Resophonic in E tuning?

jim flynn · From: Salado,Texas

I would like to know if an E tuning could be used on a Gibson Houndog I just aquired?
C-6 was confusing enough so I went U-12, would like to keep fret positions the same in order to switch off without thinking to much.

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

Absolutely. You can even use the same resophonic strings you'd use for open G tuning.

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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

You may find that tuning two frets lower (open D instead of open E) will be a more full & pleasing sound. Due to a little less downward force on the resonator, etc. YMMV.

c c johnson · From: killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.

Shot Jackson sounded darn good to me in E tuning. CC

Andre Nizzari · From: Bronx, NY

I keep my national in open D, cause it's got a nice growl, plus you can still play in E if ya still want too.

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http://www.andreandthenighthounds.com/

David Doggett · Posted 4 Oct 2005 9:25 am

Provided you use properly gauged strings, you can use any tuning on any resonator. The tuning is governed only by the type of music you want to play, not by the brand of instrument. E tuning (low to high: EBEG#BE)is a good country tuning and one of the best blues/rock tunings. You can gain a little more versatility by tuning one step down to D; then you can capo up to E. On the other hand, tuning to E is better if you want to capo up to G. The traditional G tuning is better for bluegrass, because banjos and fiddles play so much in the Key of G, giving you lots of open string hammer-ons and pull-offs, ala Jerry Douglas. You can capo up to A and still use the open strings - lots of fiddle tunes are in A. It all depends on what keys you use most often.

Mark Eaton · Posted 4 Oct 2005 10:54 am

Excellent post, David, thank you.

E is a great tuning-but if you are fairly new to the instrument it strikes me as a tougher way to go until you get pretty comfortable.

We had another thread around here extolling the virtues of open G, how it's not just for bluegrass.

The vast majority of dobro tab and teaching material is in G and it is a very versatile tuning.

I've been fooling around with G6: DBGEBG, strings 1-6, great for western swing and jazzy chords. I'm always amazed how you can change the pitch of one string and it gives the dobro a radically differnt "voice."

G is my "home base" tuning. but I wish I could afford another dobro to keep tuned
to E-my group does a fair amount of songs in that tuning and it would be pretty convenient-without dealing with the capo.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 04 October 2005 at 11:56 AM.]

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

I've been concentrating on G6 and G standard on my reso but, also do low G and open D and sometimes E on other acoustics.

I'm in the proces of conocting some book publishing plans for technique, theory and abathc of teoehr concepts for jazz as well as classical related steel and trying to decide on tuning. I may either have the book published in multiple tunimg versions or show the same example in multiple tunings in one book.

I'd love to hear any opinions on how you'd want to see such a book(s)
Thanks!

-Adriel (Akalieli) Azure

autry andress · From: Plano, Tx.

Hey guys if I switch from open G to open E
will this make the banjo bangers scatter???
If it will I'll try it....

[This message was edited by autry andress on 04 October 2005 at 03:32 PM.]

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

I use Open D, and it is really easy to get around on. Of course I suck, but there you go...
I agree with D that it is a more useful tuning in D than E, and you can use heavier strings to get better volume.

jim flynn · From: Salado,Texas

Thanks a bunch, you guys are great, I think for now I'll use the E, cause Ive got a dobro gig in about ten days, I am hoping to draw from my lap steel days to help ull it off.
If it doesnt sound dobro-ish, then I'll try
the D, then go from there. Again thanks B0B,
for the FORUM and all you great steelers out there,especially c.c johnson, "the big kahuna"!

Gary C. Dygert · From: Frankfort, NY, USA

Good thread. I disagree with Mark. For a standard guitar player to start playing lap or reso, I think an E or D tuning is easier & more versatile than G, because the notes are in familiar places. But then, everybody is different.

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No-name lap steel and reso in E6 and E7

Russ Tkac · Posted 7 Oct 2005 7:08 am

When I played lap steel I used E because it made sense from a guitar perspective. I would lower the third string to G and play in Em for songs in G.

Mark Eaton · Posted 7 Oct 2005 7:37 am

You're right, George-everybody is different.

Awhile back I was speaking to my son's guitar teacher. This guy is probably one of the best lead guitar players in Sonoma County, once you get past Elvin Bishop and a few other luminaries-and he could give Elvin a run for his money, believe me.

This fellow played lead for a relatively successful San Francisco based band in the 80's.

He was giving my son a lesson in blues, which he really enjoys. I asked him if he preferred, like many players, open D when playing bluesy, bottleneck stuff-or open G? He said that as a life-long guitarist he prefers open G, since strings 2,3,& 4 are the same as standard guitar tuning, and this gives him an instant frame of reference.

I can see your point about E tuning, since a standard guitarist relates to E really well.

But I can't speak intelligently about any of this because I am one of the forum members-and this is probably the only place you will find a good number of people with this frame of reference-that played lap steel, taking lessons as a kid for about 3 years before I ever started fooling around with a standard guitar.

I am also a left-handed golfer, so doglegs on golf courses affect me just the opposite of how a right-handed golfer is affected.

As a kid on lap steel, like a lot of us-I learned open A with the low bass, and played some in E. When I got my first dobro in my early 20's, I went with open G like most of the bluegrass guys and have always liked that tuning.

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Mark

David Doggett · Posted 7 Oct 2005 8:37 am

I completely dissagree that tuning in E will help, just because a standard guitar is tuned in E. First of all, a standard guitar is not an OPEN E tuning. The only similarity is some (not all) bar chords on standard guitar would be at the same frets as you would place the bar on reso. But that is only helpful if the group you are playing with plays mostly in the key of E. When a bluegrass group plays in G (by far the most common key), if your reso is tuned in G, you will be playing at the same frets as if you were tuned in E and they were playing in E. It will all be very familiar. But when the group is playing in C or D, an E tuning will not be good; and it also wont be so great for G and A. Really the only key E tuning is good for is E. On the other hand, a G tuning is not good for playing in E or F. Find out what keys the group mostly plays in, and tune accordingly.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 07 October 2005 at 09:38 AM.]

Mark Eaton · Posted 7 Oct 2005 9:18 am

Boy, is this one turning into a real can of worms...

IMHO, songs in E are tolerable in open G tuning, songs in F are a lot less tolerable.

I think you need to pick a tuning and learn it cold, so that you can dance that left hand around on those scales on a reso.

If you play in a group that does a lot of songs in E, it's probably a good idea to understand that tuning real well. It would be nice to have a reso tuned to E. But how realistic is that? The next song will be in C and the song after that will be in Bb. As soon as you step out of the box to the rest of the world-going to jams, sitting in with someone, learning new songs where 75% plus of the material available is tabbed out in G-unless you have that almost instant command of theory and "mental transposing," you're gonna be hurtin'-like I would be if I weren't competent in G.

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Thinking that any tuning is limited as to what it can play makes no sense. however there are certainly strengths and weaknesses in each tuning. E works great for a rhythm style or blues. The concept that it is best for guitar players coming to steel is not quite right. It only works for rhythm oriented players. if you sight read or read at all, E doesn't work as well as G. Most of the reading a guitar player does is on the 4,3,2 string and those stay the same in G tuning. Then 5 is just a double as is 6 and 1. Makes more sense to me. Then is witched to G6 and I still have the same basic line up.

This is all irrelevant if it's a brand new instrument to you or if you don't read but, if you do, G will most likely work out best for you coming from guitar.

-Adriel

Mark Eaton · Posted 7 Oct 2005 9:50 am

Nice post, AJ. You cut through all my garbage and got right to the point!

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

I'd say pick a tuning - any tuning - and stick with it until you know it well enough to play 'anything' you want in it.

When I started I chose the highbass-G tuning because it was the easiest to get into for a guitar player (strings 2, 3 and 4 being indentical to standard tuning), but personally I got bored with it pretty quick and switched to open-D for both my acoustic and electric work (I prefer the "darker" vibe of the open-D). Since then, mostly everything I have performed or recorded has been in that tuning (and the times I've had to use a capo can be counted on one hand),- saying that it's limited to rock and blues is just as wrong as saying highbass-G is limited to bluegrass and C6 is limited to Hawaiian and western swing.

Certain tunings suggests certain styles, but they're not limited to them.
Don't let the tuning dictate your playing.

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

[This message was edited by Steinar Gregertsen on 07 October 2005 at 11:28 AM.]

Mark Eaton · Posted 7 Oct 2005 10:31 am

Yeah-I've seen Rob Ickes play Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," The Allmans "Midnight Rider," George Benson's "Central Park," and a couple of pieces by Django-all in open G, along with the bluegrass stuff.

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Mark

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 07 October 2005 at 11:32 AM.]

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 11 October 2005 at 10:00 AM.]

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