I know Keith's five-string tuning makes a difference on START ME UP because when I play it on my 6-string guitars it totally misses the mark (and I'm too lazy to restring/retune/relearn for one frickin' song). But aside from START ME UP I sometimes wonder if Keith doesn't overstate his case regarding the importance of his five-string tuning. What do you think?

Comments please! Thanks.

Five-string open G makes a huge difference on all the songs on which he uses it, particularly on the big riff rockers (Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar, All Down the Line, Happy, Rip This Joint, Before They Make Me Run, etc). Even though there's one less string, chords sound thicker in open G.

I've played the songs both ways. It's better with 5 strings. The 6th string just gets in the way anyhow. There's something about the compact nature of the 5 string tuning that is more powerful. Most people that use open G or open A rarely play anything on the 6th string anyway. Plus, with the 5 string tuning, your lowest note (5th string, open) is the root note of the key you're tuned to, whereas if you had 6 strings, the lowest note would be a D. Great if you're tuned to open D, but not so great if you're tuned to open G.

Happy