Preferred Tuning?

[davidKOS]

Did anyone mention Fripp's New Standard Tuning (s) guitarcraft yet?

 

[amstratnut]

Within a week of this thread I got notice to learn two songs tuned to Eb.

 

[StratUp]

Preferred tuning: "In".

 

[Bob Spumoni]

I tried open-G tuning for while, but all I could play was sissy hootenanny stuff and my testosterone dropped by half. Now I do standard E, and I am just remarkably manly for a fella my age.

 

[MetalPedal]

I tried open-G tuning for while, but all I could play was sissy hootenanny stuff and my testosterone dropped by half. Now I do standard E, and I am just remarkably manly for a fella my age.

I know! You’re 12 with a full beard. And that back hair!

 

[fuksman]

 

[fuksman]

Kind of a surprise, nobody mentioned playing in A:432, there's a whole thing about that. Tuned Eb (down 1/2 step) is effectively A:415.3, sometimes called Baroque tuning.

A440 has been more or less universally accepted since 1975. We regularly listen to music that predates the standard.

The following is an incomplete list of pitch standards from various sources.

1640	Vienna Franciscan Organ A457.6
1663	Bernards Schmidt's Orgain in Duham, England A474
1699	Paris Opera A404
1711	John Shore's tuning fork, a pitch of A423.5 He invented the tuning fork, one of which still exists today.
1780	Stines, for Mozart, A421
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1714	Strasbourg Cathedral organ A391
1722	Dresden's chief Roman Catholic church organ A415
1759	Trinity College Cambridge organ A309
1762	Stringed instruments at Hamburg A405
1772	Gottfried Silbermann built the organ in the main Roman Catholic church in Dresden, and it had a pitch of A 415 at the time.
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1780	Stein's tuning fork A422.6
1751	Handel's own fork A422.5
1800	Broadwood's C fork, 505.7, which is about half a semitone lower than that of today
1811	Paris Grand Opera A 427
1812	Paris Conservatoire A440, as modern pitch
1813	George Smart adopted for the Philharmonic Society the pitch of A423.3.
1820	Westminster Abbey organ and possibly Paris Comic Opera used a pitch of A422.5.
1823	In Veienna pitch was A437 and it 1834 A 440
1828	Philharmonic Society A 440
1834	Vienna Opera A 436.5
1835	Wolfels piano maker A443
1836	Pleyel's Pianos A446
1846	Philharmonic pitch was A452.5 (very high) which lasted till 1854
1846	Mr Hipkins piano tuner (Meantone) A433.5 (Equal) A436.0
1849	Broadwood's medium pitch was A445.9 which lasted till 1854
1858	New Philharmonic pitch C522
1859	The French government set up a commission for a standard pitch. which was A435 the fork temperature was15 degrees centigrade.
1860	Cramer's piano makers of London A448.4
1862	Dresden Opera A 440
1871	Covent Garden Opera House A 440
1877	Collard's piano maker standard pitch was A 449.9
1877	St. Paul Cathedral organ A446.6
1877	Chappell Pianos A455.9
1877	Mr Hipkins piano tuner A448.8
1878	Her Majesty's Organ A436.1
1878	Vienna Opera A447
1879	Covent Garden Opera A450
1879	Erard's factory fork 455.3
1879	Steinway of England A 454.
1879	British Army regulation pitch for woodwinds A451.9
1880	Brinsmead, Broadwood, and Erard apparently used a pitch of A455.3
1880	Steinway may have been using a pitch of A436. According to Steinway of New York, 1880 is right around the time they switched from three piece rims to the continuous rim that is used today. So it is unlikely the pitch was any higher before 1880, yet Steinway of London had a fork A454.7.
1885	In Vienna a pitch of A435.4 was adopted at a temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit for A.
1885	At an international exhibition of inventions and music in London a pitch of A452 was adopted.
1896	Philharmonic pitch A439, giving C522
1925	On the 11th of June the American music industry adopted A440.
1936	American Standards Association adopted A440. yet; New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, use 442 Hz
1939	At an international conference A440 was adopted.

so, OP - do you regret starting this thread now? let this be a lesson for the future.

 

[Missoula Flood]

Sitting here playing endlessly on my new Strat and realized that not only do I prefer Strats in Eb tuning.... I think I prefer everything tuned down 1/2 step.

I almost can't stand to play a Strat in standard tuning anymore, and my Ibanez Genesis stays in Eb for almost everything as well! Even having multiple guitars, I always think that I'll use different ones for different tunings...but nope!

So, what tuning do you guys find yourself playing in the majority of the time?

Dozen or so guitars, all tuned down 1/2 step including the acoustics. One tele tuned to G (ala Keef) that I use a drop pedal bringing it down to F tuning just to play "When The Levee Breaks".

 

[Hudman_1]

E Standard with Eb being a close second.