Tuning to Eb: What you need to know

Firstly, in my opinion the primary reason for any band to tune down to Eb either in the studio or on the road is to save vocals. When you're singing away for three or four sets over a four hour gig, singers need all the help they can get, especially if the material they are singing is consistently near the upper end of their range. While the decision to tune down is a relative no-brainer, there are some implications to the guitar player. Here are some things you need to know and do:



String Gauge

Tuning down inherently decreases the tension on your strings, which invariably will cause the guitar to feel different. That decrease will also cause the guitar to sound different and often thinner and less defined. Tuning down just makes for an overall sloppy experience. The best way to offset the effect of reduced string tension is to go up a half-gauge to a whole gauge of string depending on your tastes and your guitars. For instance, one of my guitars is a Charvel San Dimas with Floyd Rose (more on tremolos below). I use this guitar for "shredding" for lack of a better term because I don't really consider myself a shredder by classic definition, but I digress. Since I like a very low action and very fast playability on this guitar, I set it up with 9 gauge strings at standard (A=440Hz) pitch, but go to a 9.5 gauge set of strings when tuning down a half step. This gives me the same feel as the 9s do at standard pitch. With my Reverend JetStream 390 (3 P90 pickups), which I use as a strat-type replacement, I actually use 10 gauge strings at standard pitch for more tension than the Charvel and overall better/fatter tone and use 10.5 gauge strings at a half-step down. Now for those playing Les Pauls or anything that is a shorter scale than a strat-type guitar (24.75 versus 25.5"), you can go a whole step. My Reverend Volcano is a 24.75 scale guitar and I use 11s on that when tuned a half step down. If you're a tone junky, then higher action and heavier strings is one way to achieve overall better tone (worked for SRV anyway). This stands to reason why I consider my Reverend axes my tone machines but look at my Charvel as a shredding machine (though it sounds pretty darn good too, just not as "big" as the others).



Tremolos

My Reverend JetStream and Volcano have Wilkinson (strat type fulcrum tremolo) and fixed Tune-O-Matic type bridges respectively. I crank the JetStream bridge to the body and use it as a fixed bridge guitar anyway so there are no issues with tuning up or down, but my Charvel is a Floyd Rose floating bridge. The only real trick to dealing with floating bridges is to change your strings if you are going to a heavier gauge, tune the guitar down, adjust the springs, tune the guitar again and repeat until the tremolo is at an acceptable position. The "preferred" position is that when your tremolo base plate is parallel with the body of the guitar, but the length of the D-Tuna I put on my Charvel limits my ability to pull up on the tremolo arm so I actually have my Floyd positioned a little ass-end-up for lack of a better description.



Intonation

This surprises some, but depending on how drastic a change in gauge of string, you may actually have to re-intonate your guitar. The difference in thickness of the strings or string height if tweaking bridge height or tremolo float can have an effect on intonation. Intonation warrants a whole separate article, so suffice it to say for the purposes of this post that you should check intonation after changing tuning and/or string gauge.

The Tuner
Not to be forgotten, and an essential piece of this process, you should invest in a good digital tuner. I love my Peterson VS-1 strobe tuner, but find myself using the Korg Pitchblack out of convenience and since its a permanent fixture on my pedalboard. I do still use the Peterson for the more precise intonation process.



So for those thinking about tuning down to save vocals or even to get a little heavier sound, don;t be afraid to. Just pay attention and make the tweaks I mention above and you should be good to go!