Ditching the E9th 3rd Pedal? Consider This!

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

The E9th 3rd pedal has a ton of uses in all types of music. If you combine it with the 2nd string half tone lower a whole new world of riffs opens up more possibilities for the tuning. While some of theses riffs may be available in other inversions and positions, they ring clearer on the higher strings and flow better with certain other changes and riffs.

Check out this simple riff played in C and then at the 1st fret in Bb:

Hear it!

It's late but here's my groggy eyed attempt at tabbing it out:

Tab1256 in pdf format

Russell Adkins · From: Louisiana, USA

very nice

Jeffrey McFadden · From: Missouri, USA

Jeff Garden · From: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

nice ear-twisters, Greg!

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

These simple examples really open up a world of new sounds, far beyond what I’ve posted here. Listen to what Lloyd Green does with this change.

There’s a few nice ways to really extend the sounds on the E9th tuning:

1) Bar slants including the 10th string
2) 1/2 A pedal
3) Lowering the 9th string a half tone
4) Behind the bar string pulls esp. on the 6th string
5) 3rd pedal with and without 2nd string half/whole tone lower

Thanks for listening and the replies.

Larry Bressington · From: Nebraska

Gregg, I just want to say you are one of the greatest players, your stuff is just amazing!
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Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

Thanks Larry! So many great pickers here and I'm just trying to share these weird ideas that keep me awake at night up here in the frozen tundra of PA.

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

Another idea that shows a crystal clear sounding 6/9 chord using the same strings. I did strike string 11 or 12 on my 12 string tuning on this one but it's not tabbed out and not needed. It just adds a low flat 9 or flat 5 note to the 13th chord. The split tuning on string 5 denoted by an "S" is just a half tone raise however you want to do it. It allows for a full 4 note diminished chord on E9th.

I just played the previous tab and realized I left the tele treble setting on the amp when playing the steel part. Here I backed off the treble and hope the tone is not as ear splitting. Still getting used to the tube amp I guess.

Hear it!

Another late night attempt at tabbing it out:

Tab1257 in pdf format

Al Evans · From: Austin, Texas, USA

Thank you! I've saved the links and PDFs, and will surely study them!

--Al Evans
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Edward Rhea · From: Medford Oklahoma, USA

Thanks so much for this, Greg! I wouldn’t dream of ditching the C pedal, but learning some new uses for it, helps a ton!
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“TONESNOB”

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Thanks for drawing attention, Greg - here's another vote for the C pedal! I'm interested in the history of musical instruments, and the fact that the C pedal appeared so early in the development of the PSG (before any of the levers) tells us that it's an intrinsic part of the E9 concept.

Now that we have the F lever we can use that to play scales in 3rds on 3 & 4; but B & C sound more positive, especially when dropping 4 to give an open 4th - mashing C is way more positive than juggling the F & E levers.

Footnote - I used to think that because the C pedal raises 4 & 5 at the same time, that must be how you use it, and indeed sometimes we do. But on non-adjacent strings is where it really scores. Also the examples of its use in Winnie Winston's book (a bit too difficult to appear as early on as they do, in my view) repay study.
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Fred Treece · From: California, USA

Have some players actually been considering ditching it? Seems like most of the talk is about adding more levers and pedals.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

A frequent idea is to ditch the C and have a 4th-string-only raise to F# on a lever. I've considered it but I'll stick with the old way for now.
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Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs

Tim Russell · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Beautiful!
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Jeff Harbour · From: Western Ohio, USA

Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

I've started adding some of these new ideas to my standard E9th tuning C pedal page:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Tab/Tab11.html

It's fine to change the standard tuning and even drop things like the E9th C pedal or the C6 pedal 4. I just think you need to understand the pluses and minuses of doing such things. If you really like a certain player's style or want to emulate a lot of what you hear on popular recordings, or perhaps the style of someone like Lloyd Green, it's helpful to understand the capability of some of the classic pedals. All the more reason to buy a guitar that can grow into and add some of the more recent changes like the Franklin pedal and the newer C6 changes.

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