this doesn't make any sense to me
all i know about tuning is that you gotta tighten the pins in X or + order, and one thing gotta go PAH, the other one THUD and the rest of them should go TOOM, TOM and TUM, in that order.

No, I think you're probably right, would make more sense. A low G would be... well beyond freaking low (lower then Nile, if that means anything) and I haven't heard him go that low. CGCGCGE makes more sense, just not sure what octave the third CG would be in.

His low G is an octave below the one above it. It is freaking low. Each C or G is an octave apart from each corresponding note.

No, I think you're probably right, would make more sense. A low G would be... well beyond freaking low (lower then Nile, if that means anything) and I haven't heard him go that low. CGCGCGE makes more sense, just not sure what octave the third CG would be in.

His low G is an octave below the one above it. It is freaking low. Each C or G is an octave apart from each corresponding note.

Finally someone who actually knows stuff about tunings

At the moment ive got my bass an note lower than byron

its F# B E A D its extremely hard to control and if you dont have the right settings, melody is barely audible.

It's low, but with the right string guage and instrument, it's workable.

Baritone scale guitars help quite a bit in terms of controlling the really low notes. It supposedly also makes intonation a little easier. Though, if you've played on a standard scale (24.75" or 25.5") guitar all your life, going to 27" almost feels like you're playing a short scale bass.

Unfortunately, aside from the Stephen Carpenter ESP 7-string baritone that was released this year (not the LTD one. The real ESP one) there aren't many high-quality baritone 7-string guitars on the market to choose from either.

Ok so for ppl lacking decent knowledge, how does this relate to the standard guitar tuning? Ie, where is the lowest C (if we agree this is the lowest string on Devs guitar) in relation to the E note on a guitar with just standard tuning??
I'm tying to comprehend how low this note would be

"Standard" guitar tuning would be:
EADGBE (Lo-Hi)

As you tune down from standard tuning you would go..

E
Eb *half-step*
D *whole-step*
Db
C
Cb
B
Bb
A
Ab
G
Gb
F
Fb
E (Octave lower than standard E.) Apparently, if I remember correctly, part of "Possessions" is tuned ECGCGCE with the lowest E being an Octave lower than standard.

So in relation to Open C, the low E string is 2 whole-steps lower than "Standard".

For those who have the hardest time 'seeing' the tuning, look at the guitar while it's on Devin (on a DVD, etc.). The highest string to him (top string) is the thickest string. Therefore, it's tuned the lowest. Each string below the previous one is a half octave up from the previous. Obviously, all the C's are the same note, just octaves apart. Just like the G's. The E is the only exclusion.

7-G
6-C
5-G
4-C
3-G
2-C
1-E

Tuning this way allows your finger to nearly 'cover an entire fret' and pound out a solid chord, a la bar chording. It makes certain forms of playing easier. It's an extension of drop tuning. But if you're familiar with standard tuning, it can jack you up a little, if you look play in a traditional manner (typical chords).

I don't see the logic or possibility of tuning any lower than G, at least in SYL's application for quite a few reasons:

-Scale length (length of the neck relative to tuning) matters a lot.
-Guitar material (neck strength, hardware) needed to handle very thick strings requires extensive modification for consistent tuning.
-Guitar amps/cabs in general are not designed for super-low frequencies
-You really cut into the bass guitar's frequencies


This can all be argued of course, but all things practical, I'd see the extra string being used to transform the guitar entirely. In other words, I don't see Devin using an 8 string tuned similarly to their current tuning.
If you're familiar with Mesguggah, you can hear quite a few dissonances on ring-outs due to intonation problems. They could tell you stories of studio nightmares trying to keep the guitars in tune. Anything is possible, but the amount of work to control tuning problems shows that guitars in general are not designed to be tuned extremely low. There are super-custom, fanned fret guitars (google Novax) that can cover so much tonal ground, but the cost to acquire such a guitar, as well as the ability to really utilize it are not realistic for most.

I'm not looking to change anyone's approach to the music. Just trying to educate those who aren't familiar with the nature of the instrument in this realm.

I'm not looking to change anyone's approach to the music. Just trying to educate those who aren't familiar with the nature of the instrument in this realm.

And you did a good job, great info! Thanks!

And here's some Novax:

Good examples of my point. That doesn't look like a guitar, does it?

That neck is straight as an arrow. It's the frets that aren't. I wouldn't invest the money in a Novax because I'm not good enough to really show anyone why they are pure genius.

I used to play in D-drop-C (CGCFAD), and I used super-thick strings. I was never happy with the way the top string would get 'in and out' of tune. I mean, a lot of it can be controlled with even picking and good playing, but most rhythm players carry a heavy picking hand. After a while I found more limits than options.

I currently play in drop-D tuning, a la Adam Jones. Sure, I'm not thudding away with huge 7-string-ish riffs, but I can play my ass off and never think about intonation issues or hardware reliability. Even in the tuning I'm in, I use relatively heavy strings (11-53), so it makes up a bit for the tone.

All that said, when I listen to Devin and Jed, I'm floored with their playing ability because they use pretty light strings for the tuning they're in. I guess this discussion isn't an 'on the surface' issue for most listeners, but to me it shows their complete control of the guitar.

Really? Wow, cool... when does he make use of the low G?

Listen to Gaia, the low string he's chunking on during the verse sections.

I'd never noticed that until right up until now. Wow. Well observed.

What about the intro of Pixellate? Seems pretty obvious to me it's the low G. You can even hear it vibrate. Even on the baritone 7-string, you still have to play this low G carefully, or else it will detune because of the bending of the string.

What about the intro of Pixellate? Seems pretty obvious to me it's the low G.

Indeed.

The tab for it also shows that the intro is played exclusively on the low (ha, pun intended!) G-string.

It should be noted that Jed said he prefers short scale neck on his six string tuned GCGCGC (like Dev's 7 string without the high/thin E) and all it does the trick is creative tuning. Figure it out. Low G is 0.60.