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What is your favorite 8 String E13 tuning?
Leon Mcauliffe - Lo to Hi E,G#,D,F#, G#,B,C#,E
52%
 52%  [ 11 ]
Noel Boggs - Lo to Hi E,G#,B,D,F#,G#,C#,E
14%
 14%  [ 3 ]
Other (please make a comment with your tuning in it)
33%
 33%  [ 7 ]
Total Votes : 21

Author Topic:  Most Popular 8 String E13 Tuning?
Bob Watson


From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
Post  Posted 19 Feb 2019 10:37 pm    
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I've been playing the Noel Boggs E13 8 string tuning for awhile on a D8 steel and I just put the Leon Mcauliffe E13 on an S8 steel that I have. I haven't decided which one I like the best so far. The only difference is whether the B is on the 6th string or on the 3d string, but an octave higher. I know there are other tunings but these two seem to be the most popular, so I am using "other" for the third choice. I want to see which tuning is the most popular, how many people are using different E13 tunings and I'm hoping to hear comments on why you use the particular E13 tuning you are using.
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Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 5:07 am    
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I've only played my own guess at an E13 tuning. I like the dominant 7th note near the bottom of the tuning. Depending on the song I may tune the bottom 7th note to a 6th note and just pull up on that string when I need a 7th.

Here's a song played on my E13 tuning:

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/E13%20Lap%20Steel%20Tuning/28.mp3

Some more info on it here.



E13 Tuning
Gage Note (Scale In Key Of E)
.011 G# (3rd)
.015 E (Root)
.018 C# (6th)
.020 B (5th)
.026 G# (3rd)
.032 E (Root)
.036 D (7th)
.042 B (5th)
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Bo Parker

 

From:
Alabama, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 5:08 am    
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I use the McAuliffe E13 tuning. Basically it's the first one I tried, and I like it. There are some tunes that sit very nicely in McA E13 - Night and Day, Cherokee, Cantaloupe Island.

I also play in high-G C6/A7, and I like the way that the quartal dominant 13 chord voicing is the same grip in both tunings - it's on strings 2, 4, 6 in McA E13 and on 3, 5, 7 in C6/A7.

-Bo Parker
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Thiel Hatt

 

From:
Utah, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 8:12 am    
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I like the dominant 7th on the lower strings also..But I like the chromatic strings on the standard E9th also, so I came up with this version..High to low : F# -D#- G#-E C# -B - G# -E- D ...You counted right, that's nine strings...My guitar is a triple neck nine string...I love this version of the E-13th tuning, for me it's a keeper
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 8:22 am    
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Well, I guess I use the "Noel Boggs" tuning but I never really listened to much of him - I know it as the "Jules Ah See" tuning.

https://www.hawaiiansteel.com/tunings/setups.php?link=1019
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Scott Thomas

 

Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 12:20 pm    
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"Other"

E C# B G# E D B G# (hi to lo)

Not too far from A6 (or most C6) and you can get them all on a single neck without changing strings.
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Dennis Detweiler


From:
Solon, Iowa, US
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 7:17 pm    
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I'm near Ah See:
E
C#
G#
F#
E
D
G#
E
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Feb 2019 8:45 pm    
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Other:
  1. G#
  2. E
  3. C#
  4. B
  5. G#
  6. E
  7. D
  8. B

Little Roy Wiggins.
Greg Cutshaw.

This was my favorite tuning for many years.
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Bob Watson


From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2019 2:55 pm    
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Thanks to all of you who participated in this poll so far. The "other" E13 tunings that have been posted are really interesting. I noticed that a lot of them didn't have the 9th (F#) in them. I find myself strumming a 9th chord on the tunings I have been using quite often, usually on a 4 chord, which produces a cool bluesy sound. I also use a strummed 13th chord on the V chord a lot and sometimes on the root chord. I feel having the 9th in the mix of a strummed 13th chord gives it more depth. Strumming these chords seems to be a real crowd pleaser. The "other" tunings that didn't have the 9th in them had a root (E) instead, which I'm sure would be very useful and something I will have to try. Thanks again and keep the comments coming.
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Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2019 5:30 pm    
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The 9th note is really awesome and gives you some nice 6/9 chords and more single string ruffs. I was able to pull the top E up to F# by pulling the string behind the bar. A 9 string tuning with the right spacing for bar slants would be pretty AWESOME.
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Bob Watson


From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
Post  Posted 21 Feb 2019 11:00 pm    
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Greg, I will probably buy an S10 non pedal guitar someday and try the Tom Morrell E13 tuning. I have a few of the old Fender 8 string non pedal steel guitars, so right now I'm wanting to try to figure out which E13 works best for me. It has always been somewhat of a mystery to me why two great steel players like Maurice Anderson and Tom Morrell, both way into playing Jazz, both wonderful pedal steel players, switched to non pedal steel guitars later on in life. Perhaps it was just because they were getting older and didn't want to carry around a heavey psg anymore, but something tells me there was more to it than that.
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Tom Campbell

 

From:
Houston, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2019 7:06 am    
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Low to Hi

B, D, E, F#, G#, B, C#, E

Tried others and always wind-up back to this one.
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2019 8:40 am    
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Tom Campbell wrote:
Low to Hi

B, D, E, F#, G#, B, C#, E

Tried others and always wind-up back to this one.

I struggle with tuning the F# harmonically. Should it be tuned to the B, the D, or the C#? Jerry Byrd left the D note out of his C Diatonic for the same reason. A real can of worms.
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Rick Abbott

 

From:
Indiana, USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2019 11:24 am    
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For what it's worth, low to high:

D E G# B C# E G# F#

It's lacking on the low end but feels a bit more like a pedal guitar and seems good for "lead playing."
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b0b


From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2019 11:26 am    
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Rick Abbott wrote:
For what it's worth, low to high:

D E G# B C# E G# F#

It's lacking on the low end but feels a bit more like a pedal guitar and seems good for "lead playing."


I had that for a few years and liked it very much, Rick. It's real intuitive for an E9th pedal player.
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Nic Neufeld


From:
Kansas City, Missouri
Post  Posted 22 Feb 2019 12:46 pm    
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In every other way I'm an Ah See acolyte so it is fitting that my third Stringmaster neck is in his E13...that said, while C13 and B11 come more natural to me, I'm still a ways out of being an "E13 player". The extra 9th is quite lush!

I also used a version of E13 Basil H had in a tab...skipping the 9th. I think it was (low to high) E B D E G# B C# E. I quickly realized that I could shift the entire tab down by a string and my C13 neck would do just fine...shift the key (to a better one for a female vocalist) and easy! So yeah, still not hitting E13 much, although some of the wild comping Jules did on the Tapa Room Tapes, I need to learn it at some point!
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Tom Cooper

 

From:
Orlando, Fl
Post  Posted 24 Feb 2019 6:04 pm     E13
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I use the basic Don Helms tuning with 7 th in bottom and G# on top. But I have F# also.
D E F# G# B C# E G#. For my ten string which I play mostly it’s same but with B on bottom and F# on top. I play this tuning exclusively now.
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Steve Knight

 

From:
NC
Post  Posted 24 Feb 2019 7:41 pm    
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I use what I think is a Vance Terry tuning: Lo to Hi G#,B,D,F#,G#,B, C#, E
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Rick Winfield


From:
Pickin' beneath the Palmettos
Post  Posted 5 Aug 2019 10:39 am     E 13
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I like Leon's E13.
low to hi E G# D F# G# B C# E. 8 str
Rick
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Steffen Gunter


From:
Munich, Germany
Post  Posted 7 Aug 2019 2:16 am    
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I voted for Boggs / Jules Ah See although I have my E on string 5 instead of string 8 because I retune from A6 switching between A6 / B11 / E13 (C#m9).

But I flatten string 8 from G# to G.
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Paul Strojan

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 11 Sep 2019 9:37 pm    
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I play the Little Roy Wiggins E13: B,D,E,G#,B,C#,E,G#. Mainly because I bought the Don Helms book when I started playing and I like the idea that apply the material available for the E7 with the same tuning.

Based on my experience, if I were starting again; I would have gotten a ten string practice board and add the 9th and low E.
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K Maul


From:
Hadley, NY/Hobe Sound, FL
Post  Posted 12 Sep 2019 2:42 am    
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Mine is (lo-hi) EBDF#G#BC#E if I’m playing Rockabilly. I sometimes change 5 to E and 6 to C#. For classic Honky Tonk I use the Helms AC#EG#BC#EG#, but that’s not really E13. I have a 10 string tuned EG#BD(orC#)EF#G#BC#EG#. That covers lots of ground.
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