Cajun Players G tuning

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

What is the complete tuning and pedals you guys use ?

Thanks, Tony

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

From top to bottom string G-D-B-G-D-B-G-D-B-G

A-pedal pulling 2nd & 5th strings D to E
B-pedal Pulling 3rd & 6th strings B to C

I go a bit further and add whole step lowers to 2nd & 3rd and a half step lower on 1st & 4th strings on separate knees. I also have a pedal dropping the 1st and 4th strings a whole step. When used with the knee that lowers the 2nd & 3rd it gives me an open F on the first 4 strings.

Many of us also use a standard C-6 tuning placing the 1st string as G and skipping the 2nd string while holding pedal 7 which gives the same open tuning but no changes. The 5th and 6th pedals can be applied and the 5th string lowered to F rather than F# and that gives strings 2 thru 5 an open F tuning.

On the E-9th it's used standard but we also hold A&B pedals which gives an open A tuning on strings 3 thru 6.

The various tunings are important depending upon which key of accordion that is played. Accordion players frequently bring different accordions and switch many times during the gig. It doesn't leave time to retune on steel to accomodate and I don't care to use a capo. Murnel uses a capo regularly and sounds great doing it!

All of this doesn't apply to Richard Comeaux who plays everything on a S-10 using a standard E9th tuning. He is an amazing player to say the least!!!!

Daniel Cormier, Murnel Babineax, and Marty Broussard are also players that can play most everything on one tuning without any challenge but usually play D-10's. They are also amazing players!!!

Hope this helps!
Dave
_________________
'92 GFI D-10 8&6, ‘67 Emmons Bolt-On D-10 8&7, Walker preamp, Sarno Tonic preamp, Tubefex, Stewart power amps, Carvin XT tube amp, Webb Cabinets, all vintage JBL’s!

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Thanks David, that's what I wanted to know. I've heard Richard and Murnel play and you're right they can play.

Tony

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

The Cajun Connection (Murnel. Richard, and Joe) are hard to beat. Jody.

Murnel Babineaux · From: Mermentau, Louisiana, USA

I have an E, 6th note on my lapsteel...5th string!

Murnel
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Rittenberry D10 E9/C6 Session 400

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Murnel, is this the tuning you're using on lap ? G,D,B,G,E,D ?

Thanks, Tony

Murnel Babineaux · From: Mermentau, Louisiana, USA

1. G
2. D
3. B
4. G
5. E
6. D
7. B
8. G

I can play some really gritty stuff with this tuning Very Happy

Murnel
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Rittenberry D10 E9/C6 Session 400

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Oh yeah. Thanks Murnel.

Tony

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

1--?
2--?
3--?
4--G
5--D
6--B
7--G
8--D
9--G
10-D
Still experimenting with strings 1, 2 and 3. 6 pedals, 2 knees. Gives me bottleneck Low G tuning, and the same intervals as Bottleneck D/E tuning.

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Hey John, like what your doing. I've tuned my C neck to G/G6.
..........4......5......6......7......8......K
1-E...........................................
2-F#....G.....................................
3-D..........................................C#.
4-B....................C.......................
5-G...........................F#.....G#.........
6-D.............E..............................
7-B......C............Bb.....................
8-G....................................G#.........
9-E............................................
10-C...................................B........

I'm having fun with this.

Tony

Marty Broussard · From: Broussard, Louisiana, USA

Hi Tony,
When I was 12 years old I started on a Fender 400(8-string) and I used the tuning Murnel listed for open strings and then the pedals were set-up as follows:

P1-raised the 2nd string a whole tone
P2-raised the third string a 1/2 tone
P3-lowered the 3rd string a whole tone
P4-lowered the 1st string a 1/2 tone

That guitar was set-up by Jesse Stutes and Nelson Bergeron.

A few years later I obtained a Sho-Bud Professional D-10 and it was tuned like the Fender on the back neck except I added a low D on string 9 and low G on string 10. The pedals started at pedal 5 and functioned about the same way except the 1st string was lowered via the RKL lever.

That copedant also came from Jesse and Nelson.

**IF you want to hear that tuning used extensively get some old Blackie Forestier LP's and you'll hear Jesse Stutes on a push/pull getting all kinds of music out of that tuning.**

When I recorded Wayne Toups' CD entitled "Reflections" I simply used a 7-string "G" tuning on a lap steel and dobro whenever I wasn't playing E9th. The 7-string tuning was just like a standard Dobro tuning except I added a high "G" on the 1st string. Wayne requested that style and that was the quickest way for me to get it done.

(Shortly after recording that CD I added a 7-string Hipshot to my resonator and set it up to drop down to an "F" tuning. It worked pretty good if the string guages were correct. It came in handy in the situation with the Bb accordion)

On my current D-10 guitar I think I have found an alternate way to utilize the C6th neck to get the FORMAT I want for playing "traditional-style" Cajun sounds without skipping strings the way David explained earlier, but it is still an experiment.

My personal dilema is that I want to be able to play either tuning/style without too much hassle. I've even experimented with a 12-string Extended D9th and a myriad of other combinations in the past 30 years....it's tough to get it all on one tuning. Depending on what you are trying to do I would urge you to also consider B0B's 8-string tuning/copedant.

Hope I've provided some insight without rambling on.

Good luck and best regards,
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"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Thanks Marty. I play E9 most of the time and could never get anywhere on C6 so I tried the G/G6 tuning (I guess you could call it that) and got interested in the Cajun tuning too. Thanks again for the information.

Tony

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Marty,
Nelson also showed me to pull my 5th string to E and I have that on my GFI. Don't hear too much about Jesse Stutes anymore but he was an amazing player to say the least and contibuted greatly to Cajun Steel playing! The recording of the 99 year waltz showed how talented a player he was.

But here is a good tuning that works well for E-9th changes, open G, and I had one pedal and knee lowering to get an open F on strings 2,4,5,6. Bob posted this and it worked very well on my MSA S-10. I've sinced changed it but thinking about putting on my 12 string MCI now.
Dave

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/007541.html
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'92 GFI D-10 8&6, ‘67 Emmons Bolt-On D-10 8&7, Walker preamp, Sarno Tonic preamp, Tubefex, Stewart power amps, Carvin XT tube amp, Webb Cabinets, all vintage JBL’s!

Jack Aldrich · From: Washington, USA

Hey guys! How about posting string gauges for these tunings?

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

I know from 1st to 7th I use 12,16,18,26,30,34,38 but don't recall the other gauges without resorting to my list.

Chris Reesor · From: British Columbia, Canada

Now that my interest has been piqued, and I'm aware of a whole genre of steel playing I've never heard, perhaps someone would be so good as to point out any examples of the players mentioned that might be readily available, on Youtube, for instance?

Cheers, Chris
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Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Are there any links to videos or audio files where we can hear some examples of this style of playing?
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Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Jody Sanders · From: Magnolia,Texas, R.I.P.

Thanks David. Jody.

Chris Reesor · From: British Columbia, Canada

Thanks for the links, David.
Some fine players in your neck of the woods, huh?

Chris
_________________
Excel Superb U12, MIJ Squier tele, modified Deluxe Reverb RI, Cube 80XL, self built acoustics & mandolins

Jim Newberry · From: Seattle, Upper Left America

Sorry for bumping such an old topic, but how do you fellas temper that open G tuning? I'm guessing the D's up a little and the B's down a little... How much generally works? It seems like you've got to get it to harmonically agree with itself, but is there some need to tune to the accordion's tempering a little, too?
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"The Masher of Touch and Tone"

-1950 Fender Dual Pro 8
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-~1940 National New Yorker
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Frank Montmarquet · From: The North Coast, New York, USA

Where can I hear some of this music live?
I will be in New Orleans around Easter.

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