EADGBE tuning

Frode Bjoernstad · From: Oslo, Norway

Hi..
Do any of you lap steelers tune your steels to standard guitar tuning EADGBE?
I have'nt played much Lap steel with my band in a while, but when I did I tuned it C6.. We play countryrockish singer/songwriter stuff and I never got really comfortable with C6 (could'nt get away from that westernswing/hawaiian sound), and I find open G and A a little limited for other than blues/bluesrock stuff…

Nowadays I play some pedal steel and electric guitar, but because I guess I'm to lazy to have extra electric guitars tuned to open tunings on stage I have started to play slide (bottleneck) in EADGBE, and I have started to like it , and I am thinking of getting myself a lap steel to use with this tuning too…
I guess because I started out playing guitar I feel much "safer" and can improvise much free'er with this than C6, and for full chords it's easier to use the standard fretted positions than open G(or D) , and I can still use most of the bluesy licks from open DGDGBG on strings DGB, and just go down on note on the E string when I need that.. And i feel that I have easy access to full minor (gbe) and majors (dgb) .. The two bottom strings I use mainly for single note melody/theme with slide.

I know I could have much more options tuned to C6 or E13, but as a easy option when doubling guitar/slide I think I like that standard tuning, and for that steel guitar stuff I use my Sho bud pedal steel..

Frode

[This message was edited by Frode Bjoernstad on 05 October 2005 at 03:56 AM.]

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Yes I have a lap steel guitar set up like that. I made it and have three pulls on it, two that work like palm pedals and one that is knee operated.

I have played standard guitar tuning on all my instruments for 45 years. I tune my mandolin, banjo, 6 string bass, even my sitar in guitar tuning with no problem.

Tom Morrell had an EADGBE tuning in the middle of a 12 string guitar at one time in his career based on what was posted here on the Forum a while back.

Reach up and tune the G to G# for a straight E tuning. Lot's of guys use that. You want to play some of the "chainsaw" rock/blues/country distorto things that are on the radio right now, then the standard guitar tuning is fine. Check out Derek Trucks slide playing on open E for some nice licks.

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

I believe Stewe Howe of Yes use the standard guitar tuning a lot, along with open-E (?), for exactly the same reasons.

Let's see... the open strings will give you G major, E minor, E minor 7, Cmaj7, A11, probably some more I can't think of right now, and many of the same two-note harmonies that open-G gives you..

There are those who tune to G6 by raising the first string to an E, and then they have the first four strings of standard guitar tuning, only the two bass strings will be different.
You'll have to move around more with the steelbar for solos, but if it works for you then why not?
Let us know how it works out after a while!

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

Bill, you gotta show me that lap steel with the pulls one of these days!

Tommy Tedesco, one of the great studio and contract players ever, tuned guitar, banjo, bouzouki, saz and anything else he could lay his hands on to standard guitar tuning as well. I tried it with a lap steel but found it too cumbersome. I use open D a lot though.

Roy Thomson · From: Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada

If yo tune your lap as a standard guitar
try changing the fourth string "D" to "C#"
down a half tone for a beautiful sounding A9th chord. Then play the blues all day.

http://www.clictab.com/RoyT/lap_steel_e6th.htm

Papa Joe Pollick · From: Swanton, Ohio

Yeah Roy, I've been playin that tuning on my Strat for years..Using my Bic lighter sounds quite close to a Dobro.I some times use it on lap as well..Fun tuning..P.J.

Rick Alexander · From: Florida, USA, R.I.P.

When I first started playing steel I had been doing a lot of stuff on my strat with a bic or bud longneck in standard tuning. Then when I got my first steel (A Fender Champion for $50) I tuned it to DGDGBE (G6) by dropping the A and E a whole step from standard guitar tuning. This gives you a huge 5151 power chord, a minor chord, a minor 7, a major, major 7, and 6 chord all with a straight bar. And the top 4 strings are the same as a guitar so you're in familiar territory. At the time,I actually thought I had invented that tuning!
Then all you have to do is lower the high E to D and you have low bass G.

[This message was edited by Rick Alexander on 05 October 2005 at 09:21 PM.]

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