Guitars that shine in open tunings

[cedartop52]

I play exclusively in DADGAD and have found cedar/rosewood Lowden, Avalon and McIlroy guitars with medium-sized bodies best suit my playing style. I'm sure there are other brands and woods that I would enjoy too...many that I can't afford! Dan

[EZYPIKINS]

Has more to do with the player then the guitar.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Pdubs76

So which guitars have really come alive in alternate tunings in your experience?

Hi Pdubs

For me it's more about Guitarists who shine in open tunings.

[TRose]

Of course I agree that the skilled player makes the guitar sound great.

Just for discussion sake:

Certain guitar makes/styles could be more suited to certain types/styles of music.
Many feel that small ladder braced guitars shine as blues instruments simply because they have a very fundamental, dry, woody tone and and are not over burdened by lush overtones or complexity. Seems reasonable.
Then there are the guitars most suited to accompany vocals. Etc,etc..
The songs I’ve been trying to learn in alternate tuning are finger style pieces that take full advantage of drone notes and benefit from maximum sustain and lushness. So my 1910 Regal parlor can be played in alternate tunings but... it wouldn’t shine.

I’m willing to bet almost any make of guitar with adequate sustain and some lushness will sound great ( if played well, of course) in alternate tunings.

Check out Wrighty’s, Remy’s, SprintBob’s, TBman’s ( and many others)contributions to the Show and Tell section on the forum. Those guitars shine in the hands of their masters.

Thanks,
Tom

[TRose]

Deleted due to duplicate post.

[bobster7]

Fylde, Lowden, Avalon.

[RussellHawaii]

I find that long scale guitars do best in open tunings. (Here in Hawai’i we call it Ki Hoalu or Slack key tuning usually) We are almost always tuning down, not up, which suits the longer scale better.
The strings on short scale guitars get wobbly faster when slacked, leading to more tuning issues.
Larger guitars just plain sound better pitched lower, but the scale length is crucial in my opinion. Enjoy the adventure!

[Pdubs76]

Lowden and Avalon seem popular for fingerstyle in alt tunings. Unfortunately, they are hard to find in my area, so I can’t give any of them a try. Larrivee and Furch get a lot of mention as well, but I’ve never actually seen either of those brands either. I wish there was more variety in the shops around me. Thanks for all the replies!

[J Patrick]

....I’m not sure anything beats a good old Martin Dreadnought for open tunings....there are an awful lot of iconic recordings that feature Martin Dreads in open tuning....

[dermeister1331]

I don’t know the name of the tuning, but my J-45 sounds amazing in CGDGBE, capo anywhere from 5th fret and below.

My HD-35 sounds amazing in open C (CGCGCE).

Both sound awesome in double drop D as well.

[koko61]

Since I have bought my Mcilroy from Redwood and koa I have it in DADGAD and I am not going to change it. It is a marvel!

[SBakerman]

Both of my Taylor's sound fantastic in alternate tunings. My 815ce is a monster in "C" tuning as well as the others I have tried. The 712ce (I have only had it for a few weeks) has handled every tuning I have put it in with the exception of "C" tuning. A little too slappy on that. Although if Capo'd it sounds alright. The 12 fret is very responsive to Drop "D", double drop"D" and full "D".

[Malcolm Kindnes]

Originally Posted by fenderball

basically, all

Exactly, well said.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by foxo

My Lowden really comes alive with DADGAD. I need to learn more about the tuning to make the most of it.

By comparison my Gibson shines in standard tuning.

+1, so does my F25.

[JERZEY]

I find that any quality built guitar that is 25.5 inches scale tends to perform better when in dropped open tunings like DADGAD especially when capo'ed. Not to many shorter scale units impress me.