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Rush - studio songs on which Alex uses a non-standard guitar tuning


Relayer2112
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Possibly Losing It (half step down)

Between The Wheels (drop D)

The Big Money (step up)

Mystic Rhythms (half step down)

There are small riffs in Superconductor that may have been done with a guitar tuned a step down

Stick It Out (drop D)

Test For Echo (step down)

Driven (possibly step down, I doubt it though)

The Color of Right (step down)

Spindrift (possibly a step down)

The Main Monkey Business (I have no idea if this is how it was written but it can be played in standard tuning just fine)

Bravest Face (drop D or step down)

The Way The Wind Blows (Pretty sure it is, I don't know for sure)

Hope (weird drop tuning)

Carnies (open E)

Headlong Flight (open E)

Halo Effect (Same weird tuning as Hope, I believe)

Edited by TFEman
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This is from an article I read. He talks about using 'Nashville' tuning on PW.

What about guitars on Permanent Waves?

The 355 I used on almost every song, and for leads I played both the Pyramid and the '78 Strat-which, by this time, had the humbucking pickup in it. "The Spirit Of Radio" and " Different Strings" was the Strat and "Jacob's Ladder" was the Pyramid. For acoustics I had my J-55 in standard tuning, and my Dove in Nashville tuning. On the latter the bottom three strings-the E, A, and D-were tuned to octaves, using thinner strings.

Why did you do that?

Well, on "Entre Nous" we wanted to get a 12-string sound, but the B-45 that I'd been using had a crack in the body; also, the neck was giving way, and the tone just didn't seem to be happening. So we tried a combination of the standard tuning and the Nashville tuning on two guitars: Together they approximated a single 12-string layout. And everything rang clear, so that's why we did that. I'm sure we'll do it again in the future.

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This is from an article I read. He talks about using 'Nashville' tuning on PW.

 

What about guitars on Permanent Waves?

The 355 I used on almost every song, and for leads I played both the Pyramid and the '78 Strat-which, by this time, had the humbucking pickup in it. "The Spirit Of Radio" and " Different Strings" was the Strat and "Jacob's Ladder" was the Pyramid. For acoustics I had my J-55 in standard tuning, and my Dove in Nashville tuning. On the latter the bottom three strings-the E, A, and D-were tuned to octaves, using thinner strings.

 

Why did you do that?

 

Well, on "Entre Nous" we wanted to get a 12-string sound, but the B-45 that I'd been using had a crack in the body; also, the neck was giving way, and the tone just didn't seem to be happening. So we tried a combination of the standard tuning and the Nashville tuning on two guitars: Together they approximated a single 12-string layout. And everything rang clear, so that's why we did that. I'm sure we'll do it again in the future.

you'd think by the time PW came out he could afford to rent or borrow a decent 12 string for a small part of one track.

Edited by HemiBeers
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