Intonating & slack tunings

There are lots of bands who use slack tunings out there I'm sure, my band use dropped D tunned down 1/2 a step (low E is tuned to C#).

I am having alot of trouble intonating the low E string at C#. I use a .42 gauge string and my intonation is always sharp. But on both my guitars (A les paul standard and a lonestar strat) I have extended the string length as far as it will go and cant get them into propper intonation.

Does anyone out there know how I can solve this without having to do major modifications? Can I improve things by using heavier strings?

I think you may have pushed the design limitations of LP and the Strat, the were made to tune right for standard tuning, you could give thicker strings a try, I would try the heaviest ones I could find, if you are really hooked on the slack tunings you might want to look into getting a 7 string or a baritone guitar........

If you're using 9's, try switching to 11's for such a low tuning. I've done this on a strat scale (25 1/2") guitar for B tuning, and it definately helps the tension/intonation.:)

I read my original post and noticed a mistake I use .52 for my low E (tuned to C#).

Thanks for the replies guys.

As far as I can gather I have two choices if I want to stick with my les paul. 1) try even heavier strings apparently the greater the tension the less movement is required to intonate. 2) have the bridge moved back ever so slightly.

Yes, try the heavier strings, maybe about a .060 E, moving the bridge besides being major surgery, runs into another design problem, fret scale, frets are spaced according to string length/scale so that they will intonate correctly, life's a challenge ain't it?

throw some ****in 52.'s on there...then intonate....problem solved

i ment 62.'s....a 7 string set , toss out the highE and you got balls

Cheers for the advice people.

Am experimenting with different guages of strings at the mo. I swapped my .52 for a .56 and it brought the intonation back to what it was when the guitar was tuned to E (which is only the tinyest bit sharp). I might try a .60 next as I recon this might make the intonation a bit flat, thus allowing me some room to wind back the bridge.

Guitar Trcks kicks ass catch ya later

Razorwire