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Topic: Multipule Tunings on an 8 string |
Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2011 5:36 am |
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After the last four plus years of dedicating myself to learning the nonpedal steel, I have at last come up with a tuning scheme that will allow me to play Western Swing,Hank Williams and Hawaiian music on a single neck Remington S8 steel.
My basic tuning is A6 (E C# A F# E C# A F#)hi to low.
This is for most all of the Bob Wills, Herb Remington
songs and a few others.I can simply drop the fith string from E to D# for a B11 tuning and play several Hawaiian favorites like "Sand","How Do Ya Do", "Rainbows over Paridise", etc.
I learned most of my old country/Hank Williams from Don Helms book based on the high E6 tuning. I never liked the high thin sound of those thin strings, especially the high G#.I now tune my steel down to B6
( D# B G# F# D# B G# F#).I now can play all of the Hank Sr and E.T. stuff, Of course I lose the " high lonesome sound" but the more mellow sound is just as relavant.
You might wonder why I don't use C6 tuning instead of B6.There are two reasons,First I need the C chord on the first fret for a lot of my old country stuff. Secondly, the B6 tuning puts me on the same fret positions that I was used to in E. The diffierence is the key change,e.g. D becomes G, A changes to E and so on.
Anyway, I am having a lot of fun with this and not having to spring for big bucks to buy a double neck steel.
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2011 7:39 am
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Or you could have gone this route:
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Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2011 8:13 am
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Hey Erv,
What the heck is that Rube Goldberg looking contraption? I suppose its something that can change tunings with a flick of a wrist, but its like nothing I have seen before.
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2011 9:09 am
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That changer gives me 3 of my favorite non-pedal tunings: A6th, C6th and C#m7.
It is a Hipshot Trilogy.
I also installed one on this guitar:
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Stan Schober
From:
Cahokia, Illinois, USA
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Posted 23 Dec 2011 8:12 pm
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Hey , Erv.
What's the string spacing on the 8 string Trilogy ?
I can't find diddly on their website.
THanks.
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Emmons S-8 P/P,DeArmond 40. Slowly drifting back towards sanity. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 24 Dec 2011 8:09 am
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Right at the changer, from the 1st to the 8th string, it's a little over 2 3/4". At the bridge, the spacing is 2 5/8".
I put a roller nut on the guitar and the string spacing there is 2 1/2".
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Morgan Scoggins
From:
Georgia, USA
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Posted 24 Dec 2011 9:49 am
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I guess I am getting too old.That's a neat thing to have, but I still prefer to do it the old way. I can change tunings in a minute or less.I saw something on a German made lap steel called a "Multibender" which raised the 2nd string B to C# and the 3rd string G# to A and thus gave you a one to four chord change from E to A. The thing was priced for about what I could by a decent pedal steel!!
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"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands" |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 24 Dec 2011 5:28 pm
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This is my solution. The Framus S8 has a built-in changer mechanism which allows you to pretune three notes per string and change tuning at the flick of a lever.
Framus also made two and three neck versions, but, with the changer, more than one neck seems unnecessary.
It's the lap steel that I play most.
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