How To Setup Your Guitar For Doom Metal And Low Tunings 

You know what? I just realised that in general, I am not grateful enough with the people that deserves it. I’ve been following you for years, but I never participated with the Fuzzlord community. In this video, you didn’t just save me the money that I would have spent on a luthier: you made me understand stuff that I’ve been trying to learn and master for years. I never could, because everyone else makes it complicated or dangerous for the instrument. You made it simple, and the most important you gave me the chance of approaching to my guitar and not just send it to someone to do the things that “I am not supposed to do because I might destroy it”. Maybe it sounds stupid, but there is a legion of people like me who panics when it comes to electronics or adjustments. The funniest part is, as a contribution I got the IR pack from your website. It was my way to say thank you, and as I had the afternoon for myself I decided to try them. What the actual hell…you blew my Amplitube and Ugritone libraries. The next step will be selling my pedals to get yours 🤣 Now seriously man, thank you a lot for everything. Your chilled attitude and your dedication is a true gift for the doom community.

Great tip about moving the bridge saddles the same way as the tuner while intonating.

I'm a bass player mostly, but when I write guitar riffs, I play with D'Addario Light Baritone strings EXL158 (13-62) tuned at drop-A#. My doom bass is a black modded Spector Performer 5 with a custom set from StringJoy, also tuned drop-A# (so the B string is downtuned one half step, and the EADG strings are tuned up one half step).

I use the same 12-52 set on my telecaster tuned to C# standard. The wound third is a life saver for me. On shorted scale guitars (PRS, Gibson ect..) I usually step things up to 13 - 56 for the same tuning. On my baritones I use 14 - 68 and tune the guitar depending on it's scale length, that could be anywhere from G# standard to C standard. Great video for a refresh on pickup height and intonation!

If you make a big jump in string guage you might also need to file out the nut slots a little bit otherwise your strings might get hung up in the nut causing tuning issues.

Ideal pickup height varies somewhat depending on what pickups you have - some pickups, like for instance DiMarzio X2N or Seymour Duncan Nazguls tend to sound better further from the strings then other pickups. I think the best thing to do for adjusting pickup height is to set it to around where Jason does here as a good starting point but then dial it in with the guitar plugged in to your rig, moving them up or down slightly until they sound the best and sometimes that little bit of tweaking can make a really profound difference in the tone.

NYXT 10-52; D standard. Gibson SG Special. (+1 on wound thirds!) Setups are intimidating to me, but I’m learning. Glad to finally see some tips as they pertain to lower tunings! Thanks so much for this!

I play modified Washburn Standard with Grovers and Goodwin Alnico Made for USA pickups from 1973. Elixir 12-52 strings but I swapped the 52 for 56. D standard tuning but I occasionally drop the lowest string to A (that's why I put the 56). AGCFAD is such a rad tuning. A string for the low end while still maintaining the brittleness of the D standard tuning. Sometimes I also drop the low D to G for the ultimate doom worship ! When dropped all the way to G it really gives a nice "baaooom" sound, works really well with lots of gain. I suggest everyone to try this tuning, it opens up lots of new ideas. Keep up the good work Jason. Greetings from Croatia.

Had the nut replaced on my Les Paul Std last week, by a luthier (instead of an instrument shop technician). Now it plays like it never has done before. Really easy on the hands. This setup was not possible with the original nut. Had it set up in E-standard so i could pick up on lessons (after a stand still of ~10 years). So no more down-tuning below Drop C# for this guitar. We had a talk about how the life of my 20 y.o. LP has been (using so many different sets of strings (0.009 to 0.013's and the low range 0.42 to 0.56)) And sometimes tuned to Drop A This is what probably caused extra wear on the nut, according to the luthier. Anywho. Take this into account. It is better to have your guitar set up with a certain set of strings and tuning, and leave it at that. Specially if you have a cheapish (plastic) nut on your guitar. Sick guitar by the way!!! P.S. My pickups were set with a osciloscope instead of a set measurement. (loudest setting is the sweet spot. No pull or weak signal)

Thank You So Much ✅. Really great lesson. I Tune to D Standard on my 1992 Les Paul Studio w/ Ernie Ball Paradigm 11-54 strings. Metal Forever 🤘

zero-budget hack: keep the cut-offs of the strings to use them to file the nut slots. nobody can afford fucking nut flies.. just put it in the slot, press a finger on top and pull it through, over and over again. works perfectly fine. since it is a very slow process, there is not much risk to overfile it. just keep the angle away from the fretboard, to keep a good edge inside the slot.

This is the best video I found on setting up a guitar by far - so easy to follow and very thorough without wasting time. You rock!🤘

Great video, the measurements were a nice addition most youtube videos lack. I'm using a 2008 hagstrom supersweed which Ernie ball 11-42 gage.

Doom or not, this is one of the best guitar tech videos I’ve ever seen for beginners!

I mainly play all mahogany Explorer shaped guitars with these gauges in C# standard: 11p - 15p - 18w - 30w - 42w - 54w. I have the neck set at a very slight upbow and the string action set to 2.5 mm on low strings (6, 5, 4) and about 1.75 to 2 mm on the high strings (3, 2, 1). I set the pickup height to taste, if I feel that the guitar responds a bit too "brightly" I lower them a bit and that's that. Works perfectly for me, good string tension, minimal buzz, very resonant, no need to mess with the guitars nut or anything to fit the strings in, no problems with setting intonation etc. Couldn't be happier. Mainly play old school death metal/grindcore and sludge influenced stuff.

this video is always my go-to one when I need to intonate and / or change strings. Great video! Thanks!

That's a beautiful guitar dude, I play a epi sg junior with just a filtertron in the bridge in E standard these days, just because early Sabbath needs and yes filtertrons can get very doomy, just use the tone knob to taste, its quite awesome 💪🏼🔥🤘🏼

Thank you. I’ve been playing for 25 years and never learned to do this. Much appreciated for Straight forward tutorial.

Flat bridge SSS strat with the middle pickup all the way down on 12-52 tuned to C# standard or E standard if im stretching some new strings. Its a gentle right hand setup, that i like a lot for noodling. If i spent time, I could probably tune it to B without new strings. I might try it on 14s next but im having a lot of fun cranking this cheap strat.

I've got a Schecter Kenny Hickey Signature Series C-1 EX and run with Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkies (.12-.56) since it's a 26.5" scale length. It's tuned to B standard. I bought it used, and I had to replace the nut. Whoever had it before me really went to town on the nut with some files and messed it up. I've also got a green Schecter C-1 Platinum wearing the Ernie Ball Papa Het's Hardwired Master Cores (.11-.50) and tuned to D Standard/Drop C. After seeing the videos on here with the Dunable R2 DE, I'm drooling to get my hands one one of them. I'm a sucker for green guitars.

i use currently on a 7 string 26.5 scale, (GDGCFAD) 74-54-44-30-17-13-10 tension is perfect IMO.

I have just built myself a PRS style guitar for low tuning. It's got a fender scale length and an intonatable wraparound bridge, bone nut and locking tuners, tuned to A# standard with 13-62 D'Addario XL strings. Up until now I've been playing a mid range Harley Benton T Style with 11s and single coils that sounds surprisingly savage through a Big Muff.

Thanks for the video. Helped me get an Epiphone SGpro back to playable. Bought it used at GC and who ever had it before me jacked the action way high, was very difficult to play. I reset it when I changed strings to EB's 12 / 56. Much better now, and those little gauges are very handy too.

I use two guitars with different gagues 1: Gretsch G2622lh with Flatwound 10's, which are usually on drop C or drop B 2: Ibanez GAX 75 lh with flatwound 11's tuned to usually drop B

This info is absolute gold for anyone looking to service their own guitar, whether it be for low-tuning reasons or not. Thank you so much and keep on doomin' on! Corny, I know.

Shecter Ultra VI, E standard tuning one octave below (sitting in the octave between standard guitar and standard bass), 21-80 guage strings. It's fun, versatile, and I have butcher blocks for hands, so, easy to play, personally speaking.

I'm using a 30"" scale baritone using Bb standard/Drop G#

52-12 for C standard on my Baguley Baron guitar Acryl body and Aluminium neck with activ Haven pups. Sustain for dayz with the help of your Boost, Drone Master, FTW120 and Dweller pedals smashing a Mach3 Quilter amp. Love your work Jason !

To add to the information about intonation - make sure you are using the softest touch possible when fretting at the 12th fret. If you press too hard, the note will go sharp, thereby causing you to improperly adjust the guitar's intonation. Also, each time you change the saddle position, check and correct the action height then retune. I like to make small adjustments on one string, then move on to the next string. This will let the hardware and string "settle in" to its last adjustment before I come back and make the next round of adjustments.

My current rig is a Hamer Slammer explorer in B standard with Ernie ball mammoths. Using that for my band. I also have a Jackson dinkie 7 string in Drop F#, but will be replacing that with a 24.75 scale 7 string flying V I'm almost done building

I play a gibson les paul tuned to drop B. My strings of choice are ernie ball mammoth slinkys Edit: recently I've been using a les paul baritone in drop A#, and a westcreek revenge in B standard using the same strings. Going to get a puresalem bruiser at some point and put some 12-72 strings on it for badgbe 1 1/2 steps down.

Gretsch Electromatic baritone, Ernie Ball Slinky Mammoth strings and drop A tuning. Absolutely love it🤘

I play bass lol. BUT, I am using a four string tuned down to C so I had to learn all this a while ago to set them up. The one thing I'd like to mention pertaining to guitars is that the pickup height will noticeably affect the articulation when you "chug"... The closer you are the less distinction between chugs. They may slur into each other even. Moving the pickups away from the thicker strings will help with this. It may require adjusting various settings on your amp and eq to "thicken" it up to where it was. Maybe a bit more gain and a bit more low eq. Well worth it for the difference in clarity!! Easy to test as well, go from all the way down to all the way up with pickups and you WILL notice the difference. Stop where you want. No set rules for pickup height imo... Cheers and great video!! If I hadn't already learned this stuff this video does cover all of it extremely well!

Kramer Nite V Usually C standard, but sometimes drop C NYXL Nickel Wound 12-54 strings

I'm using a fanned-fret Harley Benton 7 string 27"-25.5", tuned half fifths, half fourths; FCGDgcf, .080 .052 .034 .022 .015 .011 .008 - it's a little over 17 lbs on the low F and gets progressively lighter until ~11lbs for the high F Have it loaded with BKP War Pig pickups and they sound *INSANE*

thanks for this Jason. I've always only heard bits and pieces of the process. sweet guitar by the way.

Great video! That axe is delicious. Tunings and gauges: I have a 28" triple p90 baritone and a 30" baritone p90 Esquire in drop G and drop D1 from A standard respectively. I usually use custom sets from Stringjoy and Winspear, but the 28" currently had a set of D'Addario XL 14-62 on it (I broke a string and needed a new set in a hurry), and the 30" has a custom Winspear set from 13 on the high A to 90 on the D1

I play a mexican telecaster deluxe (with P95s) tuned to B standard and use D'addario 13-56 (wound G). Ive been running this setup for about 10 years.

Great video with relative detail. Wish I saw this video years ago as I had to figure out all of the steps you discussed. Been using d’addario strings for years and always happy with them. For lower than standard D, I use EXL148 (12-60) on an 80’s Warlock tuned to C#. I play it pretty hard and it always stays in tune. Wouldn’t switch to anything else. Definitely do all the adjustments he shows. You don’t need to pay for an expensive tech to set it up for non-metal style playing when you want a metal sounding beast. Don’t be afraid to setup yourself and save $$. Thanks for the video.

Thank you for this great tutorial ! Idid a poor setup on my first guitar years ago... I just discovered i did a lot of mistakes. Playing it is amazing now !

Currently playing on an epiphone firebird V tuned down to c standard with 10-62s for the string gauges, have fun boys, hands are most certainly gonna hate you before your calluses drink some cement and harden up, happy shredding gentlemen.

Gretsch G5260 scale 29.75" strings 14-74 tuning A standard. I've never been happier with a guitar, but it is not for everyone. It feels like playing bass at times.

Been using 12 -60 NYXLs on my Greco LP Custom tuned to drop C for a couple of years now. Also, that guitar is S.E.XX.Y 🖤🤘 Also also, your videos are brilliant dude. The way you explained setting the intonation was perfect 👌

I currently play drop A in my band and I use a 13-68 strings from a French brand called "skull-string"

Yamaha Revstar Standard (24,75'' scale) drop A#, 12-56 strings. Fender/Warmoth Partscaster (25.5), same strings and tuning. Ibanez AS153 semihollow, standard C, flatwound 11-54.

Thank you. You made this idiot proof, which I appreciate. There are a thousand videos like this on RU-vid, but this one is the clearest and most useful I've seen.

Thank you!!! Finally I could set up my epi sg and my ltd on my own! It incrased the playability a lot!

Oh hell yeah dop video. I have 2 main Doom guitars: Schecter 006 Deluxe; Power Slinky (11-48) C# Standard/Drop B - ESP/LTD EC-50; Burly Slinky (11-52) C Standard.

Getting back into guitar after years. This video was so helpful, thank you. I'm running a base model Ibanez, setting it up this week with Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky strings 12-54 Gonna move it into B standard tuning

I'm playing an epiphone les paul standard. String gage and brand - Nickel wound Daddario Low E 52, Mammoth Slinky 48, 34, 24w, 16, 12.

I know what a setup is but constantly trying to get better. Austin, TX has amazing Luthiers but no one wants to work here. Lol. So to avoid my guitar sitting in the shop for 3 months and having to go tell them to work on it. I’m just learning to do it muselfn

12-52 w3rd, B Ab Db Gb Bb Eb, Dunable Cyclops. Great video!

1978 Greco Flying V with rail hammer hyper vintages, drop A with mammoth slinkys. Rad vid man keep ‘em coming

My main doom guitar is an Agile LP copy baritone with Ernie Ball baritone strings. Usually tuned to G standard. My other doom guitar is an Ibanez Iron Label fan fret tuned to either B or A standard. I’ve been experimenting with different strings & gauges for the Ibanez but still haven’t found the perfect fit. I use the baritone for the super low tuned doom in the Conan/Bongripper territory. The Ibanez is more for the Electric Wizard/Monolord Sleep etc tunings. Lately I’ve been loving the way the baritone sounds playing ambient psychedelic stuff. There’s something about those super low Conan/Bongripper tunings. They sound so beautiful with no gain. Just a nice clean tone soaked in trippy psychedelic ambient effects. Very pretty & atmospheric, but at the same time haunting and evil.

Yes! Man, I've been waiting to see footage of that killer axe. 🤘🏼💀🖤

Always good to watch one of these as a refresher for setups. 🤘 I play a Gretsch G5260 with 14-72 tuned to G standard

12-56 C standard on my Gibson Les Paul and Crapiphone RD. 17-65 drop A on my Hagstrom Fantomen.

I actually used this whole vid to setup a guitar that was not playin all too good today lol. My main guitar is a LTD ESP Viper-100fm tuned to C standard with 11-52 strings. The weird Ernie ball heavy bottom skinny top hybrid set.

Thanks for this one sir! It's been a few years since I watched Ben Eller's vids on setup and such, and this one right here was a great refresher 🤘 (had to pull my drop C axe out just to see if I was anywhere close to what you are doing in this episode, and turns out I was and had no real clue lol) Thanks!

I use various guitars with various settings. Schecter c7 hellraiser is in drop F using 80 - 13 Schecter omen 7 is in drop G Using 74-12 Schecter omen elite 6 is in drop B Using 12- 60 Few in standard, half down, d standard Using from 49 -10 52-11

Got my LTD EC-1000 (40th anniversary edition) tuned in C# with Stringjoy 10-52s. I had been using D’Addario NYXLs for for the past few years but recently gave Stringjoy a shot and I’m really liking how they sound and feel!

I use a FGN (Fujigen in house brand) Boundary series Telecaster copy with 12-54 strings, tuned to C standard but nowerdays mostly dropped A#. It's an affordable high quality guitar, plays and sounds like guitars triple the price. Intonation is on the edge of adjustability, might be looking into a baritone version of that guitar.

Still using a 1999 Epiphone Casino with stock P90s, tuned to C standard with Ernie Ball 12s. Next string change, I'm going to try a wound G string. For E standard I've really come to appreciate coated strings, currently using Elixir Nanoweb 10s on a Squier Toronado with the bridge capacitor changed over to a .47 mF orange drop for some solid early Sabbath/Mountain/Budgie/Sir Lord Baltimore tone. The coated strings hold their tone and tuning stability longer, and slowly mellow from very bright to a creamier "treble booster" sound.

Modded squier baritone telecaster, B standard, with 12-62 mammoth slinky strings

I play a fat neck custom shop SG, Adam Jones LP Standard, Yamaha SG1000 and a US Dunable Gnarwhal all in C Stnd. I use D'Addario EXL148 12/60’s.

i use ernie ball heavy bottom slinky top i just replace the G string with a wound 3rd

I use a 2013 dean trans am with dr ddt 11-54 strings in drop c tuning and emg H4a/H4 (passive pickups)

Mammoth Slinky 12-62, B Standard/Drop A, Epiphone SG G-400

I feel like I am stuck in E standard forever. This was a great video. Keep up the killer content!

C# standard, Firewalker guitar, 13s with wound 3rd

My guitar is a Peavey T-27 with a 24.75 scale and I tune to C# Standard with Ernie Ball Mammoth Slinky 12-62 strings

I play a Washburn wi45 Idol upgraded with lace hammerclaws pickups. Tuning is standard D drop C with 11/52 Ernie ball strings

I play an Ibanez RG7421. I’m playing in drop F# I’m running a custom stringjoy set using 10.5-72 gauge string.

I use Exl 157 .68 to .14 for all my guitars tuned to B standard it works for the sortscale 24 Jaguar for 24.75 Gibson and 25.5 Ibanez scale. I hit hard and do alot of tremolo pick stuff. Only use Jazz iii ultrex picks.

Thanks for this information on setting up a guitar. My SG is tuned to C and I use 10’s on current setup. Someone said before that you can use motorcycle gauges to get a more accurate measurement when setting up your guitar. This has been my method for some time. I might throw on a pair of 12’s next setup.

2019 Gibson LP Junior w. Lollar P-90 / Ernie Ball Slinky 11-52 / D standard and drop C

That Pure Salem "La Bruja" is absolutely freakin' wicked my dude! I remember chatting w/ Rick Sell nearly 10 years ago about PS guitars, a custom Woodsoul, and a potential "f-hole-less" 335 inspired build. Really cool guy. Really cool company IMO. My current #1 "DooM Stick" is a trans-black flame veneer'd Agile 3010se (Rondomusic) LP clone (24.75 scale). Ebony fretboard, abalone trap inlay, stock black TUSQ nut & graphite bridge saddles, and loaded w/ an aftermarket set of SIN brand "Madman" custom hand wound "Ridiculously HOT!!!" pickups. (!!! 16k bridge-7.8k neck !!!). Haha! I got it currently strung w/ Dunlop "Heavy Core" 12-54 gauge strings tuned to C standard. Looking to eventually put 1MOhm pots in it, as well as a treble bleed mod to help "brighten" up these pickups a bit. 16k-7.8k is crazy high output, and I love how they push pedals/amps, but I didn't initially anticipate just how much "darker" a set of super hot wound alnico 5 pickups would be way back when I got them. FYI: I highly recommend a set of automotive feeler gauges (20 thousands of an inch+ especially) as well as a (1st fret) capo for anyone looking at doing home setups. Also, if you wind up having unsolvable tuning stability/intonation issues? I recommend looking into products like the "String Butler" or compensated nut products like Earvana, or ideally a complete retrofit of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System. I previously owned a Washburn with the BFT system, and I extremely regret selling it. This now concludes my DooM TED talk.🙄😅😈

Epiphone Traditional Pro, tuned to C standard or C#, strung with 12s, i've found the wound 3rd is so much better than unwound string.i also heard a saying to help remembering Intonation direction "Flat = forward" because forward is towards the pickup

a#: .012 F: .016 C#: .024w g#: .038 D#: .052 A#/G#: .074 for Switching between A# standard and Drop G# (27" scale) For now I just buy a pack of Elixir Nanoweb Baritone 12-68's, and switch out the 68 and 22p for any good quality roundwound 74 and 24w for personal preference (The thin wound 24 for extra pick-scrapey madness while still bendable on the 1st fret, and the 74 for downtuning)

Just recently picked up an Ibanez AR420 and threw 11s on it for drop c and drop d

Thank you Jason for this helpful video. Glad to see the La BRUJA in your Videos. You really doom the hell out of it!

Cool video! 😁 I have my modded Jazzmaster Affinity 25.5" tuned to C standard with 13-70 strings (wound 3rd as well), and my PRS SE Holcomb, 25.5" tuned to D standard with 12-60 strings. Both feel and play great! I tend to prefer thicker string gauges because I have a relatively heavy attack and I hate pitch drift and tuning instability.

Epi Prophecy LP Olive tiger aged gloss, Ernie Ball skinny top heavy bottom 10 - 52, C standard. Southern metal playing style. Watching this to get that sweet spot! Fingers crossed.... Epiphone has frustrated me with setups from factory, but...ya get whut ya pay fer! lol

Using a Gibson Explorer (24.75') in drop A. At the moment, I am using 12-60s (12-16-20-34-46-60), but I will be switching to some 13-62s (13-17-26w-36-46-62), both from D'Addario.

i drop my SGs A# Tuning cos FFFFKIT ALL just subbed yah my bro, realizing now that the channel is very Doom Metal dedicated and truly value that beyond words since i am obsessed by Goth Doom and Funeral Doom sorry i did not found your channel years ago

I have a cheap Epiphone SG with 4 knobs, tuned to B standard. I have a Ernie Ball 7 string set on it and I save the light gauge string as a spare for my E standard guitar. I'm about to try Mammoth Slinkys

thank you

Hey Jason, i play an Gibson SG Standard 61 in standard B with Daddario EJ22 on it, 13-56 wounded 3rd (D) string. For some friends of mine this gauge is too soft, but i like to have it so because i dont hit the strings like a truck. 😉 greetings from Germany

I'm playing an ESP LTD MH1007ET with a 12-56 where the G is a 22p and a 68 for the Low B. I'm tuned in G# and pitch shifting down to F#

My guitars are all set up as follows: Action: 1mm on the plain strings - 1.5mm on the wound strings Neck bow: .5mm Pickup height: 1mm across the board

Not outta C Standard mind you. Like Mastodon but a half step higher. I’ve recently started calling it Drop 5th since it’s tuned to the open 5th. But then I’ll also go to G# Unison as well plus a weird dissonance tuning on the high e. Anyways. I’m pretty close to the finished formula just wanna see if anyone else understands a thing I’m tryna say 😅🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

Rocking a baritone Gibson Les Paul. Friggin’ thing is wild.

I have a Gibson Les Paul Menace and Epiphone Les Paul Studio. They are setup with 12-52 and bounce between D standard and C Standard for tuning

Right now I'm playing a Hagstrom Super Swede with GHS Rocker half rounds, 11ga tuned to D standard/drop C. I wanted to swap the pickups for Lace Deathbuckers but the stock pickups are surprisingly good.

D'Addario 11-50's on 25 1/2 scale D# Fenders and Jacksons 12-52's wound 3rd on 24 3/4 scale C#,B Gibsons, Deans and Sparrow LP copy

That axe is sick, I love your channel , yours and does it doom are kings❤🔥

What up,over the summer I built a killer strat type and it's very impressive,.I put 11 s on it and adjusted the truss rod,and tuned down a half step and it sounds killer,the neck is killer, I thought I would never like single coil pickups,but these things are great,I have no idea who makes these but thay sound great I can get pinch harmonics on them,this guitar is a fucking trip I got a boss GT 1 Prosser and it's incredible,any amp sound I want I got,lovin' it hit me back ,.

I've don't even have a guitar, but I'm thinking about it a lot. I've been addicted to stony sludgy doom lately, and I'm starting to hum my own riffs to the point where it's becoming an itch I can't scratch. I'm considering the following setup from some surface level research: Epiphone SG Special Satin E1 Not Even Slinky strings Focusrite Scarlett Solo 4thGen interface (maybe a bit too spendy?) I'm hoping to just plug it all in to my PC and play it that way with some virtual amp software, no physical amp or pedals or anything else. I want to keep the hardware investment as minimal as possible since I just want to casually learn.

We actually play in e flat, but it's now blues than it is doom. (Doom feel, but with old blues standards and such.)

I'm tuned too D standard or Drop C using 10 -> 48 strings it just feels right for the dark ambient stuff I do