A to Ab lever on the C6

William Gallagher · From: California, USA

A lot of veterans out there have an A-Ab knee lever on the C6th neck. I know you can get some minor and Maj7 voicings along with a nice aug, and used with pedal 5 you get a b5 and 9#11. P6 +A-Ab = m7 and 7#9. p8 +A-Ab = an A9 in open position etc...

So I'm wondering how often you use it. I have a '75 Emmons p/p and its a PITA to add levers but I finally got around that issue by using Instant-on bells cranks from ol' Clem Schmitt.

Thanks!
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'75 Emmons p/p, Duesenberg Alamo, Dobro with Hipshot, Nashville 112, Little Walter 22/50, Fender Blues Deluxe, and enough effects gear to fill a dump truck.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I use it for Fm and D7b5, much as you'd expect. I regard it as necessary.
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J D Sauser · From: Wellington, Florida

As your tuning changes with the pedals, some pulls move position, so they either do other things than what one "sees" at first glance looking at them on the open tuning or they repeat changes in similar voicing that you have on the other tuning with other "standard" pedals, changes you will want to have at hand.

When you look at the open tuning alone, which most see as 3 different chords (FM7, Am7 and C6th) and really also the relative minor to FM, Dm9th (the root being "invisible" or taken from the top D, for those who have it instead of the high G. I have my bottom C raised to D for that reason and many more).
So ALL changes affect different degrees of all these 3 or 4 chords.
The main "tuning" changes are pedal "7" which at the 7th string rooted chord turns that from M6 to M7 and then replicates all the following rooted chord just like going from you 9th string M7 up. In essence it moves the whole tuning found from the 9th string 2 strings out. You have the M7 rooted at the 7th string, the m7th rooted at the 6th string and the M6th rooted at the 5th string.
BUT now all the pedal and knee lever changes need to be re-learned to have the same "changes".
The A-to-G# lower is a great help when the tuning is "moved" over to be able to play the same moves as in the open tuning.
Another fundamental replicator or "mover" of the whole tuning is the C-to-C# raise.
Together the with pedal "5" it recreates the whole tuning 3 frets above Open 7th string root M6 or 4 frets below open 9th string rooted M7. It moves the whole string sequence back (to the bass side) one string... everything then repeats again.
That change really pulls the whole "buffet" of chords closer together as it fill that long "void" of 7 frets between the 7th string rooted M6 and the 9th string rooted M7.
That one too, will have all other changes now acting on other degrees. The A-to-G# drop does what you C-to-B lever did in open.

As Bobbe Seymore said "Look! NO PEDALS, NO LEVERS! It's ALL there, all them changes, it's just repetition!"
When Maurice Anderson went from a 12 String Universal with 8&5 to non-pedal... he proved that point backwards.

... J-D.
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William Gallagher · From: California, USA

Thanks Ian and JD,

JD, excellent overview - thanks. I use p5 + C-C# often with a pure A6 at open position. With the D on top you can move up three frets and get the voicings lost without the G on top, if that makes sense. Anyway, you sold me on your C-Bb analogy.

Learning new fret positions has never been a big problem - except as I get older it's a bit harder for this old dog to learn new tricks. I've been playing 45 years without the A-G# but with the COVID situation I'm getting bored so I'll give it a shot Smile

Cheers
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'75 Emmons p/p, Duesenberg Alamo, Dobro with Hipshot, Nashville 112, Little Walter 22/50, Fender Blues Deluxe, and enough effects gear to fill a dump truck.

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