Tuning Down: How Will It Affect my Rick 12?

[drumbob]

My other guitarist put forth the proposition last night that we start tuning down a half step, which will make it easier for him to reach certain notes when he's singing. He is the main singer, and he does strain on occasion to hit certain notes. I'm sure my other guitars will adapt OK, but what about my 330-12? It's finicky as is. Also, it will involve me buying a few new harmonicas, and will probably entail having my guitars set up with heavier strings. As it is, I use 10s and 11s. I can see this as perhaps costing me several hundred dollars all told.

Any opinions?

[ken_j]

You will probably have to re-intonate also.

[egosheep]

Sounds like a huge hassle. Maybe investigate a professional down tuning pedal, as I have seen ones advertised that will go down in several increments. Don't know how it would sound/work with a 12 string, though.

[Clint]

How about suggesting the singer do proper warm up exercises before rehearsal. He could also try practicing daily to get, and keep, his voice in shape. I don't want to sound like a (you know what), but I just don't think he should ask everyone else to adapt because he either can't or won't put in the effort.

[jdogric12]

My cover band plays down a half step. It's a major pain in the rear. I strongly suggest you try to convince your singer to suck it up.

[genomecaster]

FWIW, on his DVD Roger McGuinn advocates tuning down a 1/2 step to "give the guitar's neck a break." I did it while playing along with the DVD, but I agree it is a pain in a world that doesn't have much use for the keys of C# and F# major. And I'd rather play in standard than use a capo to get there--intonation is hard enough. Maybe a whole step would be more manageable? My understanding is this is what the Old 97's do: E to D, A to G, D to C etc. Otherwise I guess I'm in the "tell the singer to suck it up" camp.

[jimk]

And a few voice lessons wouldn't hurt, either.
JimK

[drumbob]

You guys don't know my singer. He does his best at all times-definitely not the slacker type. He's 60 years old-not a kid-and he and I are friends, so I have to give some serious thought to his request. He's not making demands and definitely not giving me an ultimatum. He asked me if I would consider tuning down, not, "We have to tune down or else!"

I can reconfigure my Boss TU-2 down a half step, but I'm just concerned about the Rick 12. The other guitars I'm not worried about.

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Do you own more than one Ric 12 string? It would be easy to have one setup for this sort of thing.

The one thing I can suggest, and it may not be completely advocated, but have you tried higher gauges on lower tunings?

[jdogric12]

The Rick 12 should handle it fine. The major pain is all the other logistics.

If you have a keyboard player that can't transpose with the flick of a switch, forget about it. When I started playing with Down Wilson, I was borrowing a keyboard for the first couple gigs. It transposed down fine. A few of the band's songs are already in drop tuning, particularly songs by the Killers, so I had charted them in Gb, Db, Ab, etc. So, the first few gigs, I spent flipping back and forth between detuned and concert pitch, becuase I'm a moron. Soon I realized I should just play everything in D, G, A, etc and keep the keyboard detuned at all times.

[Clint]

He may be doing his best, but still, if a guitar player or bassist couldn't play the right notes or if the drummer couldn't keep the beat, what would you do?

Maybe he's not a slacker, maybe he just doesn't know how to care for his voice properly. Even professional singers have a voice coach and professional musicians continue taking lessons.

[Hotzenplotz]

As I understood the question was in care of the guitar. So: do it, there is no problem.
Maybe You have to adjust the neck, maybe not. But that is quite easy.

I have had a few 12-strings. All the time I tune them flat. - Easier to play, fits better to my voice.

What instruments are in Your band? If they are with strings, spend five minutes. To tune down a keyboard is quite more difficult.

Sometimes I think a lot of people here do not trust their guitars. Why? Rickenbackers are good craftmanship and very robust!
And in the manual they describe how to adjust the neck. If these guitars were fragile RIC would not write that down.

[stsang]

Also, Roger McGuinn tunes his guitars down a semi-tone. You can hear it quite clearly on his recent concert CD or instructional DVD.

[chucksimms]

We tune down half a step. Guitars are fine with it, including my '66 330/12. It's a lot easier on the voice. Only non-singers usually complain about it!

[jimk]

He may be doing his best, but still, if a guitar player or bassist couldn't play the right notes or if the drummer couldn't keep the beat, what would you do?

Maybe he's not a slacker, maybe he just doesn't know how to care for his voice properly. Even professional singers have a voice coach and professional musicians continue taking lessons.

That's basically my take on it, too. And another alternative is to arrange the song in question in another key. For example, the Eagles' "Lying Eyes" was recorded in G major, I believe. Would it work for your singer to sing in in say E major, if you did that song? (I change the original key of a song quite often.)
JimK