# Cool 8 string tuning?



## pwilldabeast14 (May 23, 2011)

so some friends are trying to put a band together but no bassist, fortunately i have an agile 828! so i was wondering what would be a cool tuning to go with to get that bass range and also upper register, i was thinking mayb EADGDGBE?


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## nostealbucket (May 23, 2011)

I've heard of open E. E B E B E F# B E. 4 octaves of E there...


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## MistaSnowman (May 23, 2011)

These might help....

The SS.org Tunings Thread
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/general-music-discussion/115075-ss-org-tunings-thread.html

The U-G.com Tunings Thread
UG Community @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com - Tunings Thread REVISED EDITION! (IE: V3)


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## leftyguitarjoe (May 23, 2011)

nostealbucket said:


> I've heard of open E. E B E B E F# B E. 4 octaves of E there...




Holy shit. I'm doing this RIGHT NOW.


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## nostealbucket (May 23, 2011)

leftyguitarjoe said:


> Holy shit. I'm doing this RIGHT NOW.



You can do some serious fucking tapping there!!! 8 strings. It fucking blows your mind what open tunings can do!!!!


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 23, 2011)

nostealbucket said:


> I've heard of open E. E B E B E F# B E. 4 octaves of E there...



oooh like Danza's tuning ithink, sick thanks i might go with that!


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## Solodini (May 23, 2011)

I'm keen on FADGCFAD. That or something with a 2nd between 8th and 7th string so that, even if you're playing high up the neck, you can play close lines in the lower registers.


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## Shanster695 (May 23, 2011)

Mine was tuned F# B F# B E G# C# F#

You can get 6 octaves of F#


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 23, 2011)

nice options, i just thought having atleast a low E would be most helpful since my buds would be playing standard on 6 strings


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## nostealbucket (May 23, 2011)

pwilldabeast14 said:


> oooh like Danza's tuning ithink, sick thanks i might go with that!



 That's where I got it from.


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## DoktorAtomic (May 23, 2011)

If you're not going to be doing a lot of soloing on the highs I'd say tune it to some kind of open chord or something you can generate ambiance or make weird sounds with


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 23, 2011)

DoktorAtomic said:


> If you're not going to be doing a lot of soloing on the highs I'd say tune it to some kind of open chord or something you can generate ambiance or make weird sounds with



yeaa i actually probably will be, which why i guess the Danza tuning is the best so far


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## Explorer (May 23, 2011)

My main tuning at this point is EADGCFAD. That gives me normal guitar chords on the top six strings, although a whole step flat. 

I play a lot of funk in this tuning, with basslines and funk chords, and it's just easier to know where the cords are. I don't have to relearn the instrument.


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## celticelk (May 23, 2011)

^-- You're using that tuning on a 25.5 scale, yes? What gauges are you stringing with?


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## Solodini (May 24, 2011)

In which case, what about EF#DGCFAD or EF#EADGBE?


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## alfred (May 24, 2011)

for me EBEADGBE. Killer tone with possibility of making great chords like
A -9-12-14
E -7-10-12
B -7-10-12
E -7-10-12 

or if you prefer B-F#-B-F# | D-A-D-A | E-B-E-B

It's like standard guitar and standard bass play together. And you can play with standard 4 and 5-strings bass tuning in a band, which is truely important for me.

EADGCFAD and EBEBEGBE / EBEBEF#BE seems to be great too, for the same reasons...


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## Explorer (May 24, 2011)

Explorer said:


> My main tuning at this point is EADGCFAD. That gives me normal guitar chords on the top six strings, although a whole step flat.
> 
> I play a lot of funk in this tuning, with basslines and funk chords, and it's just easier to know where the cords are. I don't have to relearn the instrument.





celticelk said:


> ^-- You're using that tuning on a 25.5 scale, yes? What gauges are you stringing with?









This set on the bottom 6, plus two plain steels at the top. It gives me the same tension as the strings I use on six-string....


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 24, 2011)

celticelk said:


> ^-- You're using that tuning on a 25.5 scale, yes? What gauges are you stringing with?



nah my agile is a 28.8, so yah idk what id need for these tunings
oh wait nvrmind i didnt notice the arrow


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## gr8Har V (May 24, 2011)

F standard, Drop F, E standard, Drop E, i'd stay somewhere in there. open tunings scare me cuz it would pretty much be like re-learning the guitar.


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## ShadowFactoryX (May 24, 2011)

gr8Har V said:


> F standard, Drop F, E standard, Drop E, i'd stay somewhere in there. open tunings scare me cuz it would pretty much be like re-learning the guitar.



wrong. open tunings are like having another instrument to work with. great stuff is possible with open tunings.
i utilize them greatly


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## Neyoam (May 24, 2011)

Double Drop D 
DADADGBE and rock on!


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 24, 2011)

yeah well EBEBEF#BE seems so sick right now, so how does soloing stack up with like the E and F# so close together?


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 24, 2011)

Neyoam said:


> Double Drop D
> DADADGBE and rock on!



This!! i would do this but i would imagine ud need atleast an .080 right? so im not sure if my agile 828 could hold that size without me changing something which idont know how to do


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## Solodini (May 24, 2011)

My 828 has an 80. I bought it second hand so I don't know if anything was changed to allow that.


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 27, 2011)

okay so i have a few options: 
EAEADGBE got the low end to emulate bass and also normal high end
EBEADGBE less useful for bass but working with drop tuning is cool
EBEBEF#BE just awesome drop tuning looks fun, but id have to adapt the wierd tuning for soloing and chords etc
EADGCFAD great bc same strings of bass, but also would hve to adapt to whole step down


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## carcass (May 28, 2011)

guys, do you think that tuning EADGCFAD will be posible on 25,5" scale?


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## Dayn (May 28, 2011)

carcass said:


> guys, do you think that tuning EADGCFAD will be posible on 25,5" scale?





Explorer said:


> This set on the bottom 6, plus two plain steels at the top. It gives me the same tension as the strings I use on six-string....


I'd be inclined to say yes, though I've never tried it.


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 28, 2011)

oh also has anyone tried a EADADGBE?


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## Explorer (May 28, 2011)

The only reference to that tuning I found here on SS.org was from Inception7, found here.



Inception7 said:


> I tried drop E, (EADGDGBE) on my Schecter and it was ok when using touchtyle but not great with a pick. That's on a .74



That's not really what is referred to as Drop E incidentally, at least in my understanding. That is a drop-D tuning for six string, with a low A and E added beyond that.

Normally people go for either regular intervals, or for particular notes they want on the open notes. However, I don't know if they use altered guitar tunings, changing the regular intervals of the six upper strings, while retaining a regular pattern at the bottom.

----

Just because no one has tried it, though, doesn't mean it won't serve your needs. If you can think of advantages to that tuning for what you want to accomplish, why not? My two main tunings aren't the norm, and I can't imagine doing anything differently at this point.


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## Dayn (May 29, 2011)

pwilldabeast14 said:


> oh also has anyone tried a EADADGBE?


I call it drop DAE. I've only tried it a half-step down so I could play both SikTh albums plus Meshuggah's 'Nebulous', but I didn't find much use for the dropped D at the time. I prefer drop AE. It makes fingering octaves on those strings easy, and you can use the bottom two strings as a bass. Put 'em together and you can easily fret an octave bass line if you wish.


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## Hallic (May 29, 2011)

Maybe monuments tuning?

F, Bb, F, Bb, Eb, F, Bb, Eb
(low to high)


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 29, 2011)

Dayn said:


> I call it drop DAE. I've only tried it a half-step down so I could play both SikTh albums plus Meshuggah's 'Nebulous', but I didn't find much use for the dropped D at the time. I prefer drop AE. It makes fingering octaves on those strings easy, and you can use the bottom two strings as a bass. Put 'em together and you can easily fret an octave bass line if you wish.



ohh true, yea ido kinda prefer drop tunings as well, i also thought of one new one thats similar to the danza tuning: EAEAEF#BE cool?


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## Sponge (May 29, 2011)

DGDGDGBE

You get a wall of sound and can pull off 3 octaves on one fret. That EBEBEF#BE tuning looks great too!


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## pwilldabeast14 (May 29, 2011)

Sponge said:


> DGDGDGBE
> 
> You get a wall of sound and can pull off 3 octaves on one fret. That EBEBEF#BE tuning looks great too!



awesomee yea id do something like that but idont think my agile could hold a string for the D? i really wana do the danza tuning but id have to relearn strings


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## 77zark77 (May 29, 2011)

after a few testing, my best tuning is EB+normal tuning(EADGBE)

depends on what you are playing
but that tuning is cool for soloing and power chords on the 3 low strings and the DGB ones


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## TheDuatAwaits (Jul 14, 2011)

E B E B E F# B E

TTDDE uses this. (Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza)


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## demigod (Jul 14, 2011)

This has been mentioned but the drop E is the most practical of the tunings, and mostly retains the 5 semitones between each string. except of course hi B and low E


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## MetalMike04 (Jul 15, 2011)

i was thinking C-G-C-G-C-G-C-C# for teh ep1c br00talzzz


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## pink freud (Jul 15, 2011)

Neyoam said:


> Double Drop D
> DADADGBE and rock on!



Or do DADADGAD and do the most evil version of Kashmir _ever! _


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## Eddie Loves You (Jul 15, 2011)

pwilldabeast14 said:


> oh also has anyone tried a EADADGBE?



This one. I started using this because of my Wes Lambe guitar/bass hybrid. You can think of the low EAD as the first 3 bass strings and ADGBE as the 5 highest guitar strings. Or as a 6 string in drop D with normal 4ths below it.


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## Metal_Webb (Jul 20, 2011)

Hallic said:


> Maybe monuments tuning?
> 
> F, Bb, F, Bb, Eb, F, Bb, Eb
> (low to high)



This. I put my 8 into this tuning (thanks to TesseracT, just added the low F) and it's a blast! Nothing quite as nice sounding as 8 string barre chords with a touch of delay+reverb on it then switching it over to distortion for Bb chug  Mine's 26.5" scale and I've got strung with .074 .066 .046 .036.026 .022w .016p .011 (The orange Hybrid Slinkys with the 74,66 and 22 individual strings)

Other option is tune to:
E E E E E E E E (all down an octave from standard E)
For maximum brootls and chromatisism.


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## pwilldabeast14 (Jul 22, 2011)

Eddie Loves You said:


> This one. I started using this because of my Wes Lambe guitar/bass hybrid. You can think of the low EAD as the first 3 bass strings and ADGBE as the 5 highest guitar strings. Or as a 6 string in drop D with normal 4ths below it.



exactly what i was thinking! my octave4plus set should be coming in soon


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## leandroab (Jul 24, 2011)

I realized that I like open tunings a lot. You can try a F or E open tuning... Chords would sound monstrous..


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## 27duuude (Jul 24, 2011)

I cant believe no one has mentioned octave drop tunings like BBEADGBE or AADGCFAD. Those are my favorite.


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## kikiKiba (Sep 6, 2014)

I this thread is old, but what about something like

F# B E A C# F# B E

I usually drop the 8 to an E.

So it's like a 6 in drop E with two highs for bigger open chords in Eminor, extra root and a 5th

Just a thought


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