Non-standard 12-string tunings?

Subject: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: harmonic miner
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:43 PM

Anyone tried non-starndard tunings on a 12-string guitar.
Normally the 2 strings n a pair are either the same, or n octave apart (eE aD dD g'g bb ee)

Has anyone tried other combinations within a pair? Or would that give a musical mess?

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: alex s
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 12:55 PM

DADGAD

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 01:19 PM

I tune my 12 like Lead Belly, the 3rd course is unison like the first 2, and on the bottom I use a double octave. It's tuned down to B-E-A-D-F#-B.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: Midchuck
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 01:20 PM

My Apollo is set up to be tuned one whole step flat, dD gG cC fF aa dd.

I play it a lot of the time with the Shubb partial capo, which produces DADGAD without retuning, and lets you use a lot of standard chords. I guess I'm lazy. (Hell, I KNOW I'm lazy - why lie about it now that I've retired?)

Peter

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 10:04 PM

I attended a workshop few years back that featured 12-string maestro Richard Leo Johnson. He played a couple of tunes in which he'd tuned the two strings of "octave" courses to other intervals. Any interval that's harmonically pleasing should be worth experimenting with (as long as strings don't break or buzz too much).

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: PHJim
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 01:08 AM

Pete Seeger tunes his Bb F Bb Eb G C with the same intervals as a drop D tuning, four frets lower.
I always tuned mine 2 frets low - D G C F A D

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: evansakes
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 05:02 AM

Dave Ellis who gigs mostly around the South of England with Boo Howard went through a phase of experimenting with a 12 string tuned in fifths rather than unison/octaves.

The songs written this way had a very dreamy atmosphere but he admitted he had to be very careful which strings were picked to avoid glaring dissonances.

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: harmonic miner
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 06:26 AM

Tuned in 5ths, that's what I was thinking of. As you say Twick, some dissonances are possible but I think it would hurt my brain too much to try and predict where they'd be.

Ideally I'd need a range of guitars, to avoid re-tuning between tunes: 6-string standard, 6-string DADGAD, 12-string standard, 12-string DADGAD,12-string tuned in 5ths... then an electric version of each of the above... Hmm, I'd need a van (and a grant from the Arts Council to fund the lot)

Subject: RE: Non-standard 12-string tunings?
From: Green Man
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 08:01 AM

See if you can get hold of some recordings by Dave Evans from Elephantasia (The album) there are a few interesting tunings in there and there is some information on the web about his technique.

You never know, you migh like it. :)

GM