How to set up a guitar for Drop B Tuning

Turn the tuning stick attached to the sixth or largest string to set the string down to the B note. Verify that the string is the correct pitch by comparing it with an electric guitar receiver or a reference pitch generator.

Set the fifth string down to the F # note. Some electric guitar receivers may refer to this note as Gb.

Set the fourth string down in the B note. This B note is one octave higher than the 6-string in Drop B tuning.

Set the third string down to the E-note.

Set the second string down to the G # note. Some electric guitar receivers may refer to this note as Ab.

First step down to the Db note. Some electric guitar receivers may refer to this note as C #.

Tips and warnings

Drop B-tuning does not have to be used exclusively for extreme metal songs. ‘Calm Envy’ from the Gazette is written for Drop B tuning, but is a slow, gentle love song.

The note that a string produces is based on thickness and string tension. Tuning a guitar in Drop B tuning requires the string tension to be lowered to lower the string pitch. The lower string tension can be difficult to play, even for guitarists who regularly use other lost guitar tunings. Thicker guitar strings require more string tension to reach the same pitch as a thinner guitar string. You may want to try using thicker guitar strings than you use for standard guitar tunings to keep the string tension at the same amount of power.

‘Drop B’ guitar tuning is mostly used by heavy metal guitarists who want a dark tone. This setting is common with dead-metal and doom-metal bands. Drop B tuning uses the same interval difference between each string as other dropped guitar tunings, such as ‘Drop D’ and ‘Drop C’ setting. Drop B tuning lowers the pitch of each string lower than the two settings to get a darker tone. The name refers to the B note the sixth string is set to.

Source:danspela.com