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Best tonewood for slack tunings?


Gilliangirl

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Anyone consistently play in slack tunings? I always have the Seagull at least 3 half-steps down, usually four. And I need Magic in standard for obvious reasons. But, the poor old Seagull's tuning machines are slipping and the bridge is warped so keeping it in tune is becoming impossible. So, I HAVE to get another guitar. What I'm wondering is if anyone has any experience with which wood would sound best tuned down all the time? Maple? Rosewood? My tendency is to think maple would do this better as rosewood is already so deep. What do you think? Anyone tried this already?

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Hey Karen -- my 2 cents would be mahogany, then maple/koa. Both provide a needed clarity. The overtones in RW may come on a little strong (some will disagree), especially in a big box. Hog sings a little more on top. Some samples

 

Crossroads (Paul Geremia, hog J35): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb4ajeLQD9A

Crossroads (Rory Bock, rw om28):

Police Dog Blues (maple Nick Lucas):

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ps. if you are tuning that low, it definitely has to be long scale, so the strings dont get too floppy. Are you playing spanish or lap slide in your slack tunings? That might have some bearings on the model best suited for 'ya. Oops, you (Palinized).

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My opinion is that it probably doesn't matter, however I can't think of a Slack key player that uses maple...

 

Gabby used Mahogany and other players are all over the map.

 

I prefer Mahogany for any guitar, just cuz... no other reason.

 

Check out Dancing Cat for bios and photos of players and of course CD's.

 

Long scale is a must or you'll get mush.

 

My favorite player plays classical guitar, I believe rosewood....

 

Have you considered replacing the tuners and having someone check out the bridge?

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