Summer of 69 tuned a half step down?
 

Anybody play and sing any Bryan Adams songs a half step down? I decided to learn Summer of 69, and will put it together this evening, but would prefer to sing it a half step lower. Anybody here do that?

Wondering if the guitar will still sound good?

Sadly 30 years ago I wouldn't have any issues singing in Bryan Adam's range. :(

Reckless was a great album. I remember learning that song back in the late 80s, a couple of years after the song was a hit. No way I could sing that song though.

I think you need to try it and determine how it sounds. Are you playing it on electric or an acoustic version?

I tune a 1/2 step down for almost EVERYHING, mainly because when I'm playing in the key of D, it's easier to sing.

Right now I have only an acoustic but hope get an electric soon.

Yes will try and see how it sounds a half a step down. Didn't get a chance to mess with it today.

I assume you mean tuning down a half-step, but why wouldn't it? Only you can say, by trying it and finding out.

Tuning a half-step down shouldn't sound bad, and many people actually like the sound of a guitar a half-step down - although you'd soon get used to it and find it just sounds "normal" after a while. (IOW the attraction of the sound is in contrast with the EADGBE you're familiar with. The more the sound of EADGBE fades in your memory, the more "normal" the downtuning will sound.)

The only issue would be if you already use ultra light gauge strings, so the reduction in tension might make them harder to play in tune. Still, a half-step shouldn't make that much difference. (The reduction in tension will also mean the neck straightens just a little, which - again - ought not to matter unless your action is already extremely low.)
Well, I couldn't sing them in anywhere near his key anyway, so I would always be transposing the chords.

I would never tune down a half-step for any song that was too high for me, because a half-step wouldn't make enough difference. I'd much rather transpose to another key.

The exception would be if the guitar needed to be in an unusual tuning to get the full effect of the original guitar part. If a slight detuning would help me sing it (up to a whole step), then I would do it. Otherwise I'd simply accept that I couldn't do the song at all - or that if I wanted to sing it I'd have to accept a completely different guitar sound (different shapes, different tuning).

An alternative would be to capo the first fret and transpose the chords to the key of C. That would get it in the same key (Db) as if you tuned down a half-step and played the original D chords.

Another alternative is to capo fairly high up and play the original chords and then sing down an octave. That might end up in a better range for your voice.

Thanks for all the ideas and feedback.Really appreciated.

As far as changing keys sometimes you can't get the same sound out of completely different chords hence the tuning down.

Assuming you'll be playing some of the signature licks of this tune (like the keyboard Dsus2-D-Dsus4 thing after the chorus, it's a much better idea to tune down rather than to capo to change keys on this song.

My guess is nobody will know except you.

Exactly! Sometimes you will end up discovering new/different (and perhaps better!) sounds when you change the chord shapes used.

It's a great way to give cover songs your own "spin".

True, but that's not the case with this song. There are not special guitar figures where open strings are crucial.

I just tried playing along with it myself, and I found myself choosing 5th position and playing A and E shape chords (for the D and A)! Not consciously, but perhaps because it seemed a more intuitive way of getting that muted power chord sound in the beginning.

That means that if I found the key too high (and I do), I could easily just take those shapes down the fretboard. (I wasn't using a capo on 5, but I could.)

I.e., that comes back to what I said about transposing the shapes. I know I can play a D chord as an A shape on 5th fret (with or without a capo), so I know that if it turns out too high in that key I have 5 frets room to take it down.

If the key had happened to be E, and that low 6th string was a big part of the sound, then (you're right) it might be different. I still resist tuning down, personally. I'd just put up with the different sound of different shapes, and learn to like it! ;)