Drop Tuning Setup

[sonny]

Hello There people.

I have just purchased a DKMGT, and will be tuning it to Drop-C. I will be chucking a set of 10-44 Thomstik Flatwounds on it, but want to know if I should make any adjustments to the neck?

I have two Ibanez RG's and they are fine and they have supper thin necks, but a few chaps have suggested the jackson may need a bit of a tweak.

Any thoughts.

Thanks for your time.

[ApeDosMil]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

10-44 is to small of string for drop c tuning.

they will be way out of tune depending on how much pressure you put on the strings.

thats all i know

sorry

[toejam]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

For my guitars set up in D or Drop C, I use Ernie Ball Power Slinky (purple package) 11-48, and they seem perfect. Like Michael said, the 10-44 will probably be too light and floppy, at least on the lowest string. The neck might not need any tweaking at all since you're tuning down.

[jtr]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

You'll have to set the intonation after you put the new strings on. I'ld go with a 12 to 56 set to keep presure on the neck about the same as in standard tuning.

[Black Mariah]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

I agree, that 44 isn't going to be heavy enough. Nowhere near it. A light top/heavy bottom set is ideal for drop tunings.

If you do go with those gauges, you will probably need to add some relief to the neck since the strings will be floppier then a male porn star after a hard day at the office. An intonation adjustment would also be in order.

[stephenslr]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

What do you mean by add relief to the neck?

Shouldn't you tighten the truss rod?

s

[toejam]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

Originally posted by stephenslr:
What do you mean by add relief to the neck?

Shouldn't you tighten the truss rod?

s

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No, it should probably be loosened.

[Overlord]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

Stephenslr,
A guitar neck has two forces acting upon it. The strings are trying to bend the neck (add relief). The truss rod is trying to straighten it out. If you go to lower tuning, the string tension is reduced. This is compensated by going to a heavier gauge of strings. If the strings aren't heavy enough, the truss rod will keep trying to straighten the neck. This will eliminate the required relief, or may even bow the neck the wrong way. Thus you would have to loosen the truss rod. This would affect a thin neck to a greater degree than a thick one.

Steve

[RockBrigadePC1]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

I use 12s in standard, you should use 13s!

[sonny]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

Cheers for the feedback, although if any of you has used the flatwound strings they are thicker than the equiv normal, I have used them on my RG for a year, and played around 35 gigs, they stay in tune 100%, seriously you chaps should try them out.... I only got them because the place I buy from had run out of the 47's put these on and was well pleased. If I get round wound strings I get ones with 52's.

Herea a link:

thomastik flatwound

Yeah, it says they are for jazz as well, but I love the rich sound they give.

[yabba]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

flatwounds give more tension than the same gauge roundwound, so the 10-44s might work (although it's really dependent on what tension and feel you prefer)

[Ace]

Re: Drop Tuning Setup

Light top/heavy bottom strings suck donkey balls IMO. The D string is nearly twice the diameter of the G string. That just doesn't feel right to me. As far as neck adjustments, you may well have to make a truss rod adjustment. However these are easier to screw up than get right the first few times, so you might want to have someone walk you through it.