Ultra low tuned guitar!

GuitarDreamer: This is an article written by my friend, Miltos.  If you're into metal music or low tuned, 7-string, 8-string and baritone guitars this is for you! A big thanks to Miltos for letting me post his article. Check it out!

Hello!
Since low pitch tunings for guitars are becoming a fashion, I decided to write an article on how to put bass guitar strings on your Floyd-rose equipped guitar! 0.08-0.09” string sets don’t work that well in this case…

I was actually inspired by the Fender low tuned guitars were the  E-A-D-G strings are bass guitar strings and the B and E are regular guitar strings. It’s basically an electric guitar tuned an octave lower.

As for 8-string guitar users:
This is like tuning your 8th string to E instead of F#. So this would be the lowest note on your guitar. That’s useful in order to understand what string gauge it is required for this job. For instance, if you got and 0,80” gauge string, tune it to E and check if it’s okay or too loose. If it’s too loose, try a higher gauge string.

Bill of materials you’re going to need for this project:
1. A bass guitar string set. I had an old Peavey 0,40”/0,55”/0,75”/0,95” bass set lying around and added two Harley Benton 0.32” and 0.24” strings for the higher notes.
2. A guitar equipped with a Floyd rose style system. Be sure to try this on your backup guitar and not mess with your main axe at first. I have an old Jackson DK-10 model with a set of Ibz/Dimarzio prestige pickups on.

Here’s a step by step guide on how you can put bass strings on your guitar:

Step1:
At first, you should cut the ball end of the strings as they won’t fit inside the Floyd saddles. Be careful when doing this because these heavy gauge ends could snap and hurt people…
Step2:
Then, you can place the strings inside the Floyd rose saddles and tighten up the Allen hex screws. Be sure to check that the string is all the way in the saddle before tightening the Allen bolt. I almost missed the E string as shown in the following photo:

Note: My Licenced Floyd was old and rusty so the saddle bolt for the D note snapped off. In order to fit the large strings ends inside the saddles, I had to unscrew the Allen bolts all the way. Make sure that your strings fit in your saddles before moving on with this. Also, check your tremolo for rust and soft spots. If you’re not sure about it, don’t do it! Allen bolts could snap as in my case and the tremolo could be damaged...

Step3:
This step is probably the most difficult. The strings should now go through the tuners. Most guitar tuners are not designed to handle string gauges higher than 0.60”. Here’s how we can make the string ends a bit lighter in order to fit our guitar tuners:
-Each string should be pulled towards the tuners and cut shorter. You will have to cut each string at a point that’s 3-4 centimeters far from its tuner. See the picture bellow:

 -Once the strings are cut, you can catch the end of the roundwound string and unwound it. It’s easy to grab the end of the roundwound part of the string with a set of pliers. Leave about 2cm of exposed string core. Then you can place the string on its tuner as if it was a regular gauge guitar strings and tighten it up. Here are a few photos:

Step4:
Because the locking nut is designed for lighter strings, I decide to flip the locking block of the E and A strings and bolt it back on the nut. This will keep the heavier strings locked. A reverse headstock is not very suitable for this job but I pulled it off.
See these pics:

Step5:
Then you can do the same for the rest of the strings. Screw the nut hex bolts a little bit and tune your guitar in pitch (E-A-D-G-B-E, an octave lower). You may use a chromatic or bass guitar tuner to tune the heavier strings. Adjust the spring tension in the back of the tremolo and use extra springs if needed. I had my Floyd tremolo locked using a block of wood as you can see in the picture. Having a floating tremolo will make things a lot more difficult in this case.

Step6:
Here’s the final step. Set your guitar up with a higher action and set the intonation right. You’ll probably have to adjust the truss rod. Keep checking the neck relied of your guitar for the next few days to make sure you don’t put too much pressure on the truss rod or the neck.

So how does it sound? 
1. The EADG bass guitar strings sound really different from the B and E guitar strings. You can hear the difference by listening to the sound clips posted here:
http://www.noiz.gr/index.php?topic=202787

2. The tone of the bass guitar strings is different due to their use of material and winding style/diameter. Strings of the same brand or material might sound a bit better but I used totally different strings. A set made out of single GHS strings should sound better overall.
https://schneidermusik.de/shop1/index.php?osCsid=mbr2r7454l162euoof7baq7li4

3. My Ibz pickups on my guitar are nothing special but a set of active pickups (EMG, S.Duncan) or hot passive ceramic humbuckers (S.Duncan, Dimarzio etc) should sound better.
4. These sound clips were recorded with the guitar directly connected on my soundcard using a few of its stock presets. There’s a bit of hum for some reason but I certainly can’t blame the strings for that…
5. In terms of playability, the 0.96 string is a bit hard to play, way harder than the 0.60” strings. Therefore, the rhythm chords sound a bit bent.

Please excuse the quality of my photos and my playing skills but that’s simply a guide for some people that would like to experiment a bit with their back up guitar and a few bass strings!

Thank you for your time!
-Miltos