onewilyfool Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 LOL....one of the reasons I've been "avoiding" playing in open tunings, is that it takes me a long time to get the guitar in the open tuning, AND to get it back to regular tuning. I'm thinking I better get a guitar that I LEAVE in open tuning, if I ever want to really learn to play that way.....opinions, elaborations, sharings, experiences???? (I hope this is not just ANOTHER reason for GAS!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Back in the 80s I bought a Korean Kent dreadnaught with a poor neck set for five bucks. The action was high and it had a good 'boom'. I screwed a pickup onto the edge of the sound hole, carved one word into the top in large letters meaning either bovine excrement or a proclamation that the other person is engaged in prevarication, tuned it to open 'E' and used it for slide. It was swampy unplugged and downright Elmore James when plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Oh, many causes for GAS! Its handy. Ive been keeping my J50 in vestapol lately and have upped both the practice and learning curves. On the other hand, its not essential. Last sumer, Paul Geremia played his entire 2nd set at the Big Kahuna on 12string, changing from std to G 6th to open G to open D to Dm and back to std as the mood took him, without a tuner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 My old Seagull is either in Open D or 2 steps down all the time. I love that sloppy string sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Nobody expects the open tuned guitar..... I have one guitar in open tuning - my four-pup Teisco. And my Harmony 12-string. I have two guitars in open tuning - my four-pup Teisco and my Harmony 12-string. And my Harmony 6-string. I have three guitars in open tuning - my four-pup Teisco, my Harmony 12-string and my Harmony 6-string. And my Framus archtop..... Oh, and a late 1800's Dulcetta Zither Banjo - but that isn't a guitar..... So that'll be four in total, mainly for fast-pickin' and slide playing. Duane Allman started me off and Ry Cooder inspired me. Why do you ask..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Player Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Currently at home my Gibson AJ is in Standard, my Taylor is in DADGAD and my new custom is in DGDGBD (open G). I like keeping them in different tunings. That way I typically will play all three when sitting down to play. It is not always the same tunings for each guitar, sometimes I favor the Gibson AJ in DADGAD and the Taylor in Standard. When I got my new one for the first couple days, it was standard, the Gibson DADGAD and the Taylor was Drop D. Rarely are all three in Standard tuning unless I have friends coming over to play with me. It just makes like a little more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcorner Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 My el Cheapo Art and Lutherie Cedar AMI is almost always in DADGAD. It is one of the five guitars that hang behind me on my office wall each evening - that way they get played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needles Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Hi. I Dont play enough open string stuff anymore but every now and then i get a hankering for the old mississippi john hurt type thing ,vestapol and when i go to the trouble of tuning to d ill leave the guitar that way for a week. My plan is to get my LGO mahogany acoustic left into a good luthier dude to replace the machine heads as one is snapped and sort out the action and then it will be my permanently open d guitar. Im sure itll cost more than a new second hand something or other but i like the vibe and tone of it. Also plan to buy and electric and have it purely for the keith richards thing with no bottom e for a few months to see how it sounds. I only ever once learned a a folky john renbourne thing in open g but the always there guitar would be handy when you got the urge for some slide or something of that ilk. I find drop d normal tuning easier to jam with other people though as they tend to want to play songs as opposed to pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I wonder if Gibson has a Robot acoustic in the works? That would solve the problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I keep this old thing, a 1932 National style 1 tricone, tuned to D: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 My 1930s Kay Kraft "Venetian." I can't remember the last time that guitar was not in open tuning. But then again, that is what I originally picked it up for. <a href="http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/zombywoof51/?action=view¤t=TRICCASE005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/zombywoof51/TRICCASE005.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 My 1930s Kay Kraft "Venetian." Can't remember the last time this was in standard tuning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 My first acoustic is a cheap Fender DG4? I picked up cheap in Denmark St many years ago - has hole in the back. In open D tuning and high action so I can fiddle around with some slide work. Only know 2 songs - Walking Blues and Rollin and Tumblin from EC Unplugged. Great fun and must do some more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 ZW -- that Kay Kraft is a great piece of vintage Americana. Its wants you to play "Dying Bed Maker." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nid2007 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 My Gospel is always in open E flat. Its my Blood on the Tracks guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 When I get my new 12 string, I'll be leaving my current one in open G just to play this song. Sheer class IMHO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnVaJJj-Ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 When I get my new 12 string' date=' I'll be leaving my current one in open G just to play this song. Sheer class IMHO. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnVaJJj-Ss [/quote'] thanks for the eagles link, aj. lots of great eagles tunes on youtube. on the early stuff, in particular, you can really sense the gram parsons/burrito bros. influence in bernie leadon's lead guitar parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermionik Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 12-string + open-tuning = Leo Kottke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 12-string + open-tuning = Leo Kottke Not to mention Blind Willie McTell? Or Paul Geremia, who does McTell to a "T" and then some. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_McTell http://www.paulgeremia.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I keep this old thing' date=' a 1932 National style 1 tricone, tuned to D: [img']http://inlinethumb24.webshots.com/24983/2570599210033810361S600x600Q85.jpg[/img] That is the one guitar that remains on my wish list. H. Spier who ran a recording studio and music shop down in Jackson. MS in the 20s and 30s remembered when Memphis Minnie stopped by after a Chicago recording stint. She pulled up in a brand new convertible and had the first National Tricone that anyone in Mississipp has ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 ZW -- that Kay Kraft is a great piece of vintage Americana. Its wants you to play "Dying Bed Maker." Funny you should say that, I found the Kay hanging on a store wall as a decoration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambler Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Funny you should say that' date=' I found the Kay hanging on a store wall as a decoration. [/quote'] No kidding? It just shouts out "Josh White" to me! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Great responses all!!! I'm surprised that so many of you use only the "Open D" tunings.....I've played around with the "open G" tunings for some blues and Rolling Stones songs......but never Open D......keep pluckin' comrads!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Great responses all!!! I'm surprised that so many of you use only the "Open D" tunings.....I've played around with the "open G" tunings for some blues and Rolling Stones songs......but never Open D......keep pluckin' comrads!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertjohn Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Great responses all!!! I'm surprised that so many of you use only the "Open D" tunings.....I've played around with the "open G" tunings for some blues and Rolling Stones songs......but never Open D......keep pluckin' comrads!!! Another schoolboy error on my part. Walking Blues and Rollin' and Tumblin' are in open G and not open D (I think). There's a very useful intro into alternative tunings in this month's Acoustic Guitar mag - a US mag which you can get in UK. W H Smith, Liverpool St station £3.95 - very good value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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