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Topic: Tuning E9 an octave down |
Konnor Kamka
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 10:47 am |
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Hello, all! I've been lurking on the site for some time now and just started playing E9 about a year ago with a D10 shipping to me soon. I've got a question that I haven't seen as many answers to, which may speak to either the impracticality of it or just its rarity.
Are there players that tune their 10-string E9 an octave down so that the 10th string is a B1 and the 3rd is a G#3? I realize that the sound of the instrument would all of the sudden be quite different but am also very curious to try a more rhythmic style of playing on the lower notes, especially as I'm moving from being a part-time standard guitar noodler to full-time pedal steel and tenor banjo. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 10:53 am
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I've never heard of this being done on a pedal steel but I put bass strings on one of the necks on a Fender Stringmaster way back when.
Erv |
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Bengt Erlandsen
From:
Brekstad, NORWAY
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:16 am
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Id might consider dropping 7 halfsteps down to an A9 so I could have a low E at the 10th string. Not sure what string gauges would be needed tho. It would for sure need a wound one for the 6th string and possibly some re-rodding to get pulls in sync with eachother.
I do have a D10 but I aint gonna give up the C6 neck.
Bengt Erlandsen
Zumsteel S12extE9 7+7
JCH D10 8+8
Last edited by Bengt Erlandsen on 8 Dec 2023 11:18 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:16 am
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| I think some people have done baritone scales, but I don't know about -1 octave. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:42 am
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The tuning on the lowest strings of my U-12 is B-E-G#-B-E, my A pedal raises all the B's to C#, and LKL raises all the E's to F, so that's kinda-sorta like E9 an octave down.
Makes for some nice deep-rooted chordal stuff, but single-note passages "down there" are in the same general territory as cowboy chords and at stage volume some masking goes on, so the mix gets a little muddy. |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:55 am
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Paul Sr built Paul Jr a triple neck back in the 90s. as I recall, the third neck is E9 an octave down. he may have used it somewhere on his Christmas album
_________________
1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster
Last edited by scott murray on 8 Dec 2023 11:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Konnor Kamka
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:56 am
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Dave, I take your point about the low voicings, which I'm sure are fun but start to get muddy due to the close intervals as well.
Bengt, I feel the same way about my soon-to-be C6 neck. I think A9 may be an interesting place to start (and touches on your comment, Jerry) since I really enjoy playing with the chromatic strings and A is a great place for a few different genres.
And what kind of tuning did you have that neck in, Erv? |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 11:58 am
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I believe that I had it in an A tuning.
And I put bass strings just on the lower four strings. |
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Konnor Kamka
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 12:06 pm
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| Just when I thought that two necks would be occupying me... |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 12:10 pm
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| I do a lot guitar-like work at the bottom of my 12 string Universal. Mainly vamps and such. It can get frustratingly murky down there with the lack of ringing overtones from those short, fat strings and I don't know that there's a good solution except to have a much longer scale. An example would be tenor (or is it baritone) Weissenborns with, like, 27" scales that allow for pianistically ringing bass strings that you just can't get in the 24" range. |
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Konnor Kamka
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 12:24 pm
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| It sounds like E2 on the 10th may be a compromise. I thought about the exact same scale question with my D10 guitar but I suppose that C6 playing generally doesn't use the absolute bottom of the tuning as, for example, is used in E, so some occasional muddiness isn't the end of the world. |
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Fred
From:
Amesbury, MA
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Posted 8 Dec 2023 1:27 pm
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The bottom string on my U12 is an octave lower B. That gets lowered 3 half steps to G#. That’s a half step below the A string on a bass. Of course your C neck does the same thing but only to the low A. If you lower your C neck to B all the F based stuff will be in E and more familiar.
There’s a lot of fun stuff down there. Just stay out of the way of the guitar and bass. And keys if you have them. |
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Paul Hutzler
From:
Seattle, Wa
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Posted 9 Dec 2023 12:14 pm A9
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I have an E9 neck set up as an A9 neck. I think its kind of cool sounding. Its not unlike a C6 neck (I mean that in the context of the notes don't sing out like on an E9) I used Travis Toy's string gauges. Not sure where the wound gauged strings start. Probably on the 028.
10...057
9....049
8....043
7....038
6....033
5....028
4....019
3....015
2....020
1....017
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Carter S-10, Shobud S-10, Shobud Pro II D-10, Supro 8 String Lap Steel, Regal Black Lightening Dobro, and Excel D-10 |
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Larry Allen
From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 11:30 am Tuning
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This is what I use to get the bottom end lower..10 string EXT E9 
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Excel steels & Peavey amps,Old Chevys & Motorcycles & Women on the Trashy Side |
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Larry Hopkins
From:
Lubbock Texas USA
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Posted 11 Dec 2023 2:37 pm Lowers
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If it ain’t broke don’t fixit
Lh
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,peavey renown 115,Vegas 400, Peavey envoy, peavy bandit 65 head,baby bloomer
2 -Nashville 400, Emmons SD-10 legrande lll ,Emmons Black Rock ,sho-bud pac a seat,,Jackson Madison 63; |
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