Who tunes to Eb?

[hemingway]

When you play in a covers band you quickly find out how many records are made half a step - and, infuriatingly, often a quarter step - down.

Of course, you can choose your own key to play in. But it makes it annoying when you're trying to practise along to the record.

 

[Jay Jernigan]

I was in a band, for several years, that operated out of Eb. Didn't have a keyboard player, so no issues there, but the front man played harp and knew how to transpose that way. What messed him up was standard!
I know some acoustic players who use Eb and capo on the first fret in order to achieve a lower action.
I have to say that an Eb tuning, a 25.5" scale and single coil pickups is a combination that has stood the test of time.

 

[pipthepilot]

Most of my guitars are tuned to Eb, I just really like the sound. Plus, a lot of the music I tend to play was recorded in Eb. For example, I like to play a lot of Hendrix who seemed to use Eb for the majority of his music.

Down-tuners: What to do about buzzing strings if/when you downtune? Do you use heavier string gauges to ensure adequate tension?

Can't say I've ever had any issues with buzzing strings and I use 10-46 stings. But then, as I use Eb all the time, I setup my guitar's action and intonation with them tuned to Eb.

 

[Tricone]

Down-tuners: What to do about buzzing strings if/when you downtune? Do you use heavier string gauges to ensure adequate tension?

I tune my acoustic archtop to Eb and use .012 chrome flatwounds. I tune my tricone to open D and use .016 pb flats. Both guitars are 25 1/2" scale length. I have never had string buzz issues. Playing feel is great also,not being overly tight.

 

[phart]

Tony Iommi tunes down a step and a half with light strings. I think he sounds fantastic.

I love Iommi but I think he’s sort of a sui generis category of 1. He doesn’t have fingers!

 

[Vibroluxer]

I never intend to but that's where my ear takes me.

 

[Schlumpfmeister]

Down-tuners: What to do about buzzing strings if/when you downtune? Do you use heavier string gauges to ensure adequate tension?

I do this a lot. No buzz. I play 11s regardless of tuning.

 

[SShrews824]

I used to play down a half-step all the time. With bands, at home practicing. Didn't matter, I was always tuning down. Then one day for whatever reason I tuned back to 440 and absolutely loved it!!! I loved the added tension. It was like I could dig under the strings a bit more or something. My precision increased. My speed increased. My chording sounded cleaner. It was like a new guitar.

Not long after that I subbed in for a band that tuned to Eb and it was so weird and foreign. I was overbending and pulling strings off the edge of the fretboard. I even increased the string size to compensate, but I really struggled. I realize that had I continued I would have gotten used to it again, but standard just sounded and felt better. I wasn't as sloppy and I enjoyed the little bit of "fight" that I had to put forth to play.

 

[Matthias]

I do it sometimes, mainly on my Strat. I like it!

 

[Leo Paul]

I did for gigs. A lot easier on the voice.

EXACTLY! I was in a (strictly) Beatles cover band that tuned down to Eb - it surprisingly does make the vocals SO much easier. That said, three bands I've been in since - the other guitar players absolutely refused/refuse to do it. I cannot understand why, and it's a bit infuriating. I mostly use 10-46s, and never had any issues caused by reduced string tension.

 

[Leo Paul]

And the audience has no clue.

True that!

 

[Leo Paul]

We play our sets in Eb for this reason. For a trio of post-middle age men trying to cover songs by wailers in their prime, it’s essential. I’m amazed at how much of a difference there is.

YES! See what I said in response to knavel's post on this.

 

[Muadzin]

I keep a Strat tuned like that as I used to be into U2. And Black Sabbath. But it rarely sees much use now. And I used to be the guy that took 4 to 5 guitars with me on the road with different tunings. Standard, C#, drop D, low E tuned down to B and a 7 string.

 

[middy]

Knowing how many of y’all use heavy strings, I hope a lot of you are tuning down.

 

[arlum]

I did it to match Jimi Hendrix on a few of his tunes. I actually liked the way it loosened up the bends. Still ..... I never use it unless I'm trying to match an original artist who did.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

I did for gigs. A lot easier on the voice.

I've been a singer in working bands since I was a teenager, and I'm 66 now and still singing, but I never get that. Only if you are singing a song in the key of E does it even matter. The key of D is already a lower key, lower even than Eb (Captain Obvious here) I guess it makes sense if a band plays a lot of songs in key of E and the singer doesn't have enough range to make it through the night a half step higher. And yeah, I know there are those folks that say "but it's the tone you get a half step down".

Actually, it's sometimes not even the key of a song that makes it more difficult if you don't have the range. It depends on what are the highest notes in the song. Some songs in a lower key will be more difficult to hit all the notes than another song in a higher key in the octave.

I got no problem transposing a song to another key, and the older I get the more I have to do that since I don't have the range I used to. I also never understand why some musicians have a problem transposing a tune. The original musicians and bands often play in another key live, especially as they age.

Oh well. Whatever works I guess.

 

[JeffBlue]

I'm seriously thinking about it. i use open D and open E for slide guitar.

 

[SRBMusic]

Down-tuners: What to do about buzzing strings if/when you downtune? Do you use heavier string gauges to ensure adequate tension?

Stringjoy has a string tension calculator on their website. I use it to build a string set for a down-tuned guitar that duplicates the string tension in E standard. Right now I have a Tele that’s tuned down to C# so I can play in the key of E using the G-C-D shapes. I calculated the set I needed to get the tension in the same ballpark as the usual strings, ordered the custom set from Stringjoy and they arrived in a few days. Reasonable price, good strings. Works well for all sorts of downtuning uses.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

I think it sounds good for some things. Others not as much.

 

[Marc Morfei]

I don't tune down.
But our little cover band has a female singer, and I have noticed that songs sung by women very very often seem to be in Eb. I mean, like, SO many songs we try to do are in that key. That and F. There is seemingly never a song that's just in E, or G.
Is that just a weird coincidence, or is that really a thing with respect to typical female vocal range?