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Topic: Gibson Century-10 |
Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2021 9:33 am |
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In the late 1940s and early 1950s Gibson produced several dozen 10-string versions of their black Century model lap steel. Does anyone have one that they play with any regularity? If so, what tuning(s) do you use? I have one that sounds great, but its string spacing is so narrow that it's hard to play, and nigh on impossible to play slants on adjacent strings. I would like for mine to become a "player" instead of a "wall-hanger." Any suggestions?
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 19 Dec 2021 10:29 am Re: Gibson Century-10
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| Jack Hanson wrote: |
In the late 1940s and early 1950s Gibson produced several dozen 10-string versions of their black Century model lap steel. Does anyone have one that they play with any regularity? If so, what tuning(s) do you use? I have one that sounds great, but its string spacing is so narrow that it's hard to play, and nigh on impossible to play slants on adjacent strings. I would like for mine to become a "player" instead of a "wall-hanger." Any suggestions?
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Too many strings for my simple mind to deal with, but if you have nimble fingers I think the Alkire tuning would work well without slants.
C♯ E F F♯ G G♯ A B C♯ E
For something more strummable, maybe some kind of combination reentrant tuning?
Something like this…
D G B D G B D F# A D, or perhaps D G B E G B D F# A D
Similar to the tuning that b0b likes. The two bold Ds are the same pitch, the bold E a tone above the bold D. There are possibly better ways to do a combination tuning for ten strings, but this will serve to illustrate what I mean. 
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G6 – e G D G B D
7 String | G6 – e G B D G B D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database
Last edited by Allan Revich on 19 Dec 2021 2:18 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Paul Strojan
From:
California, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2021 1:00 pm
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| I have a ten or twelve string lap steel on my wish list to tune to E13. F#, G#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D, B. In this tuning there is places to skip strings E major slants or C# minor slants. |
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Travis Brown
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 19 Dec 2021 5:33 pm
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I would love to find one of those for a decent price.
I'd use the Alkire tuning. |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 20 Dec 2021 5:05 am
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The Alkire tuning requires no slants. I play 10 sting/alkire exclusively. If you need any help getting started on the tuning, let me know
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Rose D13 tuning: Cabinet by J.R. Rose with mechanics engineered by Darvin Willhoite.
Williams D10 9x9.
Mullen Pre-RP D10 8x5. |
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