Tom Morrell tuning please

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 3 Sep 2003 3:48 am

I can not believe how much Tom gets out of an 8 string neck. No guesses please, need the real deal on the tuning.

Larry Behm

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 3 Sep 2003 4:35 am

Post this over on the No Peddlers board and you will get the correct response.

I think that Tom plays a 10 string guitar tuned E13. The last time I saw him and looked at his guitar, it was a very nice small custom made thing out of beautiful wood. He had a compact Walter Woods amplifier head and just used a speaker from one of the amps that was at the show.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 3 Sep 2003 6:42 am

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 3 Sep 2003 9:58 am

Moved to the "No Peddlers" section of the Forum.

rpetersen · Post by **rpetersen** » 3 Sep 2003 11:16 am

A friend of mine talked to Tom and he thought the tuning was this.
E13th
3
2
1
6
5
3
2
1
b7
5

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 3 Sep 2003 11:38 am

Well which is it, Earnest's or rpetersens?

chas smith R.I.P. · Post by **chas smith R.I.P.** » 3 Sep 2003 12:35 pm

rpetersen's was on the Bigsby, middle neck.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 3 Sep 2003 3:32 pm

I think he may not have a low B. In that case he must have the high G#.

rpetersen · Post by **rpetersen** » 3 Sep 2003 5:19 pm

The tuning I mentioned is from Fri nite (Sat Morning) at St. Louis on the ancient steel he was playing?

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 3 Sep 2003 9:36 pm

. . . a ten-year old steel is ancient?! Eeks!

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 3 Sep 2003 10:48 pm

The 10-string Steel Tom Morrell plays is a CW Steel guitar made out of Mesquite and Walnut; Built about 10 years ago.
Tom's E13 tuning is This>
<pre>
G#
F#
E
C#
B
G#
F#
E
D
E
</pre>

....and He is KING....
Ricky[This message was edited by Ricky Davis on 04 September 2003 at 12:00 AM.]

Denny Turner · Post by **Denny Turner** » 3 Sep 2003 11:17 pm

Tom IS King in my book too..........

..........when Jerry's not around !

Aloha,
DT~[This message was edited by Denny Turner on 04 September 2003 at 12:20 AM.]

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 4 Sep 2003 7:08 am

Great pictures guys. Ricky, does Tom's steel have the walnut on the bottom and the Texas barbecue wood on top?Does anybody know what string gauge's he is using on this instrument? I wonder if Tom's E13 tuning evolved out of Don Helms E6 tuning with HW?

Denny's picture looks like a 3 neck version of the top instrument and would y'all know what those necks would be tuned to and does he use the triple neck more than the single neck instrument on his regular gigs. I was thinking he used the single neck because it was easier to deal with the airlines when getting to the convention?

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 4 Sep 2003 8:26 am

Jesse the CW Steel has the Body as the Mesquite...

Tom uses VERY heavy guages for his E13...
The other pictures you see is when Tom played his Triple-10 string All wood Bigsby(I think a '53 or '54)...but unfortunatly he sold it.
He only Strung the middle and back necks up(as seen in the pic below) and kept the furthest neck open for his Ash tray and Cocktails while playing

The middle neck was the E13 I posted and the back neck was C6
<pre>
G
E
C
A
G
E
C
A
F
C
</pre>
You can hear this Bigsby on Many if not almost all of his "timewarp tophands" CD's.

As you can tell; I'm a HUGE Tommy Morrell Fan and Friend, and I consider him to be the Greatest Steel player EVER.
Ricky

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 4 Sep 2003 9:16 am

I gotta say Tom Morrell is just an awesome player, and a funny showman,
who gets the best out of his band, no matter what happens,
and really has a good time up on stage.

I was sitting in between Ricky And Johnny Cox for most of the show right up front.
I felt like I was in Texas Steel Central.

This was one of the highest high-lights of the convention for me. It is great to see a true master make it look SOOOO easy!
And playin Hawaiian with Ricky was another high point too.
I also tried the E13 on that space age Bukminster Fuller lapsteel...it's a very cool tuning
But sure wish that I had tried it on that gorgeous Bigsby![This message was edited by David L. Donald on 04 September 2003 at 05:16 PM.]

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 4 Sep 2003 9:56 am

Ricky, that's so great! Thanks for the info and neat pics.

Danny Naccarato · Post by **Danny Naccarato** » 5 Sep 2003 4:27 am

We're spoiled around here as we run into Morrell often. To answer the ques. about which he plays out, for the last several years, anytime I ran into him and the boys, he has been playing the single CW.

Just a killer player......

Danny

Bill Leff · Post by **Bill Leff** » 5 Sep 2003 6:33 am

Is this the same Tommy Morrell that is a killer standard guitar player?

Jeff Strouse · Post by **Jeff Strouse** » 5 Sep 2003 6:54 am

Yes, he also is an awesome standard guitar player, too! He usually plays standard guitar with the Playboys when Bobby Koefer plays steel.

I almost had a chance to see him and the Texas Playboys when they came to Jacksonville about a year ago. I found out about it a week late, and could have shot myself. Here was my favorite band in my own backyard, and I missed it.

Oh well...a dollar short and a day late once again..

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 5 Sep 2003 3:24 pm

I looked for "CW steel guitars" and didn't find any on the web, where are these guy's? Does anyone know what scale that single CW that TM has been playing for the last couple of years would be? I think if your a good guitar player, than the E6(13) steel tuning is kinda familiar as far as the basic root positions.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 5 Sep 2003 3:34 pm

Tom's guitar was made by Carson Wells. He's located in Texas and builds them more as a hobby than a business as I understand it. Tom had to be talked into a Mesquite guitar but now is very happy with its tone. When I interviewed him for the book Tom said, "If you don't like my playing I'll cook you a steak on it".

Carson's contact info can be found at the bottom of this post: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/004959.html [This message was edited by Andy Volk on 05 September 2003 at 04:39 PM.]

HowardR · Post by **HowardR** » 5 Sep 2003 8:15 pm

If you don't like my playing I'll cook you a steak on it".

if that were true, everyone on this forum would be a vegetarian.....