Forum: music.stackexchange.com
Tags: <guitar><tuning><alternative-tunings>
Title: Do I risk ruining my guitar by switching the tuning often?
Question: I'm currently learning a song which needs drop-d tuning.    Since I found myself switching back and forth from drop-d to standard tuning a couple of times a day, I wonder if I'm risking damage to the guitar by doing so.   [It's an acoustic guitar, in case that matters]

Answers:
sents: text: It's not going to make much difference.
text: The tension differential is less than 5% overall.
text: If you can manage it, get another guitar and have each in the tuning you need.
text: One always has at least one guitar fewer than one already needs!
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/2808/Tim
score: 18
sents: text: Switching between standard E tuning and drop D tuning is so common that some guitarists use special tuning knobs that flip between the two with a switch.
text: I have a bass guitar version on my Fender Jazz bass.
text: Some guitarists have practiced this retuning so extensively that they can do it by feel with just the regular knob – if you have ever watched a medley of popular riffs on YouTube, you may have seen the performer do this.
text: In short, don’t worry about it!
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/6556/Bradd Szonye
score: 10
sents: text: I would say only when you actually tune up do you risk hurting the guitar but who does that anyway?
text: Drop tuning may affect the intonation of the guitar but that is in no way breaking the guitar, and can be fixed relatively easily.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/7306/Neil Meyer
score: 5
sents: text: Not at all, I've used many, many guitars throughout the years.
text: All of which could hold tone, and had relatively decent intonation.
text: I would (and still do) switch between tunings.
text: Standard to Drop D, Drop D to Drop C#, back up to Standard.
text: Now it can overtime give your tuning pegs more wear and tear, but thats the nature of playing guitar.
text: Also changing and using alternate tunings is a great way to learn more chord structures, and is great practice for those who like to focus on progressions.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/36796/andy_5860
score: 4
sents: text: I would also add to the very good answers, that in the past string tension was unfairly blamed for issues with humidity.
text: Guitars are often damaged because of dryness (like winter weather or desert heat, or simply a dry house environment) or proximity to heat.
text: The issues this low humidity causes falsely makes the strings look like the perpetrator.
text: And of course, if you try hard enough, with a weird enough tuning you can cause damage.
text: For example if you fully loosen the four bottom strings, and tighten the top two strings to an extreme and leave the guitar that way for weeks or months...
text: well then maybe you could cause the neck might to develop a twist.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/15535/amalgamate
score: 4
sents: text: No problem.
text: The drop-d tuning only changes the total tension about four percent, so it will not do any damage to the guitar.
text: Your low E string will not last as long, however.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/26744/Scott Wallace
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Guitars are often damaged because of dryness (like winter weather or desert heat, or simply a dry house environment) or proximity to heat. The issues this low humidity causes falsely makes the strings look like the perpetrator.  However, unless you indulge in a lot of weird tuning, you are unlikely to damage the guitar in that way.
Guitars are often damaged because of dryness (like winter weather or desert heat, or simply a dry house environment) or proximity to heat.  With a weird tuning you can also cause neck problems.