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Topic: C6 Tuning- 6 string or 8 string? |
Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 10:43 am |
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I know the obvious answer would be that there are 2 more strings on the 8 string instrument therefore it would be the better choice. When I first started getting involved with the lap steel guitar everything was new and confusing. Tunings, how many strings how many necks, string lengths. Do you sit with the instrument on your lap or a stand and so on. It is a very murky world we have to navigate. After my initial research it seems that the majority consensus favoured the 8 string with a 6th tuning. I was up for that so I found a reasonably inexpensive instrument and dived in.
Coming from the 6 string standard guitar world the 2 extra strings made the instrument a little more complicated to navigate, especially at first when I was trying to learn my way around the guitar. So I thought I would buy an even less expensive 6 string instrument trusting that this should be a little easier and move on to the 8 string when at a later time I felt it appropriate. Thus I bought a little Epiphone and off I went!
It as now been sometime and I am well on the way with learning progress and still enjoying the world of the Lap steel guitar.
But I do have a question as to why the 8 string instrument over the 6 string particularly with C6 tuning. It seems to me that the standard tuning for C6 is CEGACE. The 8 string tuning is a duplication of some of the strings. Then there are the extension tunings like adding a 7th note, extending the bass with a lower C or some other other refinement. The question is what is it you preferred with the 8 string tuning over the 6 string tuning that made you opt for the 8 string instrument? I realise this may have been asked before so I apologise if I have missed it! |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 11:12 am
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| Personally, I am most comfortable with the root on the bottom string, so for C6 a six-string instrument is my preference. I also like the deeper resonance afforded by heavier strings tuned to A6. For A6 I prefer a 7-string instrument, again with the root on the bottom string. |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 11:15 am
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| Seems like to most the standadard is ACEGACEG with maybe guys tuning the low A to Bb or at least flipping back and forth. |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 11:30 am
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There's also the variation C13. On my Stringmaster my "C6" neck is tuned C Bb C E G A C E. Gives a good option for dominant sevenths (also easily adjusted to a sixth if you want something more "strummable". I don't really think of it in terms of 13th chords, I guess it technically qualifies? No 9th and 11th, it feels like regular C6 to me just with an added option to go to the 7th down lower, as well as a deep low root when you want it.
As keen as I was to get into an 8 string, they do take some getting used to, apparently...I'm still more comfortable on my little shortscale 6 string lap steel (tuned variously C6/A6/B11).
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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James Kerr
From:
Scotland, UK
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David M Brown
From:
California, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 12:33 pm
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I find it interesting that with all the fine and erudite comments all previous posters have made that no one has brought up the main issue.
What note is on the top string?
Standard A6 and C6 use a top note of E, but there is a less common C6 with a top note on G, which makes it the same pattern as the A6.
So do you want the 3rd as the top note or the 5th?
B11 also has A C# E on top...so I guess in fairness I should include the 11th on top as an option.  |
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James Hartman
From:
Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 12:47 pm
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There's not a legitimate why one over the other. I pretty much equally play both. I like the extra resources of the high G and low A on the 8 string, but don't especially miss them when I pick up the 6 string. Not hard to make accommodation for the different number of strings if you're comfortable on both.
Pretty sure I recall Doug B. commenting somewhere that he enjoys the challenge of arranging for only 6 strings. I can relate to that. |
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Andy Henriksen
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 12:57 pm
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I like and use as my main tuning ACEGACEG. I don't find the high G to be shrill (a common complaint), or if it is shrill, it's in a good way. 
I also like that it repeats evenly - top four strings = bottom 4 strings, so you can easily move some riffs up or down an octave, or string them together across the two octaves.
And the Maj triad in order on the high three strings is easy for me to wrap my head around.
I don't think it takes much extra brain power or time to train your hands to avoid whichever two strings are added when you want to play your current 6 string C6 songs on an 8 string. And it definitely opens up some options.
So...go for it!  |
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Nic Neufeld
From:
Kansas City, Missouri
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 1:02 pm
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| David M Brown wrote: |
Standard A6 and C6 use a top note of E, but there is a less common C6 with a top note on G, which makes it the same pattern as the A6.
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Yep, I use A6 as the "poor man's C6 with high G". Gives me the same pattern, but no need to use altered string sets and easily shiftable back to C6 with 3rd on top, or B11. B11 is (as I've read here and elsewhere) a bit of a "split" tuning, from the top down its pleasant old A6...but then from the bottom up, B9...songs like "Sand" seem to play off that juxtaposition nicely.
_________________
Waikīkī, at night when the shadows are falling
I hear the rolling surf calling
Calling and calling to me |
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Roman Sonnleitner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 1:30 pm
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| For me the high G is an absolut must, for any kind of soloing; I personally prefer playing C6 on an 8-string, but if I had to play on 6 strings, I'd rather give up the low strings (which are covered by the bass player in the band, anyway) than that high G. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 1:48 pm
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People who also play pedal steel often opt for the low F: FACEGACE. It gives you a pretty Maj7 / Maj9 chord on the low strings. Not many of the no pedals ever crowd use the low F, though. It's more entrenched in pedal steel culture.
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 2:22 pm
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Bobbe Seymour used the low F version on his non-pedal guitars. Very pretty voicing of the maj7 chord in the low position. Here's an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwb4FaUWQdM
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com
Last edited by Andy Volk on 24 Jan 2018 2:26 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Former Member
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 2:22 pm
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I tune:
D
E
C
A
G
E
C
Bflat
When I started with J.Ely, I asked him what to do and he said leave it that way, even though he does C13.
I use the D to eliminate some fret movement, and you get this cool m11 chord when you strum strings 7,6,5,4,1 |
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Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 2:32 pm
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| I get that Bob. FACEGACE for the Maj7/Maj9. I guess that's the sort of answer I was looking for. I think I am interested in why a player chooses the extra 2 strings to enhance the harmonic possibilities of the instrument. Thanks everybody for your answers. |
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Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 2:35 pm
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| Ron Ellison, That also looks a cool suggestion. |
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Mike A Holland
From:
United Kingdom
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 2:46 pm
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| Andy. Just listened to Bobbe Seymour and thought he was great. The low string was much lower the F. I think it was a very low B. Excellent playing though! |
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2018 7:58 pm
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Yes, you hear a lot of Maj7 chords with the 8th string F as the root in that video.
As an aside, Bobbe's noodling once prompted Mrs Lee to quip, "What does that guy do for a living?".
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Stephen Abruzzo
From:
Philly, PA
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 8:45 am
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I have a 6 stringer in classic CEGACE tuning.
I also have an 8 stringer and I add one string on top and one on the bottom.
On the top, I use a re-entrant D. For those interested, it's useful for bluesy stuff and Georgeboards.com has a DVD on C6 tuning with a D on top.
On the bottom, I like a Bb as that gives me a straight C7 chord.
_________________
Four Pettingills and a Clinesmith Aluminum. Fender Blues Junior. Quilter Mini-101. |
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Dustin Rhodes
From:
Owasso OK
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Posted 25 Jan 2018 10:44 am
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| b0b wrote: |
| People who also play pedal steel often opt for the low F: FACEGACE. It gives you a pretty Maj7 / Maj9 chord on the low strings. Not many of the no pedals ever crowd use the low F, though. It's more entrenched in pedal steel culture. |
That's the really cool part of Billy Robinson's 10 string tuning. You get that low F plus the high G and D.
For reference his is FACEGACEGD |
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