Quick question...

I understand that constantly switching tunings on a guitar can wreak havoc with the neck. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard, which I want to designate as my standard tuning guitar, while I want to put my standard model Fender Stratocaster in DAFDAD. Will I want to have any special adjustments made beforehand to protect the neck?

Just do a proper setup for that tuning, checking and adjusting as necessary neck relief, action, and intonation. What guage strings are you planning on using?

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Bill

A pretty light gauge - .009 high E, .046 low E.

Give it a try.

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Bill

You might wanna use a heavier gauge string. I use 10's in standard tuning but when I use tunings that require strings to be tuned lower than standard (open G, open D, half-step of full-step down), I'll use heavier gauges.

For example, I have one guitar tuned (low to high) DGCFAD, which obviously is a whole-step down from standard tuning. And I use 11's on that guitar. They're a bit more slack than 10's in standard tuning, but I can live with it. If I used 10's for that particular tuning, the strings would be so slack it would feel like bending a rubber band.

midnight,
for the band i play in, were tuned down a whole step for the singer.
dont like the tuning but, it makes the band sound better as a whole.
i use 11s on my hr57 strat and i have it tuned down 1/2 step all the time,
when i go to practice i down tune 1/2 a step from there.
i agree 11s feel great in that tuning, even 1/2 a step they feel good, not heavy at all.

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"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

oogway, kungfu panda 2008

bluesstrattone,

I don't like having to use that tuning either but it's what our singer insists upon. I used to use 12's when I tuned down a full step because I got a more consistent tension on the strings from them. The tension was comparable to using 10's in standard tuning. Plus I play alot of slide in that band and the heavier strings helped. But they were such a hassle to find (had to find 12's with a plain G string which usually meant having to order certain sets of D'addarios) and they were so much bigger than 10's that it was difficult to jump back and forth between guitars. So I eventually decided to go with 11's. After I got used to them, they're alot easier to use than the 12's. A little more slack, but that's ok. I just have to use a lighter touch with the slide and as I've gotten better at playing slide, I've adjusted my style to suit my set up. The string tension would probably be closer (in relation to 10's in standard tuning) if I only tuned down a half step with 11 gauge strings but they work for me with what I'm doing and its' alot easier than having to use those mammoth 12's.