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Topic: 8 string Tuning |
Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 10:17 am |
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I've got someone local, a pedal steel client, who is in love with (the idea of) buying my Stringmaster D-8 26" scale guitar. I'm not at all sure it is the right guitar for him and I've told him so but he is an impulsive and stubborn guy.
He is NOT especially interested in western swing. He's got a bluesy and soulful ear.
I've got A6 on one neck (because a Stringmaster oughta have something like that) but I'd like to give him a more open tuning on the other, rather than another 6th or 13th sort of tuning.
If it were a 6 string, D A D F# A D is what I would recommend to him (or those intervals in any other key).
So -- I need ideas for expanding something like that to 8 strings. I don't play enough non-pedal to trust my own ideas. |
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Bill McCloskey
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 10:49 am
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| How about a sacred steel tuning? |
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Fred
From:
Amesbury, MA
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 1:03 pm
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When I first went to eight string coming from a rock and blues background I stuck with an E based tuning.
E
C#
B
G#
F#
D
G#
E
It was a bit difficult for me and I simplified it a bit by retuning the F# and low G#.
E
C#
B
G#
E
D
B
E |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 1:21 pm
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Sacred Steeler is a worthy thought.
What I'm realizing as I try to firm up my thoughts is that the tuning I think this person should be working with, if I'm being a matchmaker, is a simple 6 string D or E tuning as I spelled in my original post. I don't see any way to achieve the openness and big-bottomed 1-5-1 once you start finding a way to fit two more strings into it.
I don't think I can see just stringing up one neck as a 6 string....I don't think?
So Fred -- I can see the appeal of that --especially #2. I'm going to give that some thought. |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 3:56 pm
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I tend to think adding the b7th to open E or D is perfect for cases such as this.
E7th is a really intuitive to play and in my opinion only adds to the open tuning sound without stepping on the “bluesy and soulful”.
Adding the 6th is a much bigger change in my opinion, and more thought is needed to make it gel with the music.
I highly recommend some form of E7th. It is a marvelous tuning and there is a reason it was the leading professional tuning in the mid 30s after high bass and before 6th tunings appeared. I also think if you got 8 tuners you might as well use them!
High to low:
8 strings
E B G# E D B G# E
Some great mods to that basic tuning include tuning up either 1. the higher B to C#, 2. middle E to F#, or 3. both. This gives 1. old Hawaiian E13th, 2. a great non pedal E9th, and 3. Noel Boggs E13th. With any of these tunings, all those other sounds are just a few twists away…
Another option that I like is:
E B G# E D B E B
so a low fat B string in the bottom like B11th. Unorthodox, but the sound and practicality are not, and it is probably more intuitive than the 8 string variation with the G# string unless one is used to high bass. I bet that would sound bad ass on a 26” Stringmaster! |
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Guy Cundell
From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 4:37 pm
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| I don't see why you would hesitate to string it with 6, if that is what is required. I have the outside neck of my triple strung with C#m (E6) 6 string. Anything else, other than maybe a reentrant string, would mess with it. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 4:43 pm
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Joe -- you have been a prolific contributor and your posts came up a lot in my searches on this subject. You've given me food for thought. I'm fairly obsessed with the idea of a big bottom and that B11 sure has it.
I have been trying to avoid a 6th or 13th because he's got all he needs with the A6 and nothing breaks a mood more than an inadvertent 6th chord. But I'm coming to value the relative minor triad provided by that note. It adds so much depth to the potential of a tuning.
Guy -- I know! It feels wrong to have hardware and not use it. But why? I does go against my grain but that's a lousy reason to not use a tuning, if it's the right tuning for the situation.
So many options. I'll get there. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 20 Dec 2023 9:04 pm
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I too like Joe’s suggestion (high to low) E B G# E D B G# E. Very beginner friendly and bluesy. Can easily be modified to E6 later.
_________________
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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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 21 Dec 2023 6:23 am
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I kind of agree with Guy...maybe start out with a couple missing strings. I know it may feel a bit "wrong", and lord knows I love my complicated 8 string tunings, but the benefit there is the player could get used to a simple 6 string tuning first, and then decide for themselves whether, and how, to extend it. (the other suggested tunings sound fun for sure though)
"I'm not at all sure it is the right guitar for him and I've told him so but he is an impulsive and stubborn guy."
I feel seen! 
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Marc Muller
From:
Neptune,NJ USA
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Posted 21 Dec 2023 6:54 am
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One of my 8s has a non functioning low lollipop tuner so for 7 strings I'm using this. Low to hi, D-A-B(sometimes tuned up to C)-D-F#-A-D.
Good for blues or diatonic with the VImin in bass. Also chose D rather than E so you can come up to the E from whole step below. And that low D sounds badass for the swampy stuff. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 21 Dec 2023 8:19 am
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| Nic Neufeld wrote: |
I feel seen! :lol: |
Hahaha!
I've learned a lot from the posts here and from the thinking they have inspired.
I had the guy over here this morning and he loves the guitar. I had a couple of guitars out to demo the 6 string E tuning, a 6 string C6 tuning, G tuning on my dobro and we had too much coffee and we talked a lot.
Bottom line is that some of his inspiration comes from Cindy Cashdollar and we arrived at the simple 'let's not overthink this' idea that we can't go wrong starting with her E13 tuning. Everything else I wrote in this thread was just me projecting and guessing.
Low to high (sorry -- my brain and eyes read this better than the other way)
E G# D F# G# B C# E
Nothing is etched in stone. Dude lives 3 miles away and we can do anything with the tuning that his heart wants.
I hate seeing this guitar go but I love seeing it do what it's supposed to do -- play music rather than sit in its case. |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 21 Dec 2023 12:02 pm
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| A6th and E13th! No better combo than that IMO. Good luck to him. |
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