[Thelosthour]

was asked to play in a band and which they are using 8 strings in drop F, I have a Ibanez RG series 7 string with a floyd rose set up, I was wondering if it was possible to get it down to drop F with it not sounding like ass, I really dont want to shell out the money for an 8 string. Any thoughts? let me know! Thanks.

 

[thefailshredder]

What the fuck band tunes to drop F and why would you want to play with them?

 

[Stitch]

I was wondering if it was possible to get it down to drop F

Yes, need to reintonate and get the right balance of string thickness between tension and intonatability.

with it not sounding like ass.

Impossible. F is very very low, it always sounds shit unless you are playing Sunn O))) or Black Sheep Wall.

 

[Professor Squidbeard]

was asked to play in a band and which they are using 8 strings in drop F, I have a Ibanez RG series 7 string with a floyd rose set up, I was wondering if it was possible to get it down to drop F with it not sounding like ass, I really dont want to shell out the money for an 8 string. Any thoughts? let me know! Thanks.

it can be done. you'll need huge strings and major adjustment done. i don't know if it will sound very good, i've never tried f below 27 inch scales.

 

[Soopahmahn]

You'll surely need 5 springs on the trem too, methinks. Use the lightest strings you can get away with and play gently.

 

[Leon]

Do a major re-setup job, or get a pitching shifting effects unit.

 

[1]

What the fuck band tunes to drop F and why would you want to play with them?

Easy man, don't be a dick. :hsquid:

 

[Thelosthour]

What the fuck band tunes to drop F and why would you want to play with them?

A lot of bands do, get with the now!

Yea I might try and take it to this guitar guru here in Columbus Bill Foley German Village Music Haus If he can't do it then nobody can.

 

[shannon]

Despite the naysayers, of course it can be done w/ a proper string & a setup.

 

[ohio_eric]

Dark Wolf used to tune his RG2027 with a 25.5" scale length to drop C with a low F on the seventh string. It just takes the right setup and strings.

 

[Demeyes]

I had a Les Paul before that I had tuned in fifths with the lowest string being E (sometimes F). With a thick enough string and a full setup you can get it to work ok. Ideally you should do it on a guitar with a longer scale so you don't need to get a really big string. There could be some issues trying to get a thick string into the floyd though so you should get a few strings and experiment a bit to see what you can get to work. There are some tension calculators that will tell you what gauge string you should get to feel close to what you have now.

 

[Soopahmahn]

You'll need at least a .072-.074 gauge string for that low F @ 25.5". If you want it to resemble anything close to tight, .080 and up. At 27.5" I used an .080 bass string for low F and it felt good.

Honestly though, I am thinking that won't work with a Floyd Rose setup. I don't know your exact bridge but shit, can you get a string that big into the saddles or locked down properly in the nut? You'll also be unwinding the end of the string to slip it into your tuner. This will not be simple.

 

[cev]

I've put a .072 in a Floyd Rose with locking nut before, and it worked fine with plenty of room to spare. It probably won't intonate perfectly though.

 

[Kim]

I've done it on a hardtail before using a .80, but I would never try it on a floyd. Get a cheap *cough*Agile*cough* ?

 

[Josh]

I've done it on a hardtail before using a .80, but I would never try it on a floyd. Get a cheap *cough*Agile*cough* ?

Yeah, but even "cheap" is a few hundred bucks. I can understand wanting to make do with what you've got.

 

[Kim]

yes ofc, but cheap agile>FR setup hell.

but that might be the fact that every time I touch a floyd of some kind, it becomes a large puddle of poo afterwards.
if I ordered an agile it would get here before I could get the floyd set up properly.
I really need to learn how to set those up:noplease:

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Dark Wolf used to tune his RG2027 with a 25.5" scale length to drop C with a low F on the seventh string. It just takes the right setup and strings.

Yup.

And... it worked, played, and sounded just fine. I tune to A standard nowadays, and have for years. Wrote all new material, yada yada. But I used to rock the drop C/drop F tuning, and even with a 25.5" scale guitar, it sounded just fine. (No, I wasn't just chugging along in F all the time. I like the chord voicing you get with that tuning, and having low C/low F made sense to me mentally.) Worked fine on the Lo Pro trem, too. A lot of the naysayer stuff is just bullshit, honestly. Yeah, I'm a bit of a tweaker, but I never had any major problems with this setup., I used it for like 5 years or so.

Elixir .068 string (still use that same string in A)
Very tight distortion
EQ
Tight pickups (mostly a Blaze bridge or a D Sonic 7 back then)

 

[Soopahmahn]

yes ofc, but cheap agile>FR setup hell.

but that might be the fact that every time I touch a floyd of some kind, it becomes a large puddle of poo afterwards.
if I ordered an agile it would get here before I could get the floyd set up properly.
I really need to learn how to set those up:noplease:

I consider this the definitive guide.

Ibanez Rules Tech Setup Pages

 

[Tom]

Tremol-No, thick-ass strings, setup, done. :metal:

 

[stealthtastic]

AGILLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEE!

Pick up a cheap 8, problem solved.