I have a Strat which is permanently Nashville tuned, which I use for "faking" an electric 12-string sound when recording. I've had quite a few queries asking me about Nashville tuning lately. So I thought I'd write this article to explain the concept.

Simply put, Nashville tuning is tuning a guitar to the "other half" of a 12-string, and when played together with a conventionally tuned 6-string guitar, the two together create a 12-string sound. This is done by tuning the lower four strings (G - Low E) an octave higher than usual, while leaving the first two strings (high E and B) unchanged. This requires different string gauges than usual.

A Nashville tuned guitar can be used by a second guitarist in an ensemble without fear of treading on each other's sonic space, and creating a really full rhythm sound.While it is usually used together with a conventionally tuned guitar, it can also be used solo. A good example of the latter is the Pink Floyd track Hey You, from The Wall CD.

Using a Nashville tuned guitar actually has advantages over playing a 12-string. It's easier to play, it's cheaper to keep in strings and the performance differences between two guitarists (or two takes of the same guitarist) make it more interesting sounding than a 12-string alone.

It can also be used creatively, by not duplicating the conventional guitar's part, but just accenting certain beats. In the studio, its also possible to process the two guitars separately and get entirely different sounds and even pan the two apart to get a stereo 12-string sound.

Audio Example
nashville.mp3 (1.23MB) - A normal 6-string electric guitar in one channel and the Nashville tuned guitar in the other. Play with the L/R balance to change the balance between the two.

String Gauges
As mentioned, it's necessary to use different gauges of string to allow you to tune the strings so high. While you cannot walk into a shop and buy Nashville sets, it's easy to make up your own set from the loose string selections that shops keep.

Acoustic Guitar
For acoustic guitar, it's pretty easy to look at a set of 12 strings to get the gauges. The heavier string gauges can be punishing on the fingers - especially the G string, so you might want to experiment with what works for you, but these examples will give you a good starting point.

Note: p is a plain (unwound) string, and w is a wound string.

Electric Guitar
For electric guitar, I experimented and ended up with the following (I didn't have any electric 12-string sets handy:

The custom set is the one I use as I wanted all plain (unwound) strings and a better tension balance.

Variations on G String - High Strung Tuning
Some guitarists call Nashville tuning High Strung tuning, because you tune higher than standard. However, it's actually slightly different to Nashville.

High Strung is used for one or two African folk music styles, and only the E, A and D strings are tuned higher - the G, B and E strings are all normal. The conventional tuning and gauge of the G string cuts down on string breakage. This makes the guitar a little easier to play, and has a very similar sound, but it won't give you as much of the "jangle" that Nashville is so good at.