The ESP Guitar Company

440 in drop C doesnt seem to work for the Halo or Now I lay Thee Down, it sounds like it needs to be lower still, ill try 430

the difference between 440 and 430 is only about 5-7 cents, it takes 100 cents to equal one half step, so drop b in 440 or 450 is nowhere near drop c in 430.

i could tell that the blackening wasn't in drop b, theres a huge difference between b and c, thats the threshold to where the guitar sounds standard or detuned, the definition of detuned is to be below standard e, however its more coined to be at or below baritone tuning. If you were to listen to soilwork or slipnkot and compare the difference to machine head, that one half step is huge. bands like slipknot and soilwork, you know their guitars are detuned, with bands like children of bodom, killswitch engage, it doesn't sound detuned. Again that half step makes a hug difference

I'm pretty sure those are actually in B 450hz come to think of it. Live, Rob makes it easy because his warlock is in D standard 430hz and his ESP V is B 450hz (I think it's a baritone V too). Thats all he uses live. Sometimes he brings out his Gibson V for I think just Davidian and maybe the other songs off Burn my eyes thats in dropped C 430.

^^again, drop b in 450 is nowhere near close to pitch of drop c in 430, its still virtually a half step. if the song is in drop c (440 or 430) its atill nowhere near drop b. trust me.

the album, the blackening is drop c, i have double checked and then double checked again. Im not sure about the other albums, but davidian is in drop c as well.

ok, i know the difference. I'm explaining it as "think of it like this." I dont think this guy really cares about tech details and just wants to learn what tunning the song is in. And I heard from Rob himself when I was eating hamburgers outside thier tour bus after the Arch Enemy tour that Aesthetics is D standard 430hz, Davidian is dropped C 430, and most others are dropped B 450. It is also posted on the Machine Head board on their page under "the Blackening" topic page. It was posted by his guitar tech. But I quess he wouldnt know. Also goes on to talk which guitars are tuned to what.

my bad also, I mixed up hz and cents. Just set your tuner to either 450 for the B songs and 430 for everything else. I know they arent anywhere near each other. Never said they were. Just trying to tell this dude what to set the tuner to. I'm posting while working and not really reading what I type, I'm on the phone with customer while I make these post. Multi tasking doesnt work for me.

I dont think this guy really cares about tech details and just wants to learn what tunning the song is in

Pretty much but I always like to learn about this kind of thing so I know for the future. Bottom line, once I set my guitar up I'll try out a couple of tunings and see which work out. We know it is somewhere between B and C, how hard can it be :p
Again, thanks for all your guys help and explaining this stuff to me

^^ cool cool, if your going to be alternating between b and c, you might want to look into the 10-50, not the 11-56, because that is overkill in C, in b it could be a tad bit loose depending on the guitar, but its worth the small sacrifice to get both of those tunings. id rather have a guitar thats is slightly loose that slightly tight, if its tight, it can be hard to play, if its loose you just have to pick a bit lighter.

yeah sorry. I'm better at explaining in person or just showing someone what I'm talking about. I mixed up hz and cents......I'm a dumbass. Plus, it's hard for me to focus on explaining this shit when I'm trying to explain to a 60 year old how to "right click" on a mouse. I do tech support over the phone and I've come to realize the general public is stupid. I have actually had customers ask me where the "any" key is on a keyboard. No wonder I drink soo much. I do believe in an old guitar world they had Phil Demmels rig in the back with his tunnings and shit. I actually come to think of it believe all his were in 450 either C# standard or dropped B, but that doesnt make sense for shit off Burn My eyes.

So what kind of string gauges and setup tweaks would you all recommend for tuning ranging from E standard down to say Drop B  I not only want to learn songs in lower tuning but also try writing some stuff in them as I have always tuned in ranges of E to drop C and no lower but want to have a guitar dedicated and setup one each for each tuning and I use 10-52 and 10-56 gauge strings. Would I need to go to higher gauge strings or have something modded on the guitars or just plain get a baritone or 7 string?  Any help advice would be greatly appreciated I know almost nothing about this stuff and other than drop c the E string being a little more rubber bandy than I like I have not had any issues thus far. So I can imagine Drop B the E string is like a limp noodle or something.

Mr. Reaper, you'd probably want to have a full setup done to the guitar for a change that large (2.5 steps down.) If you already have a guitar that you want to set-up for that tuning, I'd say start there. As you continue on working in that tuning (or others) you can figure out whether you'd prefer to go to a baritone or 7 to get there.

In terms of what changes you should consider making to the guitar to go from standard to B standard, I'd recommend going up in string gauge. So in my case, I play .010 - .052 in E standard tuning. I'll also use that gauge for Eb standard and for dropped D. In D standard tuning (D G C F A d) I use .011 - .054, which I also use for C# standard and dropped C tunings. In C standard (which is what my band plays in) I use .012 - .056, which is probably what I'd try for B standard tuning (only 1/2 step down from C).

For the guitar to handle the change in string size, you may want to have the nut slots widened to accommodate the strings. You'll also probably want to adjust the truss rod, the string height at the bridge and the intonation. There are plenty of videos online to show you how to do it, but it may be worth taking the guitar to a local tech if you're not comfortable doing that kind of work.

I’m drop tuning to drop b as well but with a Floyd rose how should I adjust the truss rod