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Topic: More E13th stuff & Don Helms |
Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 12:24 pm |
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So I bought the Don Helms book "Your Cheatin Heart" compiled by DeWitt Scott. I'm interested in Don's sound on those Hank I songs.
From b0b's site I bought a 8-string set of SIT high E13th strings and put them on my Clinesmith (cast 8-string).
Don Helms tuned, low to high, A-C#-E-G#-B-C#-E-G# (4,6,1,3,5,6,1,3)
When I dug into the songbook, I noticed that Don played everything on strings 1 thru 5 -- rarely touching even the sixth string, and never the 7th or 8th string.
I found that tuning somewhat anemic--at least how it is tabbed out in the book.
Then I noticed on the SIT string package, alternate tunings for strings 7 & 8, using D & B (instead of C# & A).
Low to high:
B-D-E-G#-B-C#-E-G# (5,b7,1,3,5,6,1,3)
What a difference in fattening up the chord options (for me anyhow) with intuitive grips for the "hank sound" but also some nice bluesy and jazzy chords in addition to the crying hank stuff.
Anybody know why Don Helms stuck with that first tuning?
I guess it's a given that the tab book didn't show all that he really did up and down the string range.
Anybody else notice this?
(I'm sure there's plenty going back on the site, but my search didn't turn up anything that I could go right to. . )
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 3:34 pm
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If you have not, you should check out the Little Roy Wiggins "Memory Time" book also by DeWitt Scott, especially considering that it's in that exact "alternate" tuning listed on that string pack!
Furthermore, Little Roy Wiggins had a really unique sound partly because he played a lot of his melodies on the lower strings. Some people dismiss those E tunings with the high G# as just being C6th pitched up. But I think Roy Wiggins use of those low strings demonstrates that those strings become more useable melodically (when they might be too bassy or thuddy on C6th).
Plus, you don't have to be screaming on the high G# all the time, but it's there when you need it.
Sure, you can play those Don Helm's licks up 4 frets on C6th but its not quite the same! They are already far up the fretboard to begin with! 
As far as sounding anemic, what kind of steel do you have the tuning on? Don Helms played a 22.5" Gibson Console Grande which has a mellower sound, combined of course with his own musical touch. When he played it, it always had that emotive sound, never too harsh!
Food for thought:
If you want to further explore those bluesy and jazzy chords, you could consider tuning your Middle 'E' to F# to be more similar to the Leon McAullife E13th.
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2562310&sid=ab26797eba14258c5d0843e33c57c564 |
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 3:43 pm
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Joe,
hey thanks! I'll check out Roy Wiggins. I do have a Gibson Console Grande, but I'm playing a Clinesmith with the high E13 tuning, which has excellent tone. My comment on the anemic sound was more about the tuning (the lack of using the lower strings) than the instrument itself. I found that the alternate D & B on 7 & 8 fattened it up nicely (cause I like using the lower stings now with those other chords and notes it provides).
thanks again,
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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Joe A. Roberts
From:
Seoul, South Korea
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 5:17 pm
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This is my favorite track I have heard with Roy Wiggins and is some of my favorite steel playing ever!
I'll Hold You in My Heart (1947).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed5ohRUE_YQ
Has his signature ting-a-ling trilling and that sliding harmonic lick, I never get tired of it. Also, you can hear he plays the solo in the lower register.
I believe I read on the forum that back in these days he was playing the old E7th tuning, maybe E B G# E D B, so playing a lot on those low 4 strings may have carried over to the 13th tuning. It also sounds like he is playing a lot of octaves on the E, and maybe B strings, which the E13th tunings with the F# wouldn't have.
All those early Eddy Arnold tracks are worth listening to for Roy Wiggin's playing, at least until Eddy fired the band and switched to those bland commercial records often found in thrift stores. I was going through my grandmother's (who passed this year) basement and found an old LP... "Christmas with Eddy Arnold" ...new in shrink wrap! Start your bids! 
Check out the harmonics in this number, sounds like his answer to Sleep Walk!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYOhrLVnuZI |
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Brooks Montgomery
From:
Idaho, USA
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Posted 22 Jul 2021 6:38 pm
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I noticed in Brad’s Pages of Steel, b0b is credited with the tuning…….
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A banjo, like a pet monkey, seems like a good idea at first. |
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