10-String non-pedal Tunings

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

I've been tinkering with 10-string non-pedal tunings lately. E13 is the most comfortable to me, but B11, C6/A7, and A Diatonic are all great tunings and offer different "flavors" Winking

Switching between the tunings is easy because the string gauges work out fine. No string changing is necessary. I play E13 the most, and when retuning the "pitch changes" go down, except for one change that goes up a half tone. Some strings go down three half tones, so that's 'doable' without changing strings.

I'm interested to know what tunings other 10-string non-pedal players are using?
I played this E13 on my clip of Sleepy Lagoon (link below).

Edit: New Link ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11GvfD93l44

10-"no strings" 1940s Epiphone Alkire Eharp

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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I couldn't find the link. Confused

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Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

Todd Clinesmith · From: Lone Rock Free State Oregon

I have been enjoying a similar E13 10 string tuning. There are many variations that can be used.
I have :
G#
F#
E
C#
B
G#
F#
D
B
G# ( Or E)
I normally don't care for the sound of string gauges higher than .015 or an E string but the way scales flow nicely, my ears are learning to adjust. A huge amount of chords are possible too of course. Being a fan of Tom Morrell I had to try something like his tuning out. I would use his full tuning but I already have a lot worked up in the Leon McAuliffe 8 string E13... so I added the high F# and G# to it.
Tom M's tuning has been discussed here but I'll spell it out for the sake of this thread:
G#
F#
E
C#
B
G#
F#
E
D
E

Todd

Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

Thanks Todd, the E13 tuning I'm using is Tom Morrell's, except I changed the low E to B. That seems a lot more useful, in my humble opinion. And it makes strings 5 through 10 the same as E9 PSG, which is familiar territory. Winking

E13 seems to have more variations than any other tuning.
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Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Wow!! Found the link. Terrific tone on top of everything else. I personally am still awaiting delivery on my first pedal steel. But at least one of the really good Leavitt players has a ten string version of that. Some really good stuff has been posted in that tuning as well. Was it Roy Thomson or Bill Hatcher? Maybe both. Hopefully they'll weigh in.
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John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I play a Triple–10 Non-Pedal guitar tuned like this:
#3 = E9/13 ~ E~B~D~E~F#~G#~B~C#~E~G#
#2 = C-Diatonic ~ C~E~F~G~A~B~C~E~d~f
#1 = C6/A7 ~ Lo-A~C~C#~E~G~A~C~E~b~d
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Tom Keller · From: Greeneville, TN, USA

currently using from low to hi EGBDEGBDCE.

Rick Alexander · From: Florida, USA, R.I.P.

Carco Clave and Billy Robinson use this C6 variation to great advantage:
hi2lo D E C A G E C A F A
The D is a whole step below the high E.

Here are a couple of videos that may be of interest:

Carco Clave

Billy Robinson
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Doug Beaumier · From: Northampton, MA

Thanks Rick and others. That 10-string C6 is the same as the pedal steel C6 tuning (w/D on string 1).
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John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I think there is a small correction in order for the Billy Robinson 10-str. C6 tuning! I could be wrong, but; to the best of my knowledge, his 10-string C6-Tuning is as follows: Lo to Hi
F~A~C~E~G~A~C~E~G~D and the standard 10-str. C6–Tuning is:
C~F~A~C~E~G~A~C~E~D and, btw; Curly Chalker’s C6–Tuning is: A~D~F~A~C~E~G~A~C~E
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Jimmy Douglas · From: Raceview, Queensland, Australia

I have this C6 on my 10 string guitar
high to low

D,B,E,C,A,G,E,C,A,F

I find the chromatic strings D and B are very handy for single string playing and giving a dominant chord at the open position.

regards,

Jimmy

Ulric Utsi-Åhlin · From: Sweden

...and again,my good,old C 6th that I use for pedal,
non-pedal,10-string,12-string,8-string,whatever...
the fewer strings,the more bass strings omitted,top
downwards always identical...
LOW-TO-HIGH : A,D,F,A,C,E,G,A,C,E,D,F

Dobro tuning : G,B,D,E,G,B,A,C

McUtsi

Mike Harris · From: Texas, USA

McUtsi,

is your "H" what we call "B flat" over here?

Ulric Utsi-Åhlin · From: Sweden

Mike,You git it...for some reason "B" is referred
to as "H" over here,but...I hardly EVER use the "H"-
form,so I dunno why it emerged now,Freudian slip of
mind & keyboard,maybe...actually "H" stands for "B
natural" ; I suspect the Germans also use the same
nomenclature as we do,but I´m not sure...let´s ask
our German friends here...I´ll correct the previous
post,for the sake of international security.McUtsi

David Cook · From: Florida, USA

Hi, Currently using this on a 10 string Maverick.

LO to HI B C#(D) E G# B C# E G# D# F#

Aris Xanthos · From: Switzerland

Bill McCloskey · From: Nanuet, NY

I play the eharp tuning, which I love:

bottom to top: C# E F F# G G# A B C# E

gauges: 36, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22 (plain) 20 18 16

C. E. Jackson · Posted 26 Oct 2019 9:38 am

My favorite tuning is A6. I learned on A, and can still play the old songs
I learned from 1949-1972. In 1972, I purchased my first 8 string steel.
Also, I like this tuning for western swing and Hawaiian songs.

A: E C# A E C# A (H-L)

A6: E C# A F# E C# A F# (H-L)-last 2 strings optional with player.

C. E. Jackson Smile

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A6 tuning for steels

Earnest Bovine · From: Los Angeles CA USA

my non-pedal C6 :

David Ball · From: North Carolina High Country

I have used several tunungs, but right now I'm using this:

(low to high)
D A B/C D E F# A B D F# Kind of a D13 variant I think.

Dave

Roy Thomson · From: Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada

I use the following 10 string non pedal tuning:
High to Low: F#-Eb-G#-E-B-G#-F#-B-E (add D-B)
The first 2 strings are chromatic.
Sample song Blue Jade

https://soundcloud.com/roy-thomson/track-4
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L. Bogue Sandberg · From: Chassell, Michigan, USA

I use Doug Beaumier's E13 shifted down to D13:

Hi->Lo F#, E, D, B, A, F#, E, D, C, A

Gages: .0135, .015, .017, .020, .024w, .028w, .032w, .036w, .040w, .048w

with a target tension of 30 to 32 lb.

LaVern Skarzenski · From: North East,Pennsylvania, USA

Maybe I'm brain dead or something but I for the life of me cannot find the link. I see nothing anywhere that says "Sleepy Lagoon". Could someone put the link in a seperate reply or give me instructions on where to find it. Thanks.
LaVern
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LaVern Skarzenski · From: North East,Pennsylvania, USA

Oh my, I just saw that this post is 10 years old. I really am brain dead Embarassed

LaVern
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