The Boo Wah pedal..do you use it much?

Frank Parish · From: Nashville,Tn. USA

I guess most of us have this pedal on our D-10 or D-12 but how much do you really use it? I mean I've heard it on Nightlife of course and some of the BE solos but not on anything recent that I can think of. So do you still have this on your guitar and if not, what did you replace it with?

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I have it, use it constantly (usually not in the "Night Life" fashion) and wouldn't be without it! I've even turned a couple of B3 players into "Boo-Wah practitioners". They really like how the move sounds on their Hammond organ.

Jeff Lampert · From: queens, new york city

IMO, starting with Nightlife is not the best way to try to work in pedal 8 (Boo-wah). The first thing that you should do is to just get used to using the 10th string in your playing. This means adding various grips that include string 10. As you get used to playing string 10 in various contexts, you'll probably find that you would like other string 10 notes to be available to you. At that point, the raising and lowering of string 10 using pedals 5 and 8 (Boo-wah) will become more important. If you find that you have little interest in generally playing string 10 in your arrangements, then the Boo-wah is probably of little use to you, and is more of a gimmick/effect than anything else.

John Steele · From: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

I find it kinda funny that the first change alot of guys contemplate adding to their C6 setup is a third string C-C# raise, yet the first change steelers like to discount as being useless is the 7th string C-C# raise.
I'm more of a spectator than a duelist, but I'd say, Look again.
-John

Herb Steiner · From: Spicewood TX 78669

John
I believe the "issue" with pedal 8 is not the 7th string raise, which I have working redundantly with my 3rd string raise lever, but rather with the usefulness of the 10th string lower and the "boo-wah" effect.

Let's discuss this in Dallas.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Quesney Gibbs · From: Anniston, AL

Holding down the 8th pedal gives you an open A which will open all sorts of things to do. I use it a lot on rock tunes. The band I work in does lots of things like "Mustang Sally" and songs of that type.

Also, it strikes fear in the guitar player when he realises I can play rock just as good he does and have more strings to get voiceings he cannot....I think I will have a bumper sticker made that says "Fear Pedal Eight"...NYUK..NYUK...

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

The I VI II V I progression is one of the most common elements in Western Swing music.
I - no pedals
VI - P8
II - P5
V - P5+6 (one fret back for the V13 chord)
I - no pedals (original fret)

P8, or BooWah, or whatever you care to call it, along with the 5th pedal which gives a II9 chord and P6 that gives the IV9, provides a smooth transition to all of those chords within two frets. That alone makes it worthy of being on my guitar.

The bottom string is the root -- whether you emphasize the dive bomber effect is your stylistic choice. It IS a pedal steel cliche, but how many of us can play all night WITHOUT CLICHES? (maybe the real question is how many WANT TO. I've gotten lots of gigs because I use some of those cliches that people EXPECT to hear).

Nevertheless, the voicing of the Dom7 or 7+9 chord is valuable as well. That chord is very useful in jazz, R&B, and rock. The I IV relationship of the 8th and 5th pedals are also useful in several contexts.

Do I use it much?? YOU BET I DO. It's another screwdriver in the old tool belt.

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Emmons D-10 9x9, 1971 Dobro

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 18 March 2002 at 09:28 AM.]

Joerg Hennig · From: Bavaria, Germany

I haven´t yet got into the more sophisticated ways to use pedal 8, at this point in my C6 playing I tend to agree with Quesney and find it very useful in rock tunes. 3 frets above the no pedals position with P8 gives you a big fat chord that no longer has the 6th note in it; that 6th doesn´t sound quite right to me on the rock stuff, so the chord in the no-pedals position is not very good for strumming (in my opinion!). P8 instead adds the 7th which sounds alright for rock and blues, and also the #9th which can be flattened to a pure 9th with the knee lever.
Just an example, we sometimes play "Wipeout", the old surf tune, and I get great comping chords with P8. Shows guitar players that it´s very possible to play rhythm on steel.

Regards, Joe H.

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

I too use it ALL the time.When I first got into that neck,I used to just hold that pedal down and play the blues on the resulting A7 tuning.Nowadays 30 years later,I also regard it as just another tool and although you hear a lot of talk about how people are starting to take it off their guitars,I think I'll keep it! Just like the AB pedal squeeze on E9,it will never get old to me.Once in a while,I'll use it for the I chord if the tune calls for it like "Hold It" or "Foxy Lady". But more often,I use it for a VI Dom chord in a jazz,blues,Hawaiian or ANY tune w/room for extensions/passing chords and I may or may not use the 10th string in those instances.
I also like to use the cliche dive-bomb lick two frets back from a no pedals root position as the last punchline chord(V7 turnaround)of a blues progression - especially in a lazy,loping shuffle like "Milkcow Blues".That never fails to bring a satisfied "Yeahhh man!" from other band members who I guess haven't yet figured out how cliche it is...... -MJ-

Jeff Lampert · From: queens, new york city

I was just commenting on string 10, and that in the context of actively using string 10 in one's playing, then the "Boo-wah" effect can enhance an arrangement by providing a needed note. If the only time one uses string 10 is for the Boo-wah, then it is ONLY an effect, albeit a fun one that is a signature sound. And like Larry said, there's nothing wrong with that.

[This message was edited by Jeff Lampert on 18 March 2002 at 10:26 AM.]

Jay Jessup · From: Charlottesville, VA, USA

OK for a slightly different take on this topic, I have always believed that it is real difficult to get the tone set so that the low 10'th string sounds like anything but random mush once it gets off the stage (usually rattles things up pretty good on the bandstand though!)so while my regular D-10 still has it I have replaced it on my practice S-10 with a D string pitched between the C(7'th) and E(6'th) string. I have often wondered what I could do with that note if I had it but the time I tried it in sequence on a guitar it messed up my thinking too much. So here's something you can quickly do with out have to change anything under your guitar.

Jody Cameron · From: Angleton, TX,, USA

One can get a nice 9th chord by using the boo-wa pedal in conjunction with lowering the 3rd string. Starting with a #9 and then lowering the 3rd string to a dominant 9th, then resolving to a I chord kinda takes the bite out of the sharp 9 and gently brings the listener back to the I chord.

Jeff Lampert · From: queens, new york city

J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

In my opinion the 8th pedal is not used enough by most players, but the "boowhahh" sound or effect is much overused and sounds dated (70´s´ish). It could seem that most don´t realize what this pedal really was/is for and here´s some staring ideas:

A nice V chord two frets below you open I-6th chord. This is exactly what Jerry Byrd´s tuning (C6th/A7th) was doing and I´d suspect that this may be the origin for this pedal.

Also, together with the 7th pedal (another often overlooked or misused pedal) it sets your guitar into a tuning that is almost identical to the old B11th (just not in B)that was so much used in the old days too. If you ever wondered where you´d get the full Hank Thompson I-to-I9th lick after replacing the high G string with a "chromatic" D on top... there you go: An 11th tuning can be looked at in two ways, Eg an B11 is a partial A6th and a partial B9th!
In other words, you have just this this 2-fret move allowing that I-to-I9th slide.

... J-D.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

I wouldn't like not having the 8th pedal!

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 30 September 2006 at 03:26 AM.]

Buck Dilly · From: Branchville, NJ, USA * R.I.P.

I have found a myriad of uses for this pedal. Mine has string 1 raising a half step. Try pedals 7 and 8 together, strings 2,3,4,5 and 10. It is a nice 11 chord, found nowhere else. (But really- I couldn't live without that big, fat, #9 chord. I like going back and forth from pedals 8 and 5 using the RKL as well. I7#9 to IV79.

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Steels and Guitars. Emmons PP, Nationals, Dan-O's, ES 340, Tube Amps only! "Blue Sparks From Hell", "Kings in Disguise", and on newest "Railroad Earth" CD, out in June 2002.

Jeff Lampert · From: queens, new york city

John Poston · From: Albuquerque, NM, USA

I'm not half the player/arranger most of you are, but here's something I worked out for the bridge of "I'm Old Fashioned". I love string 10, but I guess that's because I played without one for too long. I also obviously don't have the string 3 raise.



   A7         Bm7      C#m7       D7       E7        F#m7      Gm7         C7b9


 1|-------------------|-------------------|----------4--------|-------------------|


 2|-------------------|-----------2-------|-4--------4(6------|-------------------|


 3|-1---------2-------|-4---------2-------|---4---------------|-10----------10(7--|


 4|---0-------2-------|---4---------------|-------------------|----10-------10(7--|


 5|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------10(5--|


 6|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------10(6--|


 7|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------10----|


 8|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------10----|


 9|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------10(5--|


10|-0(8-------2(8-----|-4(8-------2-------|-4--------4(5------|-10----------10(5--|

hmm - didn't mean to bring back such an old thread, just lost track of time...

[This message was edited by John Poston on 07 September 2006 at 01:47 PM.]

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Can you guys explain the dive-bomb cliche lick;
in a little more detail? Is it a slide down?

BION, this is the 1st time I've heard that term - Dive Bomb.

Thanks all.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

It's just the sound of the 10th string lowering from C to A. Also referred to as the "boo-wah" sound.

Ernie Pollock · From: Mt Savage, Md USA

Now, thats just a 'gotta have' pedal on C6th, I use it all the time, Night Life, Hold It, & use it in a lot of fast stuff I do for the A chord, if you raise your C to C# it gets even more interesting, Keep that BooWah pedal!!

Ernie Pollock

http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm

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Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Thanks Richard.

Gene Jones · From: Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)

IMO the 8th pedal is convenient to have when it is needed.

[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 19 September 2006 at 07:22 AM.]

Paul Redmond · From: Illinois, USA

I use it as an ending chord only in combination with the 2nd string D on my Uni's. Other than that, I think it's taking up valuable space on the rack and will ultimately be converted to something more useful. May shift the other pedals to the left one position to make things a little more 'user-friendly'. Haven't used it in a couple of years and I haven't had a request for 'Night Life' in a decade or so. There are other ways of getting that stuff a la Curly Chalker who never had that change in the first place.
PRR

David Doggett · Posted 19 Sep 2006 5:54 am

Paul Franklin also doesn't have it. I think pedal 8 is like any other change in that, if it is there, players will find uses for it. Then once they have found uses for it, that justifies keeping it. But if it hadn't been there, they would have other ways to get similar results, and may have used that pedal for something even more useful. So let's shift the question. Suppose you had to get rid of one of the traditional C6 pedals, and replace it with something new. Which pedal would you get rid of, and what would you replace it with? I'm wondering if pedal 8 wouldn't be the first to go for a lot of players.

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Student of the Steel: Zum uni, Fender tube amps, squareneck and roundneck resos, tenor sax, keyboards

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 19 September 2006 at 06:55 AM.]

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