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Topic: A tuning question.....is this a 9th or 13th? |
HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 8 Apr 2023 7:20 pm |
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I recently dug out my Remington T8 Steelmaster that had originally belonged to the late Rick Alexander......his original strings & tunings are still on there and I plan on changing them, however, the middle neck has a nice A tuning (not sure if it's an A9 or A13) that I think I'd like to keep.....the 1st string is broken so I'm not sure of the note that it was tuned to......here is the tuning low>high.....A C# E G B E F#......what note would you tune the 1st string to?.....
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David DeLoach
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2023 8:11 pm
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That F# is the 13th of A, and a dominant 13th chord usually has an implied 9th in it (which in this case would be the B). So I'd call that an A13th tuning.
As for the 1st string tuning, I really like having a minor 2nd somewhere in the tuning so I'd tune that 1st string to a G, but it depends of the type of music you're playing. For western swing or country, I'd probably go with an A.
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https://www.MasterGuitarists.com/ |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 8 Apr 2023 9:21 pm
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F# Thirteenth (same as 6th)
E. Fifth
B Ninth
G. Dominant 7
E. Fifth
C#. Third
A. Root
Without the F# this would be an A9
With or without the B it is an A13
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G6 – e G D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 9 Apr 2023 12:28 am
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That tuning appears to be an experiment on the A9th tuning, which was used by some of the steelers of yesterday (often as a fairly simple retuning from A6th).
It seems somewhat forgotten, but despite that, A9th is a great tuning with its own characteristic sound, so I am not surprised you like it.
Jerry Byrd playing Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QVG2_R7oJYY
Jerry Byrd’s A9th:
E C# B G E C# A A(low)
Jody Carver’s A9th:
E C# B G E C# B A
Rick Alexander’s A9th:
E C# B G E C# A E
The A13th in question:
F# E B G E C# A
Adding an F# on top gives you an unusual A13th tuning. Plus the higher C# was removed.
Rick was probably experimenting with the tuning before his untimely passing.
There might not have been a string on top, or perhaps it broke on the way up to G# or A!
If you like the F# on top, and since you’ll have to restring anyway, you could try the tuning with the C# added back in, or maybe expand downwards.
I’d personally prefer either of those two options over expanding further upwards.
Rick Alexander’s Tunings:
The late Rick Alexander and his Remington T8 in custom color “corn silk”.
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 9 Apr 2023 9:01 am
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I measured the broken 8th string and it's a .012......so perhaps he had a G or G#.....I like the idea of having F# as string 1 and add the higher C# to see how that sounds......I agree, I don't particularly want to go upwards.....
Thanks for the advice everyone.......and good to see a remembrance of Rick......he is missed...... |
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