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  1. I expect nothing less!

    (Yep I'm back from my hiatus-ing again..)

    Fallen in love with E5 / D5 tuning in recent months, and after a bit of experimentation, figured this was all I can do...



    (Please ignore the slightly dishevelled appearance and dusty headstock..)
  2. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    I expect nothing less!

    (Yep I'm back from my hiatus-ing again..)

    Fallen in love with E5 / D5 tuning in recent months, and after a bit of experimentation, figured this was all I can do...

    [YouTube Video]

    (Please ignore the slightly dishevelled appearance and dusty headstock..)
    I can't comment much (eg not at ALL) on the technical side of this, only that I could listen to this on a loop beautiful!

    falling more in love with harry one video at a time
  3. Originally posted by flowerchild:[..]
    I can't comment much (eg not at ALL) on the technical side of this, only that I could listen to this on a loop beautiful!

    falling more in love with harry one video at a time
    Aha, always for you my dear glad you liked it!
  4. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    I expect nothing less!

    (Yep I'm back from my hiatus-ing again..)

    Fallen in love with E5 / D5 tuning in recent months, and after a bit of experimentation, figured this was all I can do...

    [YouTube Video]

    (Please ignore the slightly dishevelled appearance and dusty headstock..)
    Lovely Harry! Always nice to have you back

    What's that tuning you talk about?
  5. Cheers my good man!

    Tuning-wise, E5 = E B E E B E, apparently it's a favourite of Joni Mitchell (need I say more!?) - I'm a bit obsessed with it. I stumbled upon it by accident when messing about Open E Major a few months ago (e.g. Stuck in a Moment... etc.). I think it makes the guitar sound somewhere between a sitar and a 6-stringed mandolin, especially with quick picking and sliding up and down the fretboard. I have my acoustic tuned to D5 ( D A D D A D - Edge would be proud with the lack of 3rds!), Strat to Drop D, and my Hofner in Eb standard.

    (Also used it here - https://soundcloud.com/hjwoj/every-river-sls-wowy-2017 - with capo on 7th fret so it's A5)
  6. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    Cheers my good man!

    Tuning-wise, E5 = E B E E B E, apparently it's a favourite of Joni Mitchell (need I say more!?) - I'm a bit obsessed with it. I stumbled upon it by accident when messing about Open E Major a few months ago (e.g. Stuck in a Moment... etc.). I think it makes the guitar sound somewhere between a sitar and a 6-stringed mandolin, especially with quick picking and sliding up and down the fretboard. I have my acoustic tuned to D5 ( D A D D A D - Edge would be proud with the lack of 3rds!), Strat to Drop D, and my Hofner in Eb standard.

    (Also used it here - https://soundcloud.com/hjwoj/every-river-sls-wowy-2017 - with capo on 7th fret so it's A5)
    Ah yeah, I knew the DADDAD version, but not the EBEEBE one. Sounds like a tuning I'd like to try sometime! Even though I always have a problem with minor chord shapes on alternate tunings Glad you're comfortable with it though! It indeed makes the acoustic sound like a bit of a sitar. I love how the drone strings resonate all throughout. Lovely!

    PS: I caught the "I'm a bit obsessed with it" bit before you edited it out
  7. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    Ah yeah, I knew the DADDAD version, but not the EBEEBE one. Sounds like a tuning I'd like to try sometime! Even though I always have a problem with minor chord shapes on alternate tunings Glad you're comfortable with it though! It indeed makes the acoustic sound like a bit of a sitar. I love how the drone strings resonate all throughout. Lovely!

    PS: I caught the "I'm a bit obsessed with it" bit before you edited it out
    Ah, my good man, I didn't edit it completely out, just shifted it to somewhere where it made more sense good spotting as always haha.

    But aye, I would recommend it - I rarely use E standard tuning these days, enjoying messing about with new combinations (although as I said, I do have my semi-hollow tuned to Eb standard so I'm not totally off the chain!). And yeah, I've always love drone strings - definitely got a Celtic thing stirring my soul deep down; I put much of the blame squarely at the feet of Edge and Stuart Adamson (Big Country) - and growing up listening to bagpipe music..
  8. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    Ah, my good man, I didn't edit it completely out, just shifted it to somewhere where it made more sense good spotting as always haha.

    But aye, I would recommend it - I rarely use E standard tuning these days, enjoying messing about with new combinations (although as I said, I do have my semi-hollow tuned to Eb standard so I'm not totally off the chain!). And yeah, I've always love drone strings - definitely got a Celtic thing stirring my soul deep down; I put much of the blame squarely at the feet of Edge and Stuart Adamson (Big Country) - and growing up listening to bagpipe music..
    The music you grow up listening to ends up marking you one way or another, no doubt about that!

    How do you solve the problem of strange minor chord fingerings? It's the thing that puts me off the most about using alternative tunings...
  9. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    The music you grow up listening to ends up marking you one way or another, no doubt about that!

    How do you solve the problem of strange minor chord fingerings? It's the thing that puts me off the most about using alternative tunings...
    Absolutely - funny how much it shapes you without you realizing until much later! Or at least, I'd say so in my case haha.

    Re. minor chords, for D5 tuning I've settled on:

    Bm:
    D: x
    A: x
    D: x
    D: 4
    A: 2
    D: x

    Em:
    D: x
    A: x
    D: x
    D: 2
    A: 2
    D: x

    (x = open string rather than no note; getting my tab notations in a muddle but can't be bothered to fully change haha)

    And so on. Not entirely completely and perhaps not the technically-correct way but it works for me - I like the sustained* chords set against the background drone of the open D/A strings. The beauty also comes in that because it's a symmetrical tuning, you can mirror the chord on the opposite 3 strings to help with filling out lead melodies etc.

    (I think that makes sense!)

    [*EDIT: suspended, not sustained - the old age is muddling my brain..]
  10. It definitely does Thanks for letting me know. That's how I played them too when I used DAGDAD but it somehow lacked some power, some definition to my ears. I love how "minor" do some minor chords sound with some precise fingerings, and doing only the third and fifth make them sound somehow "hollow". Oh well, I'm not making any sense now so I'll just cut it I will try DADDAD sooner than later and let you know what I think!

    Last question: which string gauges do you put on? Tuning the 3rd (G) string down to D must turn it into a bubblegum piece of wobbly metal
  11. Originally posted by LikeASong:It definitely does Thanks for letting me know. That's how I played them too when I used DAGDAD but it somehow lacked some power, some definition to my ears. I love how "minor" do some minor chords sound with some precise fingerings, and doing only the third and fifth make them sound somehow "hollow". Oh well, I'm not making any sense now so I'll just cut it I will try DADDAD sooner than later and let you know what I think!

    Last question: which string gauges do you put on? Tuning the 3rd (G) string down to D must turn it into a bubblegum piece of wobbly metal
    Haha no worries I understood where you were going - for me it's about messing around 'til you stumble upon something that works! That or y'know, burying yourself in the intricacies of musical theory - something I've not done in years!

    Re. strings, I think all of my axes are wieldings 10s - the acoustic actually holds the tension pretty well, although I may need to give my Strat some TLC soon, hit a bum note and it hums a wee bit...
  12. Originally posted by WojBhoy:[..]
    Haha no worries I understood where you were going - for me it's about messing around 'til you stumble upon something that works! That or y'know, burying yourself in the intricacies of musical theory - something I've not done in years!

    Re. strings, I think all of my axes are wieldings 10s - the acoustic actually holds the tension pretty well, although I may need to give my Strat some TLC soon, hit a bum note and it hums a wee bit...
    I use 10s too on both acoustics and electrics (leave the 12-string aside of course), but... on DADDAD tuning, isn't this DADDAD string (the corresponding to a G in standard EBGDAE) too loose and low-tension? It's 5 (!) semitones below where it's supposed to be. One or two semitones is alright and the tension doesn't change much, but I try to avoid everything below a full tone. If you haven't noticed anything wrong then it's probably fine lol

    (we should actually move this to the U2 & Guitar Gear: Q & A thread ).