Heavy heaters / down tune users, what gage?

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

Power User
Hi all.

So, we are forced to down tune full step to D (singer can’t go so high).
I’m typically using 10 gage, It sounds too fluffy and muddy when tuned to D.
I tried 13’s, way too tight and hard.

For those who play D tuned guitars, which gage are you using

Thanks.
 
Really depends on your scale length. I downtune to drop C# with a 24.75 scale, and 13-56 works best for me. Anything lighter is too floppy.
 
When I used to down tune to D, I went up one gage (at that time would have been from 9s to 10s). The 10s in D felt a little loose, but workable for me. Now that I use 10s in E, I would personally try some form of 11s like 11-49 or 11-52. In Drop D, I use a 52 for my low string at it seems tight enough, so maybe an 11-52 set would work well for you.

Also, like @shemihazazel said it does depend on scale length, but that being said, I run the same gauges on everything from 24.75" to 26.5" because I found that I didn't like changing the feel of the size of the string under my fingers compared to the change in tension. So unless the tension got so far off as to be "unplayable" to me, I just leave them the same.
 
It really depends on your preference. I play drop C on a 24.75 scale with 10s and it feels fine to me, just needs a different touch than if I'm playing 10s in standard on a 25.5 scale.
 
I like a 58/60 - 11 for drop C, for standard D something like 56/54 - 11 should work. I don't know if a set like that exists, I just buy my strings individually to get the gauges I want.
 
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