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Topic: 8 string C6 |
Ken Campbell
From:
Ferndale, Montana
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 5:52 am |
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Anyone here use 8string C6 for everything?
GECAGECA from the top. |
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Paul Miles
From:
United Kingdom
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Adam Nero
From:
Wisconsin
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 7:24 am
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Definitely my main tuning. Love that major triad up top. Will switch to a Don Helms-style E13 when we play Hank tunes and similar. Huge timbre difference even at same pitches.
_________________
2 cheap dobros, several weird old lap steels, and one lifelong ticket to ride on the pedal steel struggle bus. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Jeff Mead
From:
London, England
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 8:00 am
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A6 is my main tuning but as you are using C6 with a G on top, this is exacty the same as your tuning but everything 3 semitones lower.
It's my main tuning for most of the Hank stuff too. |
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Jack Aldrich
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 12:54 pm
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Top is the same, but I have a Bb G for strings 7 & 8:
G E C A G E Bb G (from the top). I learned this C6 (actually a C13) from Henry Allen and Bobby Ingano. I get nice, jazzy chords. For "Adventures in Paradise" I tune 7 & 8 to C# A. I've been relearning some of my B11 based songs (Mapuana, Hana, How'd Ya Do) on this tuning. For "Sand", I move the middle G to F#. I do miss the low B. I suppose I could restring the 8th string to get it down to low C. The experiment goes on.
_________________
Jack Aldrich
Carter & ShoBud D10's
D8 & T8 Stringmaster
Rickenbacher B6
3 Resonator guitars
Asher Alan Akaka Special SN 6
Canopus D8 |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 1:23 pm
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Great playing on apache, Paul! Early 60s instrumental & surf tunes sound so great on steel.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Bill Leff
From:
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Posted 8 Apr 2015 4:23 pm Re: C6th
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Love it! |
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Paul Miles
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 12:34 am C6th
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| Thanks Doug - couldn't have done it without you ! |
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Don McGregor
From:
Memphis, Tennessee
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 4:06 am
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I use only C6 high G on a single 8 steel I built for myself, and on the double 8 I recently built for myself, I use that tuning on the near neck, and A6 on the outer. They are both the same tuning only in different keys. It's like having a capo for a guitar, allowing me options in where on the neck I might want to play my parts. The slant possibilities that are added with a high G are particularly useful to me.
I also use a lot of open notes in runs and licks, and I can choose the tuning for each song that allows me to make the best use of these. |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 5:46 am
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After years of playing C6 or C13 with E on top I recently changed to high G on top. I am not crazy about the timbre of the high G string, but it is satisfactory on both my steels (Sierra and Allison). And when gigging it cuts through the mud nicely. On some steels, Fender and Supro for instance, I found the timbre of the high G intolerable.
Just because the high G is there you don't have to use it all the time. For example, if you prefer the timbre on the E string for a particular note, use that string. I am playing a lot of jazz standards theses days and the high G has made many of the tunes much easier to play. In fact, many would be nearly impossible at full tempo without the high G.
My 8th string default pitch is B flat, but I sometimes raise it to B (for a major 7th) or less frequently lower it to A. |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 5:50 am
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I use 8-string C6 with high G for everything - but on a Fender 400 pedal steel, with 4 pedals 3 of which are similar to what ABC do on an E9 PSG, and the 4th gives me diminished chords; could totally live without the pedals for most of the Western Swing stuff I play, but for the more country rock-ish or singer-songwriter-stuff I occasionally accompany, the are useful.
The 5th on the top string is a must for Western Swing, I don't miss any loser strings, heck, I'm already getting dirty looks from the bass player if I stay on the low A string for more than two notes in a row... 
Last edited by Roman Sonnleitner on 9 Apr 2015 6:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 6:39 am
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| Quote: |
| ...many would be nearly impossible at full tempo without the high G. |
Yes, I agree. I often wonder why Jerry Byrd did not use high G, and instead opted to play so many difficult and fast reverse slants on strings 1 & 2 to get the high 3rds. Well, he was Jerry Byrd after all... not a mere mortal like the rest of us!  A good example of this is "Hula Lady". When I got Jerry's handwritten tablature of this tune from Scotty I was shocked to see that Jerry had played a series of reverse slants on strings 1 & 2 to play the melody. With high G that melody is much easier to play, no reverse slants. I can only assume that Jerry didn't like the tone of high G.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel
Last edited by Doug Beaumier on 9 Apr 2015 9:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Keith Cary
From:
California, USA
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 7:16 am C6 for ... well, for most
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| If I had only one tuning it would definitely be C6 with the G on top. I do get the criticism that on some steels it can be a bit like a nail through the ear but I couldn't play without it. It's easy enough to play up a m3 when the tone is critical. I play in a band that plays a lot of raggy progressions so I usually tune the two bass strings to Bb and C#. Lots of jazz chords there. I tune them back when I need to. Doesn't seem to mess with my head. |
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Fraser Moffatt
From:
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 9 Apr 2015 1:54 pm
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Keeping in mind that I'm a rookie steel player at best (been at it for just over a year), I'm just starting on C6 high G on an 8 string.
I like that most of my dobro licks are transferable and that I have access to the 6 and minor chords. I'm at an "advanced beginner" level of proficiency for comping and doing a bit of soloing with a repertoire of 20 tunes or so after having the C6 8 string for just a couple of weeks. I could see myself playing almost everything I need to (at the point) on the 8 string with this tuning.
I'm kind of muddling through some "self figured out" exercises based on how I'm learning pedal steel, so if anyone has some good leads on tutorial material specific to C6 8 string, I'm all ears!
_________________
Rookie-ish steel player - currently tinkering around on a BMI S10 and a Guyatone S8. Bassist and vocalist for The Derringers. |
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Ray Montee
From:
Portland, Oregon (deceased)
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Posted 10 Apr 2015 11:28 am About Jerry's choice of C6th WITHOUT "G" on top
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I'm of the opinion that JERRY BYRD chose to use C6th with an "E" on top rather than 'G'..... because...
He started his career using a six string Rickenbacher Bakelite with "E" on top as that
"E" on top was the standard for most of the original steel players. Even for those using "A" tuning or "E" tuning, "E" on top was the way to go.
Ultimately, he selected the seven string Richenbacher and began tuning E C A G E C# C. As he said many time that gave him all of the options he needed for his style of playing.
His lifetime of recording beautiful music pretty well convinces me that his decision was both appropriate and worth the effort to learn all of what many of you today describe as difficult slants.
If one digs into that tuning, you'll find his comments to be quite accurate. That's my primary choice (non-pedal). |
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