BC Pedals down position.

Bob Doran · From: Ames, Iowa, USA

I Have a C pedal that i have never learned to use.
I have to admit it sounds pretty nice with the Pedals BC down.
I have been quite happy and content with just A B and the octave R/L knee levers.
What am i missing and what is everyone's favorite use of this pedal?
Thanks
Bob

P Gleespen · From: Toledo, OH USA

here's a link to some good stuff from a while back:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum8/HTML/001193.html
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Patrick

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

That's a great link.

Gary Preston · From: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Bob just buy some of Mr. John Hugheys cd's and you will hear a bunch of the B&C pedals . G.P.

Sho~Bud Pro-ll Custom --- Sho~Bud L.D.G. Fender Vibrosonic W/D-130 J.B.L (15'') . ( 2 ) Peavey Nashville 400 amps . Lexicon Processor .

Dick Wood · From: Springtown Texas, USA

I'm sitting here laughing because Gary said the exact same thing as I was going to say.

Once you use the BC pedals a little you will start to hear it in a lot of songs.

Tony Dingus · From: Kingsport, Tennessee, USA

Play this on a ballad, G being the 5 chord.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

I had a teacher when I first started that told me that the BC pedals weren't used that much. That was bad information. John Hughey is the master of BC pedals. They are extremely important for both minor chords and licks, transitional 1-4 & 5-1 licks. Like they said above get your self some John Hughey CD's. "Look At Us" by Vince Gill with John Hughey is a prime example of the use of BC pedals. Ralph Mooney licks also.

Chris Allen Burke · From: Signal Hill, CA

B & C at first look get the 2minor chord from where-ever the bar is at, using strings 6543. However, all minor chords are a 6th chord in another key. ex. Bar on the 3rd fret B&C pedal down, = Am and Am is the 6th chord in the key of C. So you are playing either the 2m in G or the 6m in C. There is a lot more.

Keeponapcin' keepona'sperimentin'
CAB

Marc Friedland · From: Fort Collins, CO

Bob,
I sent you an email asking for your email address, so I can send you an E9 scales chart which focuses on the A, B & C pedals, and shows where to find major, 7th, and minor scales.
Marc

David Doggett · Posted 24 Apr 2007 6:13 am

It is also useful to remember that within every minor chord is a Maj7 chord without the root (not a common chord in country, but essential in all types of jazz). For example, an Am chord (BC pedals at 3rd fret), A C E, is also an FM7, without the F root. It doesn't matter that the root is missing. You hardly ever use the root in a Maj7 chord anyway. It only appears in a tetrad (four note chord) and is invariably left out of a triad, which is what is mostly used on steel. So you can basically use minor chord triads at will in place of a Maj7 (it's not really in place of, it actually is the Maj7 triad). The rule for finding these with the BC pedals is that you use the BC pedals two frets above the fret of the Maj7 chord. In the above example, you get the FM7 by going two frets up from the F fret (1st fret) to the G fret (3rd fret) and use the BC pedals.

Brad Malone · From: Pennsylvania, USA

Here is another thing about the C pedal that many people may not realize. The C pedal will get you a great 13th chord because while it raises your 5 string to C#, it lets you keep your B on the 10th string....now you have your 5th and 6th of the E Chord

Fred Glave · From: McHenry, Illinois, USA

I've read some posts from guys here, in the past who say that they wouldn't miss the C pedal if it were not there, because they get minor chords from lowering the Es and have the A pedal, or can lower the B(s). I disagree. I need the C pedal. Among many uses, has a very unique way of getting from 1 to a 4 chord, and hitting riffs and scales.

Bent Romnes · From: London,Ontario, Canada

Bob,
What I remember form maestro Jeff Newman's instructions...

Use the BC pedals INSTEAD of AB pedals.
It makes the nice effect of jazzing up or bluesing up a tune just enough to make people perk up and ask What was he playing there???
The part I am not sure of is whether or not Jeff told us to play just two-string chords (like 4 and 6) during the BC substitution runs.
(My years away from Steel makes me unsure on this point)

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Another nice use of the B & C pedals is for moving harmonized lines up and down the fretboard using strings 4 & 6, not including string 5, instead of strings 3 & 5. It means learning a different fret pattern, but there are nice rewards in the timbre being less thin and more versatility of intervals using those two pedals on and off and individually with the standard E lowers and raises. I believe both Hughey and Lloyd Green use B & C this way a lot. (Although Lloyd doesn't have the 4th string lower.)

In the thread P. Gleespen posted the link to above, the second post gives a Hal Rugg lick that's an example of this.

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

I have found that playing along with tunes, and just forgetting the A pedal is there (i.e. pretend it's broken) forces me to find stuff that otherwise stays buried in the confusion...

Brian LeBlanc · From: Falls Church, Virginia, USA

- I just started really using C about 2 months ago

- Now...GOT TO HAVE IT!

- Minor/jass sound opposed to the flat AB squeeze

- and the 4th string trill/lick (Mooney-esq)
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'Frenchy' LeBlanc...
ShoBud & Twins

Mike Maddux · From: Cerritos, CA

Great info in this thread, now I can stop using B+C just to get Jerry Garcia licks... LOL
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President - Southern Californa Steel Guitar Association

Regular Rig: Twin Reverb, Sho-Bud LDG

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

Brian please describe/tab the Mooney lick?
Mike, please describe/tab the Jerry lick?

all i really got thus far on BC is the minor walkup/walk down box pattern. ie 345 no pedals at root, 345 BC down at root, up one fret BC down, up one more fret BC down...then 456 BC down, down one fret 456 BC down, 456 down one more fret at root BC down, and then 456 no pedals at root.

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I think that the Mooney lick is being refered to is the one where the 4th string is picked without pedals then quickly raised and lowered a whole tone (usually twice) using the C pedal.

Listen to Gary Morse's solo in Sara Evan's "Suds In A Bucket" to hear it's use in a modern song.

Be careful not to hit the 5th string (with the pedal down) when doing this lick. Moon doesn't use a standard setup. I think his whole tone E raise is seperate, and doesn't change his 5th string.

Ben Jones · From: Seattle, Washington, USA

Thanks Joey, I'll give that one a try.

Colby Tipton · From: Crosby, Texas, USA

I was listening to Willies Place this evening and I can not count the times i heared the 2&3 pedals used in about 4 hours. It will come around to you and then you will be a 2/3 man.

Joey Ace · From: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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__8C_-_8_____8C_-_8__________________________
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repeat as needed

Jerry Hayes · From: Virginia Beach, Va.

I took it off of my guitar a while back as I like the Mooney thing of raising the E to F# without the B string going with it. I had an 8th pedal installed next to the volume pedal on my S-12 which raises only the 4th string to F# and nothing else. For the limited amount of things that I did use the C pedal for I use the position with the E's lowered and playing strings 4, 5, & 7. In this mode you can just let off of your "E" knee lever and add your A pedal which gives you the whole tone raise on the root. Letting off the E lever gives you the same move as using the B pedal.....JH in Va.
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Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!!

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