Downtuning a PRS 25" scale length guitar

Sidivan

Fractal Fanatic
I've been doing a lot of research on scale length recently and am intrigued that PRS guitars uses a 25" scale length (Fender, ESP, etc... all use 25.5" while Gibson is at 24.75"). I know there are a lot of PRS users on this forum and I'm wondering if those users tune down to Eb standard and what string gauge you use to do so.

I generally use .10 - .46 and I'm wondering if Eb standard on a 25" scale length works.
 
I use .10 - .46 and I only use Eb standard tuning. That's the only tuning I've used since 2000 haha. I have no issues at all with it on my guitars with 25" scale. Never had an issue with it on 24.75" scale guitars with the same tuning and strings either. It still retains the clarity of a 25.5" scale, but a looses feel like a 24.75" scale guitar.
 
I play in drop C# Eb standard with the Bottom Eb dropped a whole step. I use EB skinny top heavy bottoms 10 a 52. 10 to 48 would be better, but a 46 on the bottom would be fine. My PRS's like those strings anyway.
 
I play in drop C# Eb standard with the Bottom Eb dropped a whole step. I use EB skinny top heavy bottoms 10 a 52. 10 to 48 would be better, but a 46 on the bottom would be fine. My PRS's like those strings anyway.

I think the guy from Black Label Society plays drop B on his PRS guitars as well and they are just standard 25" scale. If I'm not mistaken, he uses something like a .60 for the low B string though.
 
I've been playing Standard D for a long time on a 24.75" ESP Ltd EC-1000.

PS: My cousin plays Drop Bb on the same guitar ... the sound and performance however don't convince me ^^.
 
I use 52-10 for C# standard tuning and it's pretty much ideal for my Custom 24 and both of my CE24s. For E standard it's always 46-10 and that's the same gauge I would use for Eb. It's just not that different... you might need to adjust your neck a bit but other than that it should work.
 
I have PRS's tuned in E, Eb and D and a ESP 24.75" scale in drop C#. The key is too find a string gauge you are happy with then adjust neck relief and intonation (and sometimes the nut slots) to suit. FWIW I prefer 10-46 in standard tuning on 25-25.5" scales, 11-49 for Eb, D is 11-52. I'm fairly certain the ESP is strung with 11-56. Fortunately most string manufacturers are making sets with a wide variety so buying individual strings to get you where you want to be. I think string gauge preference is really dependent on preferred action, how hard you pick and how much flub you are prepared to put up with when you detune. I also have a couple of Steinbergers which theoretically can transpose from B through G (on the E-strings) but the realistic useful range is from E up to F# or down to D. Going up to G frequently breaks the hgh-E and going below D makes the strings to slack to stay in tune easily...at least for me.
 
Carvin also uses a 25" scale and I have no issues with tuning to Ed or Drop D using 10-46 gauge string set. The neck relief is another issue when using the lower tunings but it's something that's easily fixed.
 
I started using 11s when I tuned to Eb, the string tension of 11s in Eb feels very similar to 10s in standard tuning. I mostly played 25" scale guitars when I tuned down. You will ideally want to do a setup on the guitar for that tuning - especially if you're using a trem.
 
I think some consideration should be made for how heavy/light-handed you are as a player. If you're the type who really likes to dig in, it might be a good idea to go with a slightly higher gauge set, or at least on the heavy end (10-52's as opposed to 10-46).
 
I think some consideration should be made for how heavy/light-handed you are as a player. If you're the type who really likes to dig in, it might be a good idea to go with a slightly higher gauge set, or at least on the heavy end (10-52's as opposed to 10-46).

Good point! I tend to be light handed on picking and fretting so I can get away with a 10-46 string set. I have tried running 11's and liked it so I can go ether way but with one guitar it's not very convenient.
 
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