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Topic: Mooney tuning question |
Chris Rohde
From:
Portland, ME, USA
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Posted 3 Jun 2007 5:36 pm |
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| I was looking at Ralph Mooney's tuning in Winnie Winston's book, which says that he had his 9th string tuned to a Bb. Anyone have any ideas on how he used this string? |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 4 Jun 2007 5:40 am
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I've wondered about that too. When Mooney went from 8 to 10 strings, did he add 2 strings to the bottom of his tuning? When did he go to a 10 string?
Sorry I can't shed any light myself, but I love Mooney's playing and am curious how he developed his tuning. |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 4 Jun 2007 6:39 am
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You could use that string a couple of ways, think in the standard E9th setup and picture you're on the 5th fret A chord. For a nice 7th chord you'd drop back to the 3rd fret and use strings 6, 8, & 10 with the 10th string lowered a half tone, or for a V7 chord you'd go to the 10th fret playing the same strings with the 10th lowered a half. Also you could just stay in the same fret and get a II chord if you wanted to and add other strings in there if you wished as the F# string would be the root and the normal middle E string would be the dom7. Ralph has a C# note in his tuning I believe which would then be the V. With a little experimentation you can see how he used those notes. In reality, and in his recordings they're not used hardly at all but I'm sure he had/has knowledge of why he has those notes in his tuning, after all, He's MOON! and there ain't another like him in the world and he don't need to 'splain himself, does he?.........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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Bill Dobkins
From:
Rolla Missouri, USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2007 9:06 am
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Let me see if I can explain what I've done as i'm kinda new to all this. I moved my 10th string to my 9th=B,Added a 40 ga string to my 10th lowered it to G#, on my R/L-lever I lower my 6th G# and my 10th G#
to F#. I lower my E,s with my inside L/R which for example if you in open E makes a low B (Emmons) but if your on the 5th fret A/B down D, you can pull both levers, let off yor A/B s for a low E. Back up to the 3rd fret both levers ingaged for low D. I think I got it right.Jerry is this what you meant. Moon used this on the live version of Storms never last. I think ? I love the sound of low notes.Now I have a question. What can I do with my R/R lever to get the most effect out of it. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2007 2:06 pm Re: Mooney tuning question
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| Chris Rohde wrote: |
| I was looking at Ralph Mooney's tuning in Winnie Winston's book, which says that he had his 9th string tuned to a Bb. Anyone have any ideas on how he used this string? |
If the interview had been on a Thursday instead of a Tuesday, do you think the string would have been tuned to A? |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Jun 2007 6:44 pm Accident or misprint? I'm with Earnest.
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I always assumed that Mooney didn't use that string much (if at all), and that it was tuned that way by accident when Winnie documented his guitar. Mooney has never been a jazz player. The low Bb makes no sense in a country E tuning. More likely it was supposed to be A or B.
| Tab: |
1 2 3 4 5 K
G# +A -G
E +F# +F
B +C#
G# +A
F#
E -Eb
D
C#
Bb
E |
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 5 Jun 2007 4:15 am
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Could somebody phone Mr Mooney up, and have him play his open strings into the phone, assuming of course he has a phone.  |
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Chris Rohde
From:
Portland, ME, USA
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Posted 5 Jun 2007 4:04 pm
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| Thanks for the input - I would agree with Bob and Earnest's thought that the A or B tuning seems more likely than the Bb.... |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 6 Jun 2007 7:33 am
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| I think the lack of tuning changes on the lower strings indicates that Moon didn't use them very often. I've seen him play often and heard a lot of Mooney stuff, but I can't say I can ever recall hearing him use the 9th or 10th string? |
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Chris Lucker
From:
Los Angeles, California USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2007 10:41 am
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| Donny, I agree except for the occasional drone thump-thump-thump of a bass root note. |
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Bill Dobkins
From:
Rolla Missouri, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2007 6:47 pm
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| I have an old live version of Storms Never Last by Waylon and Jesse, where the steeler is lowering his low strings. I just figured it was Mooney maybe it was some-one else. |
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Dean Parks
From:
Sherman Oaks, California, USA
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Posted 6 Jun 2007 8:25 pm
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| That low note he thumped while playing the Travis-type thing, was a 7th, the D string (on the Waylon Live album at least). I don't think he intended the note to actually sound, but sometimes it did (does?). |
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J Fletcher
From:
London,Ont,Canada
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Posted 7 Jun 2007 4:35 am
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| Mr Mooney and his tuning....two of the enduring mysteries of the pedal steel guitar! |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 7 Jun 2007 6:41 am
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| I remember reading one time where he was asked what his knee lever did and he said something like: "It makes it sound real purty" |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 7 Jun 2007 9:09 am
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The low A would make a lot of sense for Travis-style picking. Low B would work fine with the knee lever. Low Bb just makes no sense for any normal country, rock, folk or blues music. It must be a mistake.  |
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Jerry Hayes
From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
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Posted 7 Jun 2007 10:46 am
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b0b, there ain't nothing "normal" about Moon, that's why we all love him so........JH in Va.
_________________
Don't matter who's in Austin (or anywhere else) Ralph Mooney is still the king!!! |
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