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Topic: Who uses Speedy’s F#9 tuning? |
Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2023 7:57 am |
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Todd Clinesmith and my friend Sean have been using it. I’m intrigued by it after hearing Sean use it a little bit.
1 E .014
2 C# .017
3 G# .024w
4 E .030w
5 A# .042w
6 F# .052w
7 D#* .015p
8.F#* .013p
Thanks
Dave
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Daniel Baston
From:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 12 Jan 2023 12:50 pm
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Hi Dave, I spent quite a bit of time with this tuning. In the end, I switched back to E13 but it sounds great and starts to seem less 'weird' after a while. I guess that's true of anything though really  ... I also used a couple of variations I spent a good bit of time with this:
E
C#
G#
E
C#
A#
D# (plain)
F# (plain)
The approach I took with this tuning (either variation) was to think of it as two tunings in one. Imagine the top 6 strings as one tuning. Strings 1-4 are similar to C#m and you can play some Hawaiian sounding things, some things that are similar to E13 but that sound a bit different.
Then, in the two frets down position from your I, you have a 9th chord on strings 1-6. When you are in the two frets down position (over a dominant chord), you now also have your 13th and root on the 7th and 8th strings. Then learning stuff that uses the tuning of course, Herb Remington, and Joaquin mainly. I guess some Speedy (definitely "I'll Never Be Free"). I found that I tended to play 'canned' licks that I had learned and I never reached the point of the tuning becoming intuitive to me. I guess long enough with it might have gotten me to that point.
I found that I could get close enough with E13. And E13 felt more 'right' to me. But I do love how F#9 (really more like F#13, technically) sounds. I have a couple clips somewhere, I should dig up. |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2023 6:30 pm
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Thank you!
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Roger Fletcher
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 13 Jan 2023 9:31 am
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| Wasn't it Herb Remington who came up with this tuning? |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2023 10:00 am
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| Quote: |
| Wasn't it Herb Remington who came up with this tuning? |
I don’t know. Are you able to point me to any recordings of Herb playing the F#9 tuning? I’m curious to hear it? Thanks
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 13 Jan 2023 10:10 am
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Herb got it from an unknown player in a bar who was using it. Steel sure is an idiosyncratic instrument!
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Jesse Valdez
From:
Fiddletown, California, USA
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Posted 14 Jan 2023 12:19 pm
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I use a very similar nonpedal version of Joaquin’s
E
C#
G#
E
A#
F#
A# (reentrant)
D# (reentrant)
the high A# gives the 3rd a modern voicing I really like and can hear him use. I can copy some of speedy’s stuff as well
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Steel Guitar Slinger w/ The Malpass Brothers |
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Roger Fletcher
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 14 Jan 2023 11:26 pm
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| Quote: |
| Are you able to point me to any recordings of Herb playing the F#9 tuning? |
I believe he played it on Boot Heel Drag. |
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Carey Hofer
From:
South Dakota, USA
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Posted 15 Jan 2023 11:07 am
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| Jesse, what does the word "reentrant" mean? |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 16 Jan 2023 2:48 am
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| Carey Hofer wrote: |
| Jesse, what does the word "reentrant" mean? |
Reentrant strings are on the bass side of the fretboard, but pitched higher than the bass strings. Often indicated by lowercase letters.
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G – G B D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D (re-entrant)
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2023 2:29 pm
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| Quote: |
| I made a long post about this tuning in this thread, if anyone’s interested: |
Thanks! Super informative!
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Aaron Clinton
From:
Calgary, AB
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Posted 16 Jan 2023 9:25 pm
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E
C#
G#
E
A#
F#
I put this on an armpit guitar to fool around with because it can be done with a standard set of strings. I could not play lines at all, but I could comp great sounding jazz chords almost instantly.
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and don't forget to boogie! |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 17 Jan 2023 11:15 am
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| Aaron Clinton wrote: |
E
C#
G#
E
A#
F#
I put this on an armpit guitar to fool around with because it can be done with a standard set of strings. I could not play lines at all, but I could comp great sounding jazz chords almost instantly. |
That is close to a slack key tuning which I really enjoy, G wahine, which is like an open G major 7th and also good for jazz chords. Up a step, for comparison, it would be:
E
C#
G
E
A
E
I also like it with the A tuned up to B, just like C#minor low bass.
I don’t know too much about slack key, but I wonder how old these slack key tunings variations are. Could a slack key armpit tuning like G Wahine have been the inspiration to lower the 3rd string A on the A major hawaiian guitar tuning to G# all those decades ago? |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 11:30 am
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I retuned my C6 neck to this:
E
C#
G#
E
C#
A#
F#
I’m completely lost. I love the way it sounds when someone that knows that tuning is playing it! 😂
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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Daniel Baston
From:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 12:36 pm
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[quote="Joe A. Roberts"]
| Aaron Clinton wrote: |
I don’t know too much about slack key, but I wonder how old these slack key tunings variations are. Could a slack key armpit tuning like G Wahine have been the inspiration to lower the 3rd string A on the A major hawaiian guitar tuning to G# all those decades ago? |
I don't know too much about slack key either, but that tuning looks very similar to an E steel guitar tuning.
E
B
G#
E
B
E
Raising the B to C# gives you a C#m tuning. I *think* that tuning was used by Sol Ho'opi'i.
Lowering the low B to A# is just like lowering the 5th degree on a 6th tuning. So it is comparable to B11 tuning, relative to A6 tuning for example. F#9 can be approached sort of like B11, in that the top 4 strings are like your major and minor chords and then you add in the lower strings for dominant chords. You can do more than that, but that's a good start and you can play a lot of stuff with that approach. Did that make sense? |
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Aaron Clinton
From:
Calgary, AB
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 5:46 pm
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| Dave Zirbel wrote: |
I retuned my C6 neck to this:
E
C#
G#
E
C#
A#
F#
I’m completely lost. I love the way it sounds when someone that knows that tuning is playing it! 😂 |
Seven string?
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and don't forget to boogie! |
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Dave Zirbel
From:
Sebastopol, CA USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2023 7:38 pm
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It’s an 8 string steel but just using 7 for now.
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Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps |
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