Kind of an odd question. Tune them however you want. Just make sure you get a string gauge that's designed for it. Personally, I would do the drop tunings on the ESPs. It only stands to reason.

tune to whatever the vocalist can sing, my band (i'm bassist) had to play a song in different positions to suit the dude who sings. the singer is the guitarist we use different tunings for the same song sometimes. there is one where i am in 'standard' and he's in open uh 'g' i think. any pro setup person will intonate your guitars, and i personally leave them alone when setup, dropped d and standard. 15 yr guitar hobbyist.

tech stuff aside tune them to the easiest way for you to play them.

Hi Hercules,

If you are asking which will sound good on recording they should all do if they sound good in the room. Thats why you use alternate tuning do not you?

On the other hand, there are some different technical difficulties for each . I have a collection of Gibson LPs, Ibanez RGs, ARs, ARTs and Fender Stratocastors. When you say Dropped C, Dropped A you mean real Dropped tuning; only Low E is dropped. You can may be get away with D and C but A is a bit ambitious. You have to use a very heavy gauge like 62.This with create very un even string gauges which is both bad for your playing and the guitar. Also, not every guitars string tresholds are suitable to accomodate heavy gauges. You have to check your ESPs' manuals for recomendations. For example Ibanez strickly recommends 9-52 sets with standard tuning for all models except jazz models.

Guitars with trem and locking systems are really a big problem when it comes to alternate tunings. In order to make an accurate intonation you may need to waste several sets of strings as you have to losen and tighten strings for every slightest move. This wears out the strings a lot. Trust rod do not adjust itself instantly. That you may find your neck turned after a week that you had to re adjust everthing again. So i usually do not mess with RGs.

Another thing is shorter necks tolerates down tuning better. With longer necks, strings get loose more even with half step down tunings. Things get worse if the action is low by factory default (almost all Ibanezes). Increasing the height of action to reduce buzz is not always solves the problems due to the position of the neck. The height ratio between 1st fret and the last fret may be reverted or exceeded the playable range. IMHO, your ESP-MH 400 will have all these problems. if you really need those 23th and 24th frets than you have to adjust it once and leave it as it is forever.

I know, you do not have Fenders but there is something about them that you should also check with your future (single coil) guitars too. Becuse of the poles on pick ups, volume fluctuations can be expected during bends. This becomes exaggerated when down tunings are used. No problem with EMG pickups and not reported with any LPs. But beware. As EMGs are active, they may catch every problem caused by tuning and make them audible.

In my experience, LPs and SGs tolerate many alternative tunings very well. they have high actions that risk of string buzz is low, except G string. As you will use Dropped tunings this will not be a problem. You can change the tuning on the fly. Intonations is very easy and trust rod responds really fast.

In summary
If I were you,
LPs> all tunings
Viper> Yes after check
MH 400> not likely.

Good luck.

7 strings?

Dear Hercules,

As this was not the right forum to discuss, i did not wanted to raise it yesterday. I kept asking myself "Why one needs a dropped A tuning". For me it does not make sense for me in terms of playability and musically. 7 half steps down tuning!

The guitars you listed were all 6 strings and did not realized it instantly. There is a race among, mainstream metalcore player. "How low you can get". They even tend to down tune their 7 strings. When translated to 7 strings Dropped D becomes Dropped A. I hope you did not borrowed the idea from a 7 string player. Instead of down tuning that much, buying a 7 string maybe much more logical.

good luck.

My Mom can beat up your Mom!! Drop F tuning!! WArNinG F tuning calls for the F word so don't watch if you don't this....!

[="http://www.youtube…"]MY mom can beat up YOUR mom - YouTube

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