B's to A change on E9.

graham rodger · From: Scotland

I play 12 string universal(Jeff Newman tuning) and can get round the neck ok,was wondering the uses of the B's to A change that a lot of people have and it's uses?and can similar things incorporating the B to A change be played without the B to A change anyway?Lookin for a little insight..

Graham Smile

graham rodger · From: Scotland

I'll rephrase my question..Those who have the B to A change.What do you use it for?

Mike Cass · Posted 1 Feb 2010 11:12 pm

Buddy Emmons first put that change on his p/p guitar sometime in the late 60's/early 70's and recorded a number of things with it, including some Jimmy Dickens cuts, one which comes to mind is "Life Turned Her That Way", and he used it on an excellent Darrell McCall album entitled "Lily Dale", among others.
In more recent years some of the younger players have incorporated Buddy's B to A change along with another original Emmons change; lowering string 6 a whole tone(first done by Buddy in '67-'68 and shortly thereafter mentioned as a new knee lever change in his then regular column in "Guitar Player Magazine")and the combination of those two changes on one pedal(though Buddy kept them separate)is what some now call the "Franklin Change", as Paul has featured it on a number of his recordings.
Many players have both changes on one pedal or knee lever, but thats sort of like playing with Isaccs pedal changes; having no split pedals. If you already lower string 6 a whole tone Id suggest adding the 5th string B to A change in such a place that you can use it with the 6th string lower as well as by itself. If youve ever heard Tommy White play a ballad and felt you were following along pretty well, and then all of a sudden, WHAM! what was that?? where did he go??....thats his excellent and innovative use of the B to A change seprarately from the string 6 lower.
One use for it separately is to unison it with string6 as you press the B pedal, then release pedal B and move 2 frets down as you release the B to A, and upon arriving at that fret then again add the B pedal; a pretty nifty move into a I7 chord fragment . Another is playing in closed position on strings 4 & 5 with the B down to A, then releasing it and continuing the B string upward movement by pressing the A pedal....another is to play say a G major scale starting in open position(3rd fret)on strings 4 & 5(no pedals or knees)then go up 2 frets as you lower the B to A, then continue up 3 more frets as you release the B to A and lower your E. Once you get to that point it will be obvious where to go from there Wink

and there are many more uses of it by itself and with the E lowers and raises, which isnt really feasible if its on the same pedal or knee lever as the 6th string lower.
Im not much of a player compared to those newer guys, but having the B to A apart from the 6th string whole tone lower has always served me well.
hope this helps,

MC

graham rodger · From: Scotland

Wow,what a conscise answer Mike,and the history of it too,Thankyou very much for taking the time to fill me in..Much Appreciated Graham Smile

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Mike:

On a Push-Pull, is there a way to set up the B to A lower on the fifth string without significantly increasing the slack on the raise to C#? I don't care about the tenth string as I wouldn't intend to lower it to A. I tried the full step lower on the fifth string for awhile but the excess slack needed for the change was annoying.

Thanks. Paul

Drew Howard · From: 48854

I love the 5th string B > A lower, very modern sounding. Mike Cass is right, Tommy White uses it to great effect. Hal Rugg had it, too.

Don Drummer · From: West Virginia, USA

I agree with Graham's reply to Mike Cass' explanation. It makes me want to try it soon. I'm not easily convinced to make a change of copedant but Mr. Cass' has got me thinking. Surprised

Don D.

Mike Cass · Posted 3 Feb 2010 9:20 pm

The reason I included the history was mainly to show you where you can hear Buddy use it, and how he uses it, but glad you enjoyed it Smile

There's another Darrell McCall album on the Artap label(cut in maybe '97-'98??, and I cant remember the album title)but the cut is: "I'll Be There...". Buddy really lays it in there @ the closed position in the key of C on the chorus Mr. Green

Paul: yeah, there is a trade off........but;
if you drop the string5 raise hook into the hole closest to the body on the raise finger, and use no shock spring behind the bellcrank swivel(then set your lower slack as usual)then turn in the pedal stop screw to stop at the same time as the raise finger hits the body, you've now shortened the raise travel on pedal A......then drop the string10 raise hook to the middle hole in its raise finger and shock-spring it about 6-7 turns behind the swivel. All you're doing is shortening the A pedal, but doing that gives you the illusion of less slack, and the shock spring on string 10 cushions the hit on string5 after the slack is taken up, and softens the now shorter feel. Every guitar is a little different, but give or take a turn or 2 of spring, it should help.

MC

ps; if youre thinking of adding the B to A change I would suggest that if you play Emmons pedal split and knee setup(LKL-E's to F...LKR-E's to Eb)and you now have your string6 lower on the RKL, the B to A should be added on an extra(stacked)LKL, placed to the inside your existing LKL lever. That way you dont have to move your left foot away from the A & B pedals, and a simple movement of the left knee will give you the B to A....and moving both knees to the left gives you the Franklin change. If you have Day split Id put the B to A on a LKV or RKL, depending on where you lower string6. Hope this helps!
mc

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Mike Cass: Thanks for sharing the set-up tip regarding this change on a PP. Much appreciated. Paul

Mike Cass · Posted 3 Feb 2010 9:42 pm

Anytime!

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