Who is the godfather of the C6 tuning?

Bill Dobkins · Post by **Bill Dobkins** » 14 Oct 2009 7:03 pm

This may have already been covered but I was wondering who came up with this tuning.
BD

Bob Tuttle · Post by **Bob Tuttle** » 14 Oct 2009 7:19 pm

Jerry Byrd.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 14 Oct 2009 7:21 pm

Jerry Byrd

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 14 Oct 2009 7:26 pm

Jerry Byrd

Ray Montee (RIP) · Post by **Ray Montee (RIP)** » 14 Oct 2009 7:33 pm

JERRY BYRD

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 14 Oct 2009 10:10 pm

Seems it MUST have been Mr, Byrd. YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 14 Oct 2009 10:13 pm

Jerry Byrd.

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 14 Oct 2009 10:34 pm

Jerry Byrd

George Majoros · Post by **George Majoros** » 14 Oct 2009 10:39 pm

Jerry Byrd

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 15 Oct 2009 1:58 am

I did.

But it was stolen from my brain by time-travelers and re-injected into society, along with my ideas for "hula hoops" and "sliced bread." They're always messing with me.

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 15 Oct 2009 2:23 am

I was going to say Jerry Byrd but can't simply !!

JERRY BYRD!!

Regards, Paul

Bill Dobkins · Post by **Bill Dobkins** » 15 Oct 2009 5:36 am

Did he also come up with the pedal and lever arrangments ?
BD

Bob Tuttle · Post by **Bob Tuttle** » 15 Oct 2009 5:41 am

Steve Benson · Post by **Steve Benson** » 15 Oct 2009 5:54 am

The Late Great Jerry Byrd. Few things hit me more than Mr Byrd playing Hawaiian style. Some of the best music ever played.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 15 Oct 2009 9:33 am

Jerry Byrd often retuned his middle C to C#. That change is on pedal 8, along with the logical lowering of strings 9 & 10 to get the bottom end of the chord.

What I'd like to know is: who came up with the F string idea?

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 15 Oct 2009 9:39 am

And who came up with the pedal changes?

Michael Stover · Post by **Michael Stover** » 15 Oct 2009 9:58 am

Bob White is generally credited with pedals 4 & 7.

BOB WHITE

BOB PIONEERED THE 10 STRING GUITAR, ORIGINATED SCORES OF ENDURING LICKS AND RIFFS, INTRODUCED THE MAJOR 7TH AND MAJOR 9TH PEDAL CHANGES AND BROUGHT A MODERN SOUND TO HANK THOMPSON'S BRAZOS VALLEY BOYS. WITH HANK, HE WAS THE FOREMOST SWING STEEL PLAYER OF THE 50'S DECADE.

BORN: JUNE 15, 1932 JENNY LIND, ARKANSAS
DIED: NOVEMBER 21, 2003
INDUCTED: 1990

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 15 Oct 2009 12:05 pm

Bill - I've often wondered who came up with the tuning also. I'm anxious to see what the answer is. If I had to guess, I would guess Jerry Byrd.

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 15 Oct 2009 12:10 pm

Pedals 5 (except for strings 9 and 10) and 6 are the mechanical recreations of two of Jerry Byrd's slant bar positions.

J D Sauser · Post by **J D Sauser** » 15 Oct 2009 1:07 pm

The tuning? I don't know if it's been mentioned before

, but I would guess, it may have been... Jerry Byrd.

Actually, I don't know if the 6th tuning was his invention, as others may have been playing E13th or A6th before. After all, C#m7 may have been around before too... But he is said to have been the one to have made the C-based 6th tuning popular at least.

The pedal changes? No, to my knowledge he has not been credited for it but maybe he should, mainly for the two main pedals and even the 8th pedal (some like to call it the "boo-whah" pedal):

Jerry Byrd, besides being a true musical ARTIST, stylist and also master of touch and tone, may have hinted the need or call for some now standard pedals, mainly the one dropping the middle G to F# and the other (usually adjacent) pedal dropping the middle E to Eb. Jerry Byrd like probably many 6th based tuning players used this change by slanting the bar very often. They are key to a majority of his chord playing (one creating the II9th over the key fret and the later the V7th over the key fret).
Both slants faced a major challenge, which was that the sounded best with two other string remaining constant... not so hard to achieve with near perfect intonation for a Jerry Byrd, nevertheless most likely a desirable and logical pedal change when the technology became available.
The "boo-whah" pedal creates a VI7th chord over the reference fret. The key ingredient being that the relative minor chord (VIm7) sees it's m3rd raised to a M3rd... open C to C#. Jerry Byrd's famous 7 string C6th/A7th was just that, C6th(Am7th) AND A7th.

... J-D.[/b]

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 15 Oct 2009 2:16 pm

I don't know if the 6th tuning was his invention

Yes, Jerry was the first one to format and play C6 tuning. He states in his instructional material that he "invented" the C6 tuning.

Franklin · Post by **Franklin** » 15 Oct 2009 8:07 pm

Does anyone know who added the "F" note to the tuning? I suspect its Buddy, but I'm not sure. IMO adding that note advanced the tuning towards playing altered Jazz voicings. Also the "D" note on top is pretty much the standard these days. Buddy Emmons is credited for that change. The "D" note provides an easier approach to playing chromatics. Bebop tunes like "Donna Lee" are also much easier to play with that string in the tuning.

Paul

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 15 Oct 2009 8:32 pm

Paul
I'll wager Buddy was the first to add the D note, but I recall that you were the first person to suggest the D note to me, during DJ week in 1977. I was up there with Alvin Crow's band, and though I forget the hotel, I remember it was in the Bill Lawrence display room and my old boss from LA, Jimmy Bryant was playing one of Bill's Telecasters. You walked in with Mike Smith and we started talking. You said, put a D note on the guitar "if you want to play modern music, or play in a minor key."

Egads... can it be that was 32 years ago!?! Like, yikes!

Bobby Bowman · Post by **Bobby Bowman** » 15 Oct 2009 9:05 pm

I had it on my C6 tuning back in the mid 60's, thanks to Tommy Morrell. My first real pedal steel had the low F on it and that would have been in late '63. Which BTW, was a Morrell/Shields coloberation of cables, blocks and pulleys and no tellin' what else. lol!
BB

also,,,a few of us in the Houston area were also pulling the high F# to G# back then on the E-9 tuning. By the early '70's I got tired of that change and have used it only sparingly a few times since then. We used a Black Diamond .010 for the G# to A as well as the F# to G#,,,,and still broke a lot of those strings.,,,,,,OUCH!!!!! $:\$

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 16 Oct 2009 1:34 am

When I think of the C6th tuning and the "Godfather", I have to think of Chalker.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Who is the godfather of the C6 tuning?

Who is the godfather of the C6 tuning?

In answer to your question......................

Who is the godfather of C6th tuning

The "D" note