So I need to re-string AND

Unread post by **jkanter** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:29 pm

I am considering re-stringing in raised B for a little while. After playing around w/ my capo on 7 I am falling in love w/ that tuning. The chords just sound so smooth. Would this be bad for the tension on the neck of my new Martin???

Please bear in mind that I am going about this the CORRECT way that Dave Matthews strings his guitar. I am not taking a normal tuned guitar and tuning it up or down. This is how you do it from the Busted Stuff Tab Book:

"[Dave Matthews] uses the following gauges (low to high): .039, .029, .018, .014, .010, .016. To avoid restringing, capo 7th fret and tune 1st string down an octave."

So in other words he uses these strings in these positions:
High E: B string
B: high E string
G: B string
D: G string
A: D string
E: A string

You get a set of custom light strings.......throw away the low E. The you re-string starting w/ the A-string. For the bottom string you need to get an extra "light B-string" and use that as the bottom one.

Now, is this bad for the tension of the neck of my new guitar??? I am not re-tuning a normal guitar in a wierd strained way so I wanted to see what ya'll thought.....lemme know...peace

firedancer86 · Unread post by **firedancer86** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:35 pm

Well that is an interesting one there Kanter...I wouldn't do it because you have a beautiful new Martin and I wouldn't risk it, but if the book gives you full instructions, then it might be worth a shot...but remember that the tuning will get old eventually...if you do it, be shure to record as much as you can with it :wink:

Peace,
firedancer

hukk0001 · Unread post by **hukk0001** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 7:01 pm

...or we could trade guitars.
You give me the Martin and I'll give you two guitars (one for standard, the other for raised B tuning). It sounds fair, right?

taylordb · Unread post by **taylordb** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 2:14 am

I have never consulted with them before, but maybe the people at Martin could answer that one.

ticohans · Unread post by **ticohans** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 10:11 am

Hey Kanter, I wouldn't worry much about the tension, as the tension of the B string and the low E are basically the same. (For my EXP med's, the tension on the B is 26.3 lbs, while the tension on the low E is 29 lbs, so if anything, you have a decrease in tension).

If though, for some freakish reason that doesn't make any sense the new stringing isn't good for your guitar, the worst that can happen is a slight throwing off of the action, which is easily fixed via a trussrod adjustment by your local guitar guy.

I also don't know why you'd go with custom lights here... it seems that there's going to be less tension on the top with this new setup, so if anything, you want a little heavier gague, maybe a light or even med gague to make up for the lost tension... Given that you have a dred, I'd almost lean more towards the medium gague, as those work better with the demands of a dred guitar.

If you have any doubts, just call your local guitar shop, tell them about your plans to try an alternate stringing, and hear what their tech guys have to say. Should be pretty easy to sort this quesiton out. My money is on using whatever strings you do right now, or even going with the med's if you use lights.

Unread post by **jkanter** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 10:34 am

Tichohans....thanks, that helped a lot. As for custom lights.....I am going with that because that's what Dave uses....and really the only way to get the raised B tuning(from what I understand). The custom light string gauges are the same ones that dave uses...according to the Busted Stuff tab book. I went to the elixir website to check it out and I need a set of custom lights with an extra B string from a set of lights. I think I'm going to go do that today!!! Anyway, thanks again...peace

Unread post by **jkanter** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 3:01 pm

Well....it's done, I re-strung my guitar and it sounds AWESOME. Sooooo cool. Now clearly I just spend $10 on a pack of strings and the time to restring for maybe a couple days use of the guitar.....but it was worth it. Stay or Leave and YNK sound AMAZING played the RIGHT way. Anyway, I will record them when I get some time....and just some chords so you can all hear how it sounds...peace all

ryopan · Unread post by **ryopan** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 10:28 pm

sweetness. love to hear it. man, ive never thought of doing anything like that. it may be fun sometime (ill never do it).

Pickles · Unread post by **Pickles** » Wed Apr 16, 2003 8:56 am

cant wait to hear how it sounds

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So I need to re-string AND

So I need to re-string AND

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