Why not A6???

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

I am curious how C6 became the most popular tuning for steel guitar? Maybe this question has been asked many times before, sorry if this is very redundant. From what I know of steel guitar history, Open A tuning was the first most widely used tuning AC#EAC#E. So in my mind A6 would have been the logical development. C6 and A6 are the same intervals I know but, I just love the slightly lower timbre of A6. Being a standard guitar player, It just feels more natural as well. Another thing I find odd is how perfect A6 is as a second neck on a double neck, where E13 tunings are seemingly the next most popular. (A being the IV chord) Yet most of the players you hear about choose C6 as the second neck. It is the same in pedal steel, although I guess in pedal steel you do have some A6 in pedals down mode.

I recently went back to 8 string A6 tuning after a long, frustrating stretch with 10 string E13, and it was like putting on slippers after a long day at work, or sleeping in your own bed after staying in a bunch of cheap hotels. (Not that E13 is a cheap hotel!) In the future I hope to continue work on E13, probably as an 8 string tuning, but for the time being A6 just feels like home.

On a side note I think I figured out a simple copedant that changes E13 into A6 and B11, but that isn't something to discuss here Evil Twisted

Tom Sosbe · From: Rushville,In

I think Herb Remininton (sp) used a6th on his back neck.

Samuel Phillippe · From: Douglas Michigan, USA

I also like the timbreof A6 over C6 on my 8 string lap steel.....To me C6 sounds to tinny.....just my opinion.

Sam

Tom Cooper · From: Orlando, Fl

I think because it was too bassy. I love it as well, would love to live in A6, but I really wanted to go to single neck so E13 won out. Bright, snappy, just a bit more versatile. LOVE the deeper bass tone of A6! But practicality for the set of music I am mostly playing E13 won out. I agree though, A6 is super. Also I think they split the difference with C6, its kinda right in the middle isn't it. Between A and E. I wanted to ditch the double neck so I went with E.

Mike Neer · From: NJ

I think B6 would have been a great tuning….

Anyway, I agree, the tuning is great, especially in the hands of Herb Remington and Billy Hew Len, but it’s register gets a little muddy for me. And the 6 string version, well I just prefer to have the root on the bottom string. I do a lot of playing down there.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

I dislike the pinginess of a top string pitched higher than E. Like Mike, I favor a root note on the bottom string. I play both A6 and C6; C6 on my 6-string instruments, and A6 on my 7-string instruments. Best of both worlds.

Dane Carlson · From: Bay Area, California

Coming from bluegrass Dobro as my first slide instrument, having the top 3 strings in the same relative tuning is making it easier for me to learn to play in that tuning because I know the neck. I'm loving the ability to play minors in A6 tuning and I don't miss having the root on the bottom because the playing style is quite different from the "scalar" style of bluegrass.

I tried G6 (with the 3rd on top) and it was very difficult for me to deal with learning new note positions and missing the 5th on top.

Daniel Baston · From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Re: the relationship between the two tunings on a double neck. If you have C6 on one neck, you could always try pitching your 13th tuning to G. Then you have the same relationship as you would between A6 and E13. Seems like not a popular thing to do either though? If you have an E13 variant with a high G# though, well that might limit your options to go higher. You might want to wear safety glasses before trying to bring a 1st string higher than G# up to pitch Smile

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Carl McLaughlin · From: St.Stephen,New Brunswick,Can

I am an amature but for what its worth, i use C6 on the top neck and Open Dobro G. i found over all the easiest to learn. Just my 2 cents worth.

Carl Smile

Keep steelin
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Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it.

David Matzenik · From: Cairns, on the Coral Sea

The retune from A6 to B11 is a bit easy than with C6. You may ask why they bother putting a high G on C6 when you end up with the same intervals as A6. The high G helps to emulate the pedal steel sound, if that floats your boat. But the choice of A6-C6 also depends on the key you want to play in and how much fret space you want behind the tonic. Billy Hew Len had quite bit to say about the choice. The Hal Smith archive is online.

Check out Eddie Rivers on A6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARCcW3I0K4&t=258s
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Bob Watson · From: Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

I like the fact that I can get an open Am triad on a C6 tuning as opposed to an F# minor triads on an A6 tuning. C Major and Am are both common keys. I can't think of the last time I played a song that was in the key of F#m. I have an 8 string Dobro that I had thought about tuning to an A6 since it is such a popular tuning, but I decided on G6 because it gives me an Em triad, another very popular key. I can use a capo on the Dobro to get an open A6 tuning if I want it for some reason.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

I like A6th for certain songs. In general, I prefer the third on top and the root on the bottom of C6th. Certain tunes lay out very well in A6th and you can't argue with what Herb got out of it.
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Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

I like to tweak the low F# cause I find that note not very useful. Usually I tune down to E for easy alternating bass. It also creates the same relationship and range as a standard guitar. I can see why having the 3rd on top is preferable to some, it really changes the feel of the tuning. In the future I am most likely going down the acoustic path so having the 5th on top like Dobro is appealing. I see a 7 or 8 string reso in my future. I also want to try learning some Dob Dunn solos, so A6 just seems to make sense right now. The Eddie Rivers lessons are amazing and definitely got me playing quickly. I will be re-watching those! Here is an A6 hack tuning I mentioned in another thread if anyone is interested. E-F#-A-C#-E-A-C#-E. It seems like a great 8 string tuning for people who already play 6 string G since the top 6 strings are the same intervals. I am loving this one also!

I found a bunch of old threads relating to the question and it seems it is probably a good idea to learn both at some point. Thanks for all the insight! For me the important thing is to feel like I am progressing.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Why not A6? No reason, as far as I'm concerned. I probably use it more than anything when I'm playing without pedals. These days, I often play a fair amount of Western Swing material, where A6 really sounds and feels right to me and I use the 5th on top a lot. Since I play pedal steel, I'm really not trying to emulate pedal steel when playing without pedals, and I tend to find the high G or G# a bit washed out on C6 or E13. If I'm just carrying E9 pedal steel, I often re-tune the bottom two strings and press A&B pedals to get a pretty complete no-pedals A6 with the root on the bottom string.

Mike Harris · From: Texas, USA

I use A13 (A6 with low G instead of F#) and a modified B11. The high four strings are the same on either. My 8-string dobro has the A13.

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

I haven’t been able to bond with any of the 6th tunings. Neither C6 or A6. For me the answer has been a 9th tuning. G9 — GBDFAD. B0b uses a similar Major 9 tuning, GM9 — GBDF#AD.

Of course everyone has their own personal preferences. That’s a big part of the attraction of our instrument.
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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

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

C6 may be the most popular lap tuning but I really don't think A6 is that far behind it - even now. At one time, A6 and E13 was pretty much industry standard for double neck non-pedal players which makes more sense to me than a C and E based tuning.

I think the E9 pedal tuning developed out of the siatuation of A6 being the most popular tuning. It was easier to make a pedal that raised notes than one that lowered them so E9 was a good tuning so it woud easily raise to A6. I think a lot of early pedal players considered A6 (E9 with pedals down) to be their default tuning.

Stephen Baker · From: Lancashire, UK

I'm talking 8 string here. I have the front neck of my Stringmaster (24.5 inch) tuned to A6 F#,A,C# etc. but my single neck lap steels tuned C6, same intervals. I find that due to most lap steels having a shorter scale length it's pretty much like putting a capo at the 3rd fret of the Stringmaster. I also agree with Jeff Mead on the A6 & some kind of dominant E7 tuning for the other neck tuning.

Glenn Wilde · From: California, USA

I love A6, I keep my Magnatone 8 in it por vida!

Billy Gilbert · From: Texas, USA

I believe that Herb Remington used A6 on his "Gold Dobro". Anyone know who own the Gold Dobro now?

Jeremy DeHart · From: North Carolina, USA

I've been playing around with arrangements for some of the classic hawaiian tunes(Moon of Manakoora, Harbor Lights, Red Sails in the Sunset, etc), and while you can pretty much do anything ever on C13, these tunes really just lay perfectly on the A6 neck in terms of simplicity. It's as though the person writing them had this tuning in mind. The other thing I've found about A6 is that it emulates what a composer typically does for string sections much easier than what you can do on a C6/13 neck. In to say that a lot of string section comping highlights the 3rd on top. And you have to think, especially in Western Swing, the Steel was used to substitue a single instrument in place of a much more expensive group of instruments (Strings or Brass). Just my observations.

Tim Toberer · From: Nebraska, USA

David M Brown · From: California, USA

Add one more vote for A6 as a main tuning - it's my go-to tuning.

Allan Revich · From: Victoria, BC

On 6 strings, I haven't really liked A6 (or C6) because there is no bottom end. But the 8 string version, F# A C# E F# A C# E looks really good. You get that F#m7 going on two full octaves. Do most A6 players use 8 strings?
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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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