I usually leave my Guitar tuned down, on my D2HG a half step, with medium gauge strings. My guitar is brand new, I wonder if this affects the neck in a detrimental way, anyone know? I do this for my vocals, I figure it is less tension on the neck than standard tunning, I wonder if it is rough on the neck tunning back up and down often,
Thanks

Tuning up and down a half-step will have no bad effect on the neck of your Collings.

thanks for the reply, I know some necks need to settle in, but I was thinking surely a half step couldn't hurt, I mean less tension is less tension,
thanks

Just as Randy said - you should be fine - but it can wear out your strings faster than normal.

quote:

Originally posted by Dredpicker:
I usually leave my Guitar tuned down, on my D2HG a half step, with medium gauge strings. My guitar is brand new, I wonder if this affects the neck in a detrimental way, anyone know? I do this for my vocals, I figure it is less tension on the neck than standard tunning, I wonder if it is rough on the neck tunning back up and down often,
Thanks

You have already gotten the right bottom line answer. No, tuning down will not hurt your neck. But I thought that since this the technical section of this forum you, and others, might like a tidbit of information.

Light gage strings (12's) put about 165 pounds of pulling force on the neck with 25.5" scale. Tuned down a 1/2 step the force drops to about 145# or 12% less.

Medium gage (13's) strings at concert pitch puts about 185 pounds of pulling force on the neck. Tuned down 1/2 step puts about 165 pounds of force or 11% less.

So you see, your setup (mediums tuned down 1/2 step) is almost exactly like having a set of light gage stings tuned to concert pitch. Of course, playing lights would not hurt your guitar.

Is anyone curious how the tension of a short-scale Collings compares to the 25.5" scale, and compared to just tuning down?

quote:

Is anyone curious how the tension of a short-scale Collings compares to the 25.5" scale, and compared to just tuning down?

YES...YES.... I am very interested in this information. All my guitars are tuned down 2 semitones to "D", and /or, 1 semitone to "E" Flat. I really would like to know about String gauges v/s tension, and lowering the tuning. How it all relates to both long scale and short scale. I need info that relates to Collings guitars specifically.
That would be great information for me.
Thanks,
MRT

MRT,
Short scale reduces the string tension about 5%, which is a little less than half the reduction you get by tuning down a half step. But of course the short scale gives you the reduced tension while still being at concert pitch. If you tuned a short-scale down a half step you would get about another 10% reduction in tension.

Light gage strings tuned down a whole step (2 frets) put the tension at about 130 pounds while mediums would be about 150 pounds.

Thanks Sugarlander,
Thats cool, and will help me know what I am doing........of course sound and feel are the real determining factors. But this gives me an idea of which way to go.
Many Thanks,
Michael