So.... it turns out a guitar I have is pretty rare!

[DeeringAmps]

36 minutes ago, hockeyjx said:

but if it sits in the case all the time under a bed, what kind of life is THAT?

I have a PRS like that. I play it a little, but I’m afraid to “play out” with it. One “bounce” off the mic stand and the value drops a ton. Great guitar, shame I’m just “holding” it “captive”…

[DeeringAmps]

32 minutes ago, HOOK said:

I told him he can either price the bike to sell or he can have a bike for sale."

Sage advice!

[John Nelson]

1 hour ago, hockeyjx said:

Your "standard" alternate tunings (say Dropped-D or DADGAD aren't a problem, but I'm tuning some strings UP and some down. And I don't want to twist the neck of a valuable guitar messing around, I want cheaper acoustics to do that(acoustic is primarily how I write/record these days) . If I lock in on something, I'll have the guitar setup to handle the tuning ...which I have two like that now.

Transpose the desired tuning down a step then capo as required ....

[hockeyjx]

23 minutes ago, John Nelson said:

Transpose the desired tuning down a step then capo as required ....

I have an acoustic for first attempts to see if I like it. I literally just start tuning by ear to see if I like it. And since I primarily write/record acoustic, there is no need to do it to a Les Paul.

[HOOK]

7 gauge. I can't imagine you'd ever screw up the neck...but I wouldn't know how to do the math.

Or hell.  Go 7 gauge and strung up like Nashville tuning.

No one wants to see you sell that guitar.  ?

[57Gregy]

I'll give you $100 for it right now.

[Jimbo 88]

I'm not  a geetar player, (but I occasional play one on TV).  I know and hang with lots'o  geetar players.  Everyone of them regrets selling there stuff.  Not one has said, "Oh, I'm so glad I sold that vintage, rare guitar I  use to have."  I hear this one all the time..."sure wish I held on to that thing"

Don't sell it...

[mettelus]

9 hours ago, hockeyjx said:

And I don't want to twist the neck of a valuable guitar messing around,

This is a bit of a misnomer IMO, since necks are not as fragile as some people claim, or the guitar they are working with is not built properly to begin with. A 12-string acoustic sees over 200# in standard tuning (even with 10s), so tuning strings down isn't going to twist a neck. But what may be needed is action adjustment (truss/bridge) to accommodate the lowered tension. My main has one of the thinnest necks made and is a 25.5" scale length, and I often over-tune it 2 steps up when putting on new strings just to get the strings to wrap the tuners in "one take," as it were, then lower it back to standard tuning. I have seen some people tune the strings to the EMaj chord to that all of the harmonics are now chords, and they are adjusting tension up.

Even benign things like a a heavy set of strings (says 9s to 10s) adds roughly 3-7% tension to the entire neck, which you will notice when bending strings. D'Addario has a detailed string tension pdf, but you have to mine through it... this site seems to have them all scripted which is rather nice. You can easily check tension for your tuning, and if you think that is "too much"... swap everything out to the next higher string gauge (or even set the scale length to 25.5) and see how big a difference that is.

[craigb]

7 hours ago, 57Gregy said:

I'll give you $100 for it right now.

I think he'll go for that!

Just pay for the shipping (which is $3,700 ? ). 

?

[hockeyjx]

2 hours ago, mettelus said:

This is a bit of a misnomer IMO, since necks are not as fragile as some people claim, or the guitar they are working with is not built properly to begin with. A 12-string acoustic sees over 200# in standard tuning (even with 10s), so tuning strings down isn't going to twist a neck. But what may be needed is action adjustment (truss/bridge) to accommodate the lowered tension. My main has one of the thinnest necks made and is a 25.5" scale length, and I often over-tune it 2 steps up when putting on new strings just to get the strings to wrap the tuners in "one take," as it were, then lower it back to standard tuning. I have seen some people tune the strings to the EMaj chord to that all of the harmonics are now chords, and they are adjusting tension up.

Even benign things like a a heavy set of strings (says 9s to 10s) adds roughly 3-7% tension to the entire neck, which you will notice when bending strings. D'Addario has a detailed string tension pdf, but you have to mine through it... this site seems to have them all scripted which is rather nice. You can easily check tension for your tuning, and if you think that is "too much"... swap everything out to the next higher string gauge (or even set the scale length to 25.5) and see how big a difference that is.

Point being is that I have a beater acoustic to do any tuning I want to try without caring what happens. Lab-ing a nicer guitar for tunings isn't practical(even if only minor adjustments) ...especially for acoustic-based music.