tune that down to G or so. Personally I my minimum tension is no less than a 46 E, which means no lower than Bb with a 65.
So that's my answer - Bb. At a push I'd be ok to run a 70 in A or maybe a loose G# but it doesn't sound very good*.

You can definitely use much heavier gauges and go much lower, however, there's an interesting observation to make.
8 string guitars, running 74 or 80 in F# at 27" for example. Most people think that's fine, but capo at the first fret and you have a 25.5" guitar in G with a 74/80 - which in the same breath people will say is no good. People will even drop 27" 8s to E, but wouldn't dream of running 25.5 in F. To go even further, 30" 9 strings with ~100 gauge, capo up to 25.5" and you've got a 25.5" bass E which is generally agreed upon as being awful.
So what's going on there?
It's a psychological thing - for me at least. We tend to expect a darker tone from added strings. We might be fine with a certain tone from the 8th string, but aren't happy if the 7th string sounds like that.

*So what I'm saying is, ~65 in Bb if you want it to still sound and feel like a 6 or 7 string guitar. You can go beyond that and it will perform just as well as any 8 string, but will start to sound and feel like an 8 string. Myself I've gone the other direction - wanting 9 string type scale lengths to make 8 strings sound tonally as good as a 7 string - wanting 8 string type scale lengths to make 7 strings sound as good as 6 strings, etc... YMMV


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## Rocks256 (Oct 30, 2018)

How low qould you tune 26'5 scale lenght 7 ? I think G Standard is bright enough for it while 27" can go F#,F,E . I didnt like 26'5 with low F# even when i have had a 80. at 7 th string


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## fps (Oct 30, 2018)

Scale length isn't the only thing when it comes to intonation. And that's important. A good guitar? I've got a 7 in drop G# in 25.5, sounds great. I'm not playing tech-metal or going for crappy tinny djent tones though, so YMMV.


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## squids (Oct 30, 2018)

can confirm, drop F# sounds perfect with NyXL 64 on a 26.5” scale. perfectly tight but not harsh whatsoever.


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