Hoppin' the necks (Duke Ching)

Bill Leff · From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA

I've been playing around with learning Duke Ching's version of "Driftin' and Dreamin'" from his CD. Duke plays a 4 neck Fender Stringmaster and apparently plays on all four of 'em on that tune, from what I can tell.

I've positively ID'd chords from B11, E13, and C6, and there's some other stuff in there that I haven't figured out (I have my D-8 Stringmaster in C6 and E13, and my 6 string lapsteel in B11).

The use of chords in these tunings really enriches the tune. Big 9th and 13th chords, just beautiful in a slow dreamy song like this.

I think that the ability to do this is a special talent and indicates a high degree of musical sophistication that not a lot of players possess and you don't hear a lot of. For myself (with regards to this tune), I'm creating a scaled-down approach using B11, not as nice by a long-shot but playable for me and still has some nice fat chords.

Your comments on "neck hopping" appreciated!

-Bill

Michael Johnstone · From: Sylmar,Ca. USA

I've seen Duke Ching and Leon McCaulliff do this in person but not up close.There doesn't seem to be any mystery to it conceptually,except to be fluent on all your tunings and find handy places in the songs to make the leaps.I saw a video of Buddy Emmons do the neck hopping thing on a Fender Custom triple 8 while fronting a big horn band.I may be wrong,but it seemed like he had tuned each neck to correspond with the most used C6 pedal combinations-one neck tuned to open C6,one neck tuned to the F chord you get by pushing pedal 6 and the third neck tuned to the D9 chord you get by pushing pedal 5.By hopping necks and a few slants,he made the changes to the tune and voicing wise,sounded like a pedal C6.
One thing I've noticed when I have both necks of my Stringmaster turned on is that the combined impedance of both necks' pickups weakens the volume and thins out the sound compared to just having one neck turned on-plus the strings on the unplayed neck tend to honk and ring sympathetically causing a decidedly non-musical rumble.And I suspect the problem would be worse on a 3 or 4 neck guitar.I guess my question would be: Do the guys who do it keep ALL their necks on and make up the difference w/their volume pedal and somehow finesse the rumble,or do they quickly select ONLY the neck they're actually playing a la Junior Brown? -MJ-

Rich Sullivan · From: Nelson, NH 03457

Noel Boggs is often credited with being the first to use this technique. Listening to his recordings, I find it hard to tell where he was switching, so he must have been pretty seamless at it. I play a triple Console Grande currently, and find myself using this technique more and more. Michael's comments about the tone problems are right on. It would be much easier to leave both (or all three) necks on and just jump back and forth. The sound is so inferior though, I can't do it. My guitar had a 4-way switch when I got it. One setting had all of the necks hot. I changed it for a 3-way to make it easier to hit the right setting in a fast jump. Any one tuning just doesn't have all of the chords. (If anyone has the magic tuning, please let me know.) This is really why pedals were added. For those of us that don't use pedals (for whatever reason), jumping necks is a useful tool. I mostly jump necks at the end of a phrase where you would be catching your breath anyway. But I hope to get better at it, and be able to switch more on the fly.

Steve England · From: Austin, TX

I've watched Bobby Koefer switching between necks during songs several times. I'm gonna show my ignorance here. Who is Duke Ching? Is he a modern player?

Bill Leff · From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Duke Ching lives in Southern California and is originally from Hawaii. He is active in the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association and plays at most of their events. Here's a URL for a bit more information:
http://www.templebar.org/dukeching.html

I think his CD may be available from www.mele.com

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

When I owned a Fender Custom Triple, I hopped necks all the time. It seemed like the most natural way to get the chords you need. The key issue, like blocking in traditional Hawaiian steel playing, is to maintain continuity of sound and give the listener the illusion that there's no break in musical flow. To me, there's much more mystery and technique in Tom Morrell playing complex jazz solos on one neck at fast tempos than in Duke Ching jumping necks. I should add that in person, Duke swings like mad - more so than on his CDs -he's a great stealer deserving of wider recognition.

Maurie Junod · From: Oak Forest, Illinois, USA

Hi Bill,

Some time ago John Tipka, who has rejuvinated
Duke's Four neck guitar, gave me these tunings for the four necks. These are not in
the order of rotation.

B11
C6
C#m-9
E13

The C6 may have a G on the first string.

I too have attempted to copy Duke's masterful
playing. Two years ago I told him I was going
to copy his arrangement of My little Chickadee during my part of the joliet
convention. After I played it he got up and
playfully accused me of stealing it from his
disc. We do have fun at the convention. The
intro that he uses on Chickadee is on the
C6 neck. The rest is on E13.

Maurie
C#m-9.........E
C#
G#
F#
E
D
B
G#

[This message was edited by Maurie Junod on 24 June 2000 at 02:47 PM.]

John Tipka · From: Reynoldsburg,OH

And maybe its the blood line, Duke's uncle, his mother's brother, was that fantastic steel guitar player who died at a young 35 years -Jules Ah See - Jules was an up-and-comer and moving into his prime at the time that he passed. His name would have been as common as Jerry Byrd in steel guitar circles.

John

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