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Topic: Changing Tunings With Same Strings |
Timothy Kelly Sr
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 23 May 2020 11:49 am |
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Can a 6 string lap steel guitar go from a C6 tuning to an Open D tuning without changing strings?
Thanks
_________________
Tim Kelly
Previous: Rhythm Guitar Player
New: 6 String Lap Steel Guitar
Hobbies and Interests: Ham Radio, Astronomy, Bird Watching and Wine Tasting |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 23 May 2020 11:53 am
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| In a pinch you could probably make it work, but the tension won't be even across the strings anymore. I find that makes the playability awkward. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 23 May 2020 1:13 pm
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The problem with that would be, open D is usually a "wider" tuning, with wider intervals. Depends what open D you are talking about...let me think, CEGACE, if you downtune to the traditional DADF#AD, your lowest string would have to be detuned almost an octave. You could do a 351351 tuning like F#ADF#AD but your strings are gonna have to get tuned way down low, not sure it'd work. If you take it up a step to an open E, that'd be G#BEG#BE. Still way too much detuning I think, no string tension left.
Which isn't to say there isn't lots of stuff you can tune to. This video is pretty fascinating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8qAmotF_c
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Andrew Frost
From:
Toronto, Ontario
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Posted 25 May 2020 8:37 pm
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The open tunings on lap steel were traditionally interchangeable and close to the guages found on a spanish guitar. Open A, E, etc. In my understanding the eventual introduction of the maj 6th tuning brought in its own bag of variations. From 6 string C6 you can get many other tunings, A6, E13, D9, B11, C#min and so on without changing strings. Moving between tunings then becomes a skillset of its own. There's a good video by Alan Akaka about this and I've seen Jerry Byrd talk about this too. But that heavy open D sound isn't really available from a hight bass C6 (CEGACE low-hi). You could experiment with tuning down the bottom and tuning up most of the top... and getting something like ADF#ADF#.
Another thing to explore would be a lower sounding 6 tuning E6/G6 that could morph into an open major sound quite smoothly. |
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Allan Revich
From:
Victoria, BC
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Posted 27 May 2020 8:45 am Re: Changing Tunings With Same Strings
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| Timothy Kelly Sr wrote: |
Can a 6 string lap steel guitar go from a C6 tuning to an Open D tuning without changing strings?
Thanks |
The short answer is “noâ€.
Longer answers all begin with, “it dependsâ€.
You could try a “quick & dirty†tuning up from C6 to go from
C E G A C E to D F# A A D F# this would give you an open D but it would lack the bluesy growl, and extended range, that are the reasons for using open D in the first place. If however the only reason for making the change is to have a major chord strum for some rhythm work, the easiest way would be to drop the A down to G for C E G G C E
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Current Tunings:
6 String | G – D G D G B D
7 String | G9 – D G B D F A D
https://papadafoe.com/lap-steel-tuning-database |
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