R your Drop tuning guitards blowing speakers... yet?

[Bredian]

Pretty sure my small combo speaker succumbed to the metal kid's drop D or lower tuning at near max volumes.... which brings me to my observations while providing roadie services to the new guitarist in his band.

Seems the discussion continues to center on the new 7 string Ibanez guitars both players are using in drop B or drop A tuning and their experimentation or desire to get the 8 string (Deftones, etc.) The 8 string puts them right down to the F#0 - and of course, there's talk of just restringing the 7s down. (its the current teenage death metal fad)

We all know how hard our bass speakers have to work around the bottom, what do you think the Marshall 1/2 stacks (and all the want-a-be's) are gonna look like with tones in the 50 Hz range blowing through? Speaker damage anyone?

[punkinfantry]

look him straight in the eye and say:

"get the hell outta my frequency band you damn dirty ape!"

[DavidLopezJr]

Im a 8 string guitar player as well as a bass player and never have had any speaker problems. Neither have any of my friends and I, personally, have never seen a complaint on the metal forums I post and vist regularly.

[Mr. Foxen]

The fundamentals don't make it to the speaker, they are barely put out by guitars and once its gone through distortion pedals and a driven amp, everything is in higher harmonics.

[Rage1331]

[Phendyr_Loon]

I honestly don't think that most of these guitards would even notice a blown speaker tuned to F# while using 8 distortion pedals jacked to 11.

[paganjack]

Originally Posted by Rage1331

Well played, sir.

[will33]

Originally Posted by Phendyr_Loon

I honestly don't think that most of these guitards would even notice a blown speaker tuned to F# while using 8 distortion pedals jacked to 11.

+11

[christw]

Don't bother. Just play in E standard, F# standard, or an up tuned "drop" F# to match them. Use your mids to smash their guitar tone to pieces. Two pickup basses work great as a tonal supplement. P basses stand on their own, especially under overdrive. They sound huge.

[grendle]

Haven't played in std tuning in well over 10 yrs. No issues with guitarists blowing speakers either. Would have heard them screaming years ago about it if that was the case.

[jungleheat]

Pro tip: Saying "guitard" makes you sound like kind of an a$$hole.

[lowfreq33]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

Pro tip: Saying "guitard" makes you sound like kind of an a$$hole.

Then by that standard there are lot of a$$holes around here.

[HereIGoAgain]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

Pro tip: Saying "guitard" makes you sound like kind of an a$$hole.

Or a 15-year-old.

Evaluate each guitar player on a case-by-case basis, rather than a unilateral generalization.

[bassgrant]

^^^ haha very true

[mndean]

I know a guitarist that fits the guitard stereotype, I hesitate using the epithet to describe him because I've got a cousin with Down's syndrome. However, I slip from time to time out of rage at said guitarist.

[LiamPodmore]

My band have played as low as Drop C and never had any speaker problems, and i know people who have tuned down to F# and lower on 7 strings without any speaker problems. This included playing with totally clean signals, so a blown speaker would be evident.

Liam

[Petebass]

Guitar speakers are a unique animal. They fundamentally different to bass speakers where high xmax (available suspension travel before distortion) is preferred and Xmech (available suspension travel before the speaker is physically damaged) is roughly double xmax.

Guitar speakers are designed for lower xmax for earlier onset of distortion (you will hear guitarists talking about cone breakup for hours on end like it is God), but Xmech figures are similar to the bass speakers. That gives them a LOT more margin for error than we get.

[OOZMAN]

Originally Posted by Bredian

Pretty sure my small combo speaker succumbed to the metal kid's drop D or lower tuning at near max volumes.... which brings me to my observations while providing roadie services to the new guitarist in his band.

Seems the discussion continues to center on the new 7 string Ibanez guitars both players are using in drop B or drop A tuning and their experimentation or desire to get the 8 string (Deftones, etc.) The 8 string puts them right down to the F#0 - and of course, there's talk of just restringing the 7s down. (its the current teenage death metal fad)

We all know how hard our bass speakers have to work around the bottom, what do you think the Marshall 1/2 stacks (and all the want-a-be's) are gonna look like with tones in the 50 Hz range blowing through? Speaker damage anyone?

F#0 Is the bass guitar equivalent i.e. ~20hz, .200 gauge strings. F#1 is guitars.

I dont know why everyone thinks lower tuning=more bottom end. When Im recording I use the same low-end cutoff on guitars at standard E and guitars at drop G.

[vin*tone]

Bass strings, amps and cabinets were developed for a reason. They do low notes better. The end.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by jungleheat

Pro tip: Saying "guitard" makes you sound like kind of an a$$hole.

Having been a Professional for decades I have found few that didn't match "guitard". Those that feel offended are the most guilty of the implication. Lighten up bro.