Do you lower the 6th string or raise the first 7th string on RKL

[Bill McCloskey]

Most guitars I've seen and owned seem to lower the 6th string on RKL from G# to F#. But Travis Toy and Paul Franklin recommend raising the 7th string from F# to G#. I currently have guitars with both and I can see advantages of both. For instance when you lower the 6th you can get a nice V chord on the pedals up position by lowering your E's, basically pulling both knees in. But Paul says lowering the 6th string gets in the way of the Franklin pedal and Toy says he needs it to get the voicings he uses.

Any thoughts on the matter?

[Dale Rottacker]

Some great players lowered 6 on that lever with the 1&2 raise, John Hughey for one ... I hated that change the first time I tried it ... I fumble around enough and that lower with 1 & 2 just seemed in the way. I like the 6 lower, but have it on my Vertical, and then also lower 9 either a half or a whole depending on my mood. ... I still lower the B's but do that with the 0 pedal next to my A pedal. The 7th string raise on that lever is much more intuitive and natural for how I play ... You could even raise 9 a half on that lever for a nice Maj7, and no conflict with the 1st and 2nd string.

[Bob Carlucci]

I could not play without either of those changes, but I have them in odd places compared to others.. I have used a full tone raise on string 1 for 49 years but have always had it on LKL,,, I use it as a full tone in conjunction with my second string E [yes I use an E on string 2 and drop it to Eb and D in 2 steps on RKR]... I also "half pedal" it up a half tone all the time, no feel stop needed after all these years. My 6 string full tone lower is all alone on pedal 4,,, its used more than my C pedal and I could not play without it.. I use it for a lot of fast speed picking runs, major chord and sus type stuff, and I can't imagine any steel I play without it right beside my C pedal.. Yes I "waste" a lever and pedal by only having one string pull on each, but the speed and voicings I get from them are well worth it to me, and I started with those changes as a young kid and can't be without them just as they are... bob

[Jack Hanson]

Both. My old Emmons has always been set up '70s style, with the RKL lowering the 6th string from G# to F#, and also raising the 1st string from F# to G. In addition to raising the first string a half-step with the knee lever, you can also pull the top string back with your third and/or fourth finger behind the bar to get a G#. In combination with the LKR, which lowers both Es to Eb, you can get a nice fat V chord.

So, on strings 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10, on every fret without moving the bar, you have the I chord with no pedals, the IV chord with pedals down, and the V chord squeezing your legs together on the LKR and the RKL. A pretty standard, basic setup back then that has always worked well for me. It's the way I learned to play, and I have never considered changing it. Guess I'm a half-century or so behind the times... but that's okay.

[Dean Holman]

I also raise the 7th a whole, there’s a real pretty suspended chord that I like to play, raising the 6 with the B pedal, and raising 1, or 2, or sometimes both. I love suspended chord progressions, and I can’t do that, lowering 6 on the same knee as raising 1&2. Raising 7 a whole, and then releasing the lever, does the same thing, as playing 6, and lowering it with a lever. It also works well, by splitting the Franklin change, by lowering 5 a whole, and with the 7th engaged, and already raised, you can release to get the lower on the 7th, just like lowering 6. Some good things can be done by raising 7 a whole, and you can still lower the E’s with it. Another reason I do it this way, is I also like the Lloyd Green method of getting that lowered 6 sound, by playing 4,5, and 6 open, go back two frets, raise the 3rd pedal only, and you have your lowered 6 sound. It sounds a little different doing it that way, but I love that sound of the bar movement, as well. I feel that it adds a little more to the repertoire of things you can do,

[Richard Sinkler]

I've been lowering 6 since the early 70's. In 1999, my new Carter had 2 LKL knee levers. A later Williams did too. The 2nd LKL raised 7 to G#. I NEVER used it so I took it off.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Both. I cheat a little and have to use string selection. I put it one my lever that lowers 9 and 2. Adjusting the timing to have both a half tone and a whole tone raise.

The whole tone change is a real pretty add for a maj. 7th with pedals down besides the other uses.

[Ian Rae]

I lower 6 to F#
I have often wondered what it would be like to also raise 7 to G# on the same lever
Then you'd have a choice all in one place. I haven't got round to trying it yet, but what does anybody think?

[Dave Mudgett]

1st & 7th string F#=>G# is nice to have. However, the 6th string G#=>F# lower is a core part of my setup, I would ditch anything but E lower/raise to get it if I was somehow stuck with just a 3+3 setup. Maybe put the 2nd string lower on the same lever as the E lower if I absolutely had to do that, not that I would want to.

There are a lot of uses for the 6th string G#=>F# lower. Just by itself it's useful melodically. But combined with the E=>Eb lever is where it really comes into play for me. Just with that lever, it's a very useful 5 chord with no pedals, and a very nice, fluid movement at that. Yes, you can get it by simply hitting the 7th instead of the 6th. But for me, it's the fluid motion. With the 7th string whole-tone raise, you can pre-raise and then lower to get that motion. I've done it, but I find the 6th lower more pleasing and less awkward. Plus the 6th lower has the ability to split with the B-pedal.

Then, splitting just the G#=>F# with the B-pedal gives G and a nice fluid move into Em, with the root on string 8. Then flatting 8 with the E=>Eb lever fluidly moves into an augmented chord. Releasing G#=>F# fluidly moves into the E=>Eb + B-pedal 7th chord. Adding the A-pedal moves that to a (for me) heavily used 9th chord.

Putting all these together with standard A and B pedal moves gives a lot of very useful, smooth moves that I find hard to get any other way, and use a lot.

Where to put the pedals and levers is personal taste and ergonomics. Emmons ABC pedals for me. Personally, I split the E- raise and E- lower - for me, E-raise on LKL, E-lower on RKL. Split for reasons discussed in a seminal thread with Buddy Emmons and Paul Franklin discussing the pros and cons - I went with Paul's approach on this. RKL is because I find the leftward movement of RKL (as opposed to right-movement of RKR) easier and less taxing on my groin and less intrusive on volume pedal control, and the fact that I use the E-lower so much - by far my most used lever. Different players have different ergonomic preferences, but that's mine. Then for me, G#=>F# goes on LKR, B=>Bb on LKV, and 2nd string D#=>D=>C# + 9th string D=>C# on RKR. That's for a basic 3/4 pedal + 5 lever setup. It is definitely nice to have a 6th lever for F#=>G# and strings 1/2 raises to G#/E, respectively, but they're not absolutely critical for me.

I think it's very useful to carefully think through all the possibilities. But at some point, I just had to try a bunch of different approaches and see what worked best for me. So I don't think it's even slightly odd that you have tried a whole bunch of stuff to see what works for you. With pedal steel, I don't really see any other alternative except to say, "OK, I'm just gonna get a guitar and force myself to get used to whatever it comes with." I know a lot of people do that, and that's fine. But it's not for me. I had to struggle really hard with ergonomics to start because I was way too tall for every guitar I tried or bought. Once I figured out the height thing, it seemed totally natural to see if certain configurations came more natural to me. And certain approaches really worked better for me than others.

[Ricky Davis]

This is how I've done it for a long long time now.

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Ricky