Help me - my Avalon is stuck in C!!

[boombox]

In terms of non-standard tunings, I think most would probably associate an Avalon with dropped-D or DADGAD tunings. Indeed, that was one of the reasons I went for an Avalon, having tried a few Lowdens. My L32C sounds great in DADGAD, I admit, but that jumbo body really seems to come into its own in C tunings. Still got the chiming trebles, but the bottom C and G resonate so wonderfully, I often find myself just noodling around in Duane Eddy territory.

Last night I was working on 'Ready For the Storm' and 'Caledonia' by the rather excellent Dougie Maclean, whose music I only discovered in the past three or four months. The latter song is one I always gravitate to in CGCGCE tuning, to the point my wife commented "You're always playing that song!" A quick tweak to CGCGCD for some Huw Williams followed. (As an aside, does anyone else out there know this guy's music? He was main reason for looking at Lowden's in the first place and then coming to here.) But from there, where to go without loads of retuning? Herein lies my problem.

I know Nick Drake used CGCFCE a lot and I have some of his tabs in the Way To Blue book. Martin Simpson has been known to use C tunings too, but in his case, I wouldn't even know where to start listening, let alone playing. Andy Carroll also uses CGCGCD for 'Eliza's Eyes', which I bought as a download off his website, but I'm having difficulties with the required hand-over-the-top playing style. I also can't manage Andy McKee's 'Drifting' (not, C, I know!) for the same reason: I guess I'm more of a traditional-style player at heart.

So, can anyone recommend some other artists who a) use C tunings and b) whose EASIER work has been tabbed out by more gifted amateurs and is easily available. (I can't afford to buy any sheet music at the moment as I am saving my £££ to ultimately get pickups in both my guitars.)

TIA

[glearner]

Hi Boombox,

Just saw the reference to the bold Dougie Mac Lean and had to jump in. Oft referred to as the James Taylor of Scotland.I absolutely love his songs & like yourself, I too found my guitar stuck in "C" tuning also. Btw, with regard to "Ready for the storm" try CGCGCD#.It also works for "Gloomy Winter", which is a fav of mine.
Part of the problem, for me anyhow, is that Dougie's songs require a bit of time & effort hence the "You're always playing that song" from her good self.
Also, it means that you are constantly tuning & retuning should you wish to practice his stuff.
How I get around the problem is this.I keep one guitar in standard tuning all the time & the other in C tuning. My "Dougie Mac Lean" guitar, if you like. If i'm practicing dougie's songs, I use my Martin guitar.-I havn't tried my Avalon as yet. It's the one remaining in standard tuning at the moment.
Another thing that's useful is that I have is the fishman Pro-blend pickup installed on the Martin. This has an inbuilt tuner so, if I'm heading to a party or the like, the Martin is handy since you can decide at a particular time during the course of the evening to re-tune to C fairly quickly by just using the inbuilt tuner.You can then tune back while somebody else is flying the flag.It's very handy like that.
I know there are those who would maintain that the inbuilt tuner's accuacy is a bit suspect. I have always found mine to be fine. You will know if a particular string still sounds out so you can adjust accordingly yourself anyhow.
I have a few tabs of Dougie's songs if you need them. Also, given how good he is,in my opinion, its no bad thing to have your guitar tuned to C if as a result you get to emulate the man.

Regards,
Tom

[boombox]

Thanks for the response, Tom. Good to see someone else who knows DM's music. I just wish he would play somewhere vaguely near me, so I could get to a show - nothing in the South West corner in the offing. And yes, I do play 'Ready for the Storm' in CGCGCEb. Any tab would be appreciated - I've found a few around the place. His weeguitar.com site had gone before I discovered his music and I know people out there must have more than what is generally on the regular tab sites.

As for the two guitar thing, I have a Collings OM pretty much in standard all the time. She does sound good in D tunings too, but as her nut is only 43mm (or 1 11/16" in old money!), the Avalon's extra tiny bit of width does make a difference for fingerstyle stuff. As I'm not preparing for any gigs, I'd like to keep drastic retunings to a minimum for longish periods in order to preserve string life. Thus, I'd like to keep the Avalon in, for the moment, C variants, but was looking for other artists just to vary the repertoire a bit. I've been getting back into Janis Ian and Peter Rowan of late and also acoustic blues and vintage American guys like Guy Clark, so the Collings is covered.

[glearner]

Ahh, Sorry, I didn't read your thread properly.

I do have some tabs, just need to check which ones. I'll get back to ya.
Just wonderin how I could get them to you. Can you attach excel files to a private message?

I will detail out a list of them later on & you can let me know which ones you would be interested in.

Regards,
Tom

[Rick Jones]

I know you said easy, and this song is anything but....but every time my guitar ends up in C tunings, I can't help trying to play Canadee-i-o.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olplcsNuqyg

[boombox]

I know you said easy, and this song is anything but....but every time my guitar ends up in C tunings, I can't help trying to play Canadee-i-o.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olplcsNuqyg

Will check it out later, but if Nic Jones did it, help!!

However, Mr Zimmerman did too - bet he did it in standard though!

Oh, and thanks to Tom, I now have some more Dougie Maclean to work on, too, though any more suggestions gratefully received.