Tuning down 1/2 step--Why?

[otillio]

Easy key for keyboards-all the black keys.

[KEOKI]

Surely, tension matters. What I heard rock players say was that heavier strings got more 'sound' to the pickups and thence to the amp.

Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) uses 8's.

[s11141827]

I do that because it makes the High notes easier on my voice

[EastwoodMike]

Joey Landreth has some guitars tuned down to open C without being baritones. I would not call him a Jazz guitarist, or metal or rock. Possibly blues but nothing about his music sounds like sterotypical pentatonic. He is Canadian so it’s not really Americana folk. He also uses a slide a lot hence the open tunings he uses but many are “standard” tuned down half or whole steps. And his chordal harmony to me at least sounds as complex and lush as the fanciest jazz guitarist out there. Monster player. Sounds like a genuinely nice guy too.
EMike.