Lowering B's on left vertical

James Barker · From: West Virginia, USA

I just got my 71 s10 3x5 pp setup by Mike Cass. It's playing great and I now have a new to me change. I looked around buy couldn't find much on lowering the b to b flat. Any tips on uses and chord voicing I can use? Thanks guys.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Get it split-tuned with your A pedal.

Playing 4,5,6 open is E major - with the B-Bb engaged it's F#9. That's just the beginning.

Engage both a and B and lower the Es and Bs - a useful diminished shape.

There are literally dozens of applications. Those are the most basic.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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richard burton · From: Britain

Push-pulls can't do splits, Roger Sad

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

You get a lovely passing chord from say A to D by going 5th fret, no pedals to 3rd fret with the vertical engaged then 5th fret with A&B. Or from D to G by going 5th fret A&B, 8th with just the lever and 10th A&B.

From the no pedals position, alternate between open, lever, open, A open and lever for a much easier way to play that famous lick from "Together Again".

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Ooops - I didn't read the OP carefully enough. Thanks, Richard.

I always discount that problem because my first ZB didn't have splits either. But, by some happy fluke, when I engaged pedal and knee I got an exact half-step drop. I was new to all this stuff then and assumed that all guitars did that and thought that 'if they didn't, they should'.

Sorry about that, James.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

The real power of the B to Bb knee lever as posted above is in the split tuning capability. A whole new world or diminished and 9th chords is opened up with this change.

Look at all the tabs on this page that are labeled "split" or "1/2 pedal "A":

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/C6th%20On%20E9th/C6th%20On%20E9th.html

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Agreed, Greg. I'd say that it's my second-most-used knee-lever.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Greg Cutshaw · From: Corry, PA, USA

On many of these steel guitar discussions I often wonder what Dilbert would think. And what ideas would his boss and management team have for the B to Bb knee lever?

http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-02-15

Tom Wolverton · From: Carpinteria, CA

Lane has a nice YouTube showing some options for this lever.

https://youtu.be/Sn1IY1E-uKU
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Zeke Cory · From: Hinsdale, New York USA

Two frets down from a pedaled key position is the open 4 chord. Lets say your in a pedaled C chord at your fret 3. Fret 1 is the un-pedaled F chord position. Adding pedal A at fret 1 will now give you a G7th chord. Let off of pedal A an lower your 5th string I/2 step. That is also a G7th chord. There is some nice movement there when done smoothly. So, two frets under a pedaled key position with that knee lever is the relevant 7th chord. I hope I explained this understandably. lol. I play a little different tuning than standard E9th. I have probably discovered more positions by mistake than on purpose. Good Luck in your endeavor. Best Regards.

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Zeke Cory · From: Hinsdale, New York USA

Pressing pedal A in the OPEN F chord position will give you the D minor. I was talking about 2 frets down from the PEDALED key position. that will give you a G9, generally used as the G7th. I believe I was just trying to give a general use for the 5th string lower question. Also, remember that chords with more than one name in them is also a different chord, al-beit inverted somewhat. Example - A C6th chord has the notes - C - E - G - A. It's inverted twin chord is A minor 7th which contains the notes - A - C - E - G. Each contains the same notes, or something like that ... lol.

Willis Vanderberg · From: Petoskey Mi

I really like the 2 seventh chord in an open position by lowers the Bs. As stated previously by using a split you can open up a whole new thing.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

We all agree that the B string lower is a very valuable and important change. In my opinion, it's too valuable and important to be on a vertical knee lever. Verticals are hard to use, and if the B string lower is there, people will be less inclined to explore all the possibilities of the change.

I believe the B string lower belongs on a regular knee lever, and the vertical should be used for something less valuable and important.

Another thing; The B string lower works with both the E string raises and lowers, and therefore, I feel the the changes on the E string should be on the same knee.
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Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

I agree, Mike! I know many put it (or inherit it, anyway) on LKV but for me it's on RKL on all my guitars.

The vertical is too awkward for me so I've assigned my least-used change (raising 1,2,7) to that position.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Willis Vanderberg · From: Petoskey Mi

I also have it on the right knee left, that is interesting as Roger plays a day set up and I play the Emmons.

Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

Hi, Bud.

The important thing for me is to be able to lower the 5th as well as raising or lowering my Es at the same time as being able to use pedals. So I don't think the Day/Emmons factor is important - we just lower our 4th and 8th strings the opposite way around.

Just as long as the B lower and E lowers/raises are on opposite legs!
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I think the reason that lowering the B string on the vertical is so ubiquitous is that Jeff Newman had it there on his guitars. But remember, Jeff played a U-12, and the change is works on both the E9 and B6 sides of the tuning. Jeffâ€™s guitars had a custom made vertical that was between 2 and 3 feet long, that pretty much covered the entire length of the undercarriage, so he could use the lever regardless of whether he was playing E9 or B6, and which pedals he was using.

Many players and builders think â€œIf Jeff did it that wayâ€¦â€ But that doesn't apply to anybody who does not play a U-12, or even to many of us who do.

Like Roger, I put my least used change on the vertical: raising the 2 F# strings to G natural. There is some disagreement about whether to raise the 1st string to G natural or G#, but that should be the subject of another thread.

I, and I assume everybody else who opts for the G natural, rarely raises the F# strings without also one or both pedals. When the change is on a vertical, stepping on a pedal gives you gives some leverage, which makes using the vertical a lot easier. Obviously this means having the B lower on a vertical will work well if youâ€™re splitting the A pedal change to make a minor chord, but thatâ€™s only one of the many uses of the change.

The B string lower is perhaps the single most mysterious of all changes. Its many uses are not readily apparent. You have to look for them, perhaps for years.

Hereâ€™s a lick from a C to Em7* to an F chord. This is just one example of the many subtle uses of the change that you have to look for.

*I originally mis-labled this as a C7. Brint Hanney caught the error. I want to thank Brint, and call attention to his astuteness.

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Roger Rettig · From: Naples, FL

One of my uses for my LKV (raising 1,2 and 7) goes in tandem with pedals down (a nice major-7th chord across the top six strings!) and I, too, make full use of the leverage that Mike mentioned.

Without pedals, that's a difficult physical move for me. My LKV is more often used to raise my 7th string a half-step. Half pedaling is easily achieved with a gentle upward push with my knee. With pedals down I'm getting what others get by lowering their 6th with the B pedal engaged.
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Roger Rettig - Emmons D10s, Quilter TT-12, B-bender Teles and old Martins.
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Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

Mike, isn't the 4th string note in your second chord (C7?) a B natural?

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

You're right Brint. The second chord is an E minor 7, not a C7. My bad. Thank you for pointing it out.

It's a cool lick though, with some nice contrary motion between the 2nd and 3rd chords. The 5th string raises while the 4th and 6th lower.

I use it on the Beatles song "Here There and Everywhere."
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Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
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