Open tuning on the 64’ strat

[hgho]

Hi amiters.

I just listened to Every Heart In The Room, and I have always loved the slide guitar in the song, which I’ve heard may be the 64’ White Strat. As a guitar player myself I want to get myself a guitar with a slide setup. Do some of you know what tuning/tunings Mark has used on this slide guitar? I

[quizzaciously]

Hi amiters.

I just listened to Every Heart In The Room, and I have always loved the slide guitar in the song, which I’ve heard may be the 64’ White Strat. As a guitar player myself I want to get myself a guitar with a slide setup. Do some of you know what tuning/tunings Mark has used on this slide guitar? I

Hi! The slide guitar on Every Heart In The Room is in Open D tuning, it's the same story as Donegan's Gone and more Mark's Danelectro DC59 songs. Corned Beef City...

[hgho]

Thank you so much Pavel! So the guitar is actually a Danelectro? Perhaps the strat is used in Just A Boy.

[quizzaciously]

Thank you so much Pavel! So the guitar is actually a Danelectro? Perhaps the strat is used in Just A Boy.

Yeah, absolutely! Every Heart In The Room is Danelectro for sure, you can recognise this sound... Just A Boy Away From Home also seems to me to be the Danelectro played in Open C tuning. Mark's Strat that's another story though. That tuning is a bit odd, but I guess it works for Mark. It was used on the song Lights Of Taormina... It's actually Open Bb tuning if that makes sense. Very low, deep tuning. But not a regular Open Bb also... It's with D string tuned to D instead of Bb like it's supposed to.

So, Lights Of Taormina Strat tuning from low to high: Bb F D F Bb D

So you have at least three tunings here: Open Bb Strat, Open D and Open C Danelectro. Mark get fancy with tunings *mind blown*.

It's actually almost 3 a.m. where I live so I should be sleeping by now and can be wrong about it, but that's my take. Take care!

[quizzaciously]

I’m confused because Just A Boy rhythm sounds like Open C Danelectro, but the solo sounds like Modified Open Bb Strat, could be Modified Open C Danelectro. Could be anything really. Craziest theory of all would be a Modified Open Bb Strat capoed on the 2nd fret, but seems too busy. I’ll check when I’ll have more time.

[hunter]

From memory, I think Just A Boy was played on the white Strat. I may be wrong.


And Every Heart in the Room sounds to me like the white Strat played on the middle pickup. Again, I could be wrong.

[quizzaciously]

It depends on the tuning... Usually the guitar stays in one tuning, so there's no reason retuning a Strat into many other open tunings.
Talking about it all makes me thinking how great would be to hear all these great songs live. How come Mark ditched Taormina?

[hgho]

Many interesting thoughts here. I agree that the guitars probably stays in one tuning and we know that Mark occasionally uses capos.

Very special tuning on the strat. Do you know how it is modified? Perhaps he is using some thicker strings in order to get resonance on such low frequencies. To me, to set up a guitar for slide seems perhaps easier than normal, because there are no frets to intonate.

I love the mellow synth sound in the first 20 seconds of Every Heart. Do anyone know how to get that sound and what it is called? The first 10 seconds seem programmed in a way, and then there is this singing melody that we hear later on in this song. Perhaps pitch bending is used to get the legato or bending feel? I have little to no experience with synths, so hopefully someone can tell.

[quizzaciously]

Many interesting thoughts here. I agree that the guitars probably stays in one tuning and we know that Mark occasionally uses capos.

Very special tuning on the strat. Do you know how it is modified? Perhaps he is using some thicker strings in order to get resonance on such low frequencies. To me, to set up a guitar for slide seems perhaps easier than normal, because there are no frets to intonate.

I love the mellow synth sound in the first 20 seconds of Every Heart. Do anyone know how to get that sound and what it is called? The first 10 seconds seem programmed in a way, and then there is this singing melody that we hear later on in this song. Perhaps pitch bending is used to get the legato or bending feel? I have little to no experience with synths, so hopefully someone can tell.

It's possible to play good slide guitar with no alterations, however Mark's Strat is set up for slide playing with extremely thick strings and extremely high action. Thickest electric guitar strings are usually the ones with wound 3rd string. All is to get as good sound as possible and as close to human voice as possible. And also to be able to play on higher strings without this piercing sound. For synth sounds you have to ask Guy, because nobody knows how he do what he does, the total Man of Mystery right there.

[JF]

"the guitars stays in one tuning"

--> yes for live, but not in studio I guess

The 64 white strat was used in standard tunning around STP time, on songs STP and the last laugh (said by Mark in interview)
then we never heard of it again until 2013 Tour when he used it for slide on Gator blood, and then on Tracker for slide on Taormina, long cool girl and mighty man
obviously the tunning changed then
so it could have changed again for DTRW recording sessions as well

On Tracker the strat sounded thinner than the Danelectro
On DTRW, I guess it's again the 64 strat, but with a rounder sound, more mellow, more "cooderish"
I think  it depends on amp used, PU on the guitar, strings action and gauge, compression, equalization, and global production/mix at the end....so many factors that can change the sound
I am quite sure that it's the strat on just a boy, but I have doubt for every heart in the room : the tone is indeed warmer and could be the lipstick, not 100% sure

[hunter]

As long as the tremolo is blocked on the Strat, it is no problem to change tuning between open G and open D or from open A to open E, but G/D will require thicker strings than A/E to retain the string tension. Open C tuning will require even thicker strings. You can of course use low tunings like open C and just put on a capo for other keys.

[quizzaciously]

I gave it a couple of listens and I think I got it. Lights Of Taormina: Open Bb tuning, from low to high: Bb1, F2, Bb2, D3, F3, Bb3, I'll include an audio reference for that tuning. Try it, works BEAUTIFUL.

[quizzaciously]

Just A Boy Away From Home: it's the same thing as Lights Of Taormina, Custom Open Bb tuning, only 2 frets higher, I'm dead confident in that, case closed.

Notes and reference: C2, G2, C3, E3, G3, C4.

[hgho]

Fantastic. Do you think that the open D tuning in Every Heart In The Room is regular D-tuning DADF#AD?

[quizzaciously]

Fantastic. Do you think that the open D tuning in Every Heart In The Room is regular D-tuning DADF#AD?

Pretty sure it is, could be capoed Open C tuned guitar, but I don't think that it's a good idea to capo something for slide guitar playing. The part sounds great in regular Open D tuning. To recap: Open Bb in Taormina (Bb F Bb D F Bb), Open C in Just A Boy (C G C E G C) and Open D in Every Heart (D A D F # A D).

Bonus track: My Heart Has Never Changed is actually in Dropped C tuning (C G C F A D). And a whole collection of Open G tuning songs (D G D G B D).