cool resonator (round neck) tunings???

[dthumb]

anybody have any favorites they'd care to share?...i've been using EG#EG#AE, DADF#AD and DGDGBD mostly...great tunings but, i'm always open ( no pun intended) to new ideas!

[WigginsPlayer]

Barrett:
You may want to try a minor open tuning. I prefer Dm. Just flat the 3rd of the chord ( I think bring the F# to F). It has a wonderful tone for such things as St James Infirmary.
Pete

[Freeman]

I like plain old open G and plain old open D (sometimes open C). My spider stays in dobro ("high bass") G - it is actually kind of a cool tuning because, as you know, a dobro player can use it to play in any key. It is usually thought of as a lapstyle tuning (my spider is a roundneck, but I play it both Spanish style and lap with a nut extender).

My metal body biscuit gets tuned to standard, but down two steps for things like Blind Boy Fuller songs (as far as I can tell BBF never played in open tunings), but mostly it stays in open G. When I want to play Robert Johnson songs (RJ never played a reso, but his songs sound great on one) then I capo it to open A. RJ, Rory Block, Scott Aisnsley all played in open A, but unless you have a real low break angle you can risk damaging your cone tuning up.

Another couple of tricks - if you are tuning down for slide consider a heavier 1st string (maybe an 015) and you might want to try an unwound third. Some people claim the original National strings were nickle, but I've never tried them on mine.

[ayavner]

I use CGCGCE (open C), you can hear an example here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgB6yLmcjEg

[dthumb]

thanks , guys....i like "c" myself but, i find it a bit ..mmmm...slack for my action set which is a tad lower than what most use to accomodate more fingerstyle things so i use it on a seagull i set up for that with a slide..big fun!

i'm wondering...is "reso g" too much for the neck on my resonator? "e" is no problem, nor is "f" but, "g"??? the round neck on my michael kelly is much like that on my martin and i'd hate to compromise it...thoughts?

btw, freeman..i am using a "hybrid" set of d'addario electric heavy gauge (jazz) with the wound "g" from another set...works great so far. ...bear in mind that mine has both magnetic and transducer pickups..hence the "electric" strings but, i think i might toy with a few other mixes and types..some "alchemy" acoustics, perhaps??...any thoughts?

[Freeman]

I have one old acoustic (not a reso) that stays in open C and I occassionally take the time to tune a 12 to it. The trick that I learned on the sixer is a mixed set - lights on top and mediums on the bottom.

As far as dobro G , the bottom two strings are tuned up, everything else goes down. This works really well on a squareneck spider bridge - you have both a stronger neck and the strength of the spider. However I tune my roundneck spider that way with plain old mediums (a 15 on top). I'm less worried about the neck than I would be your biscuit - unless you have a very low break angle I would hesitate tuning up with very heavy strings (I know Scott Ainsley and others tune their biscuits up to open A, but when I asked him about it he said he likes a very shallow break angle)

I've been using Elixer nano PB's on both mine - I personally like the PB sound and since I change the reso strings every six months or when the crud gets too thick on them....

Last comment, I just dropped a new NRP cone and carbon fiber biscuit in my Duolian - what an incredible difference. I took some A/B clips but haven't had a chance to post them - but a highly recommended upgrade.

[s11141827]

Terz Tuning. I use Magma GAT-GH Strings so I can tune it GCFBbDG & get a brighter sound.

[Charlie Bernstein]

You might get Roy Roger's booklet of about 75 tunings.

Another tuning I discovered recently is what James McMurtry calls McMurtry tuning:

- Take your standard open G: DGDGBD.

- Tune the low D down another step to C. (Now it's CGDGBD.)

- Capo the top five strings at the fifth fret, but leave the low C uncapoed.

You're now in an open C tuning — with one string so low it's almost baritone. Great fun!

[Mycroft]

Uh, since the OP asked the question in 2007, they may already have their answer.

[s11141827]

How about you take Open E Tuning & raise it up 3 Frets to Open G Terz Tuning w/ 7-38 Gauge strings?

[Charlie Bernstein]

I like open G: DGDGBD. I like it a lot more than open D because I can walk up or down to the low root note. In open D, I can only walk down to it.

Another: Lately I've been fooling with an open C: James McMurtry's self-termed "McMurtry tuning":

- Start with open G.

- Tune the low D down another step to C.

- Capo the first five strings, leaving that low C uncapoed.

Voila! Open C, with a drone string so low it's practically a baritone. Big sound, lots of interesting possibilities. My favorite song for it so far: "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry."