Drop tuning an acoustic

Frankieabbot

How far should I drop the guitars tuning so as to relieve my sore fingers? I've taken it down a third. The top and bottom E strings are now playing as C. Should I drop any lower?

stickyfiddle

That's already pretty low. What string gauge are you using? There's nothing wrong with 11's on an acoustic..!

Frankieabbot

Currently have Martin 'lights' on. 12-54.

Evilmags

tuning down to C needs 14s to get most acoustics working properly. i´d not go much further down than D if I´m honest. Probably better looking at another string brand that makes softer strings (Thomastik Infeld Plectrum Bronze) than tuning down that far. 11s work on some acoustics, less well on others. String gauge makes a much bigger difference to acoustic tone and volume than electric. 

Frankieabbot

Thanks.....gonna try Newtone Heritage strings. Should be here by Friday!

richardhomer

I down-tune my D28 to CFCCGD with 13s without problem - but that's as low as I'd want to go with 'normal' gauge strings.

ToneControl

Frankieabbot said:

How far should I drop the guitars tuning so as to relieve my sore fingers? I've taken it down a third. The top and bottom E strings are now playing as C. Should I drop any lower?

if your fingers are sore, it's because the action is too high, or more likely - the nut is badly cut

downtuning is not the answer. If 11s are painful, you have a medical problem, or the guitar does

Frankieabbot

Newtones have arrived and on my guitar. Info sheet states there is 15 or 16 pounds tension on each string (94 pounds in total). What I do know is that they are tuned to concert pitch and my arthritic fingers can fret them with less pain..........nice!

Gru

Because of some of the songs I want to play I tend to keep standard strings but drop down 2 semitones to D to d. Certainly makes the guitar easier to play

This also helps me with barre chords although still need work on these.

Frankieabbot

Barre chords aren't such a problem for me. It's the finger span chords that are a problem. In fact I've binned the plectrum and started to play finger picking style using those moveable chords where the fingers are more compacted. Like jazz chords where you have to dampen the strings that you don't want to sound. There are so many inversions and I play the 'easiest/most comfortable' that I can find. I like my fingers nicely grouped together.

AuldReekie

My MciLroy A30 is tuned CGCGCD; but wouldn't put it any lower than that

Frankieabbot

AuldReekie said:

My MciLroy A30 is tuned CGCGCD; but wouldn't put it any lower than that

Do you tune this way to ease sore/arthritic fingers? Or is it more for tone and different chord fingering patterns? Maybe other reasons!

OnTheRopes

I have recently taken up the guitar again and sticking to acoustic for a while. I stuck 10's on for about a month  to make it a bit less painful. I still had to go through the pain barrier a bit though and have now moved up to 12's with no issues.