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Post new topic Does anyone ever downtune string 7 from F# to E for a song?
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Author Topic:  Does anyone ever downtune string 7 from F# to E for a song?
Kristen Bruno

 

From:
Orlando, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 4 Sep 2018 8:14 pm    
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I was wondering if anyone temporarily retunes a string for a particular song, like lowering the 7th string (F#) to an E to match the 8th string for playing chords with a strum style?
Thanks
K
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Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 4 Sep 2018 8:29 pm    
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I lower 7 from F# to E (with a half-stop) on the same lever that lowers 9 D to C#. So I can strum A major or C# minor triads of as many as 11 strings.
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Dale Rottacker


From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 4:45 am    
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No, but do lower the 7th down to E on a Knee Lever, for a nice Counterpoint.
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Bobby Snell


From:
Austin, Texas
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 5:36 am    
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I lower string 7 on a pedal; it's like a reverse Sacred Steel change for strumming.
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Jon Light


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 6:59 am    
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Bobby Snell wrote:
I lower string 7 on a pedal; it's like a reverse Sacred Steel change for strumming.


Yes--after a chat a number of years ago with Robert Randolph (yes, I am name dropping) I put this on a lever for this purpose. The SS tunings actual have dual E's with a lever or pedal to raise one to F# so "reverse Sacred Steel" is an apt way to regard it.
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Ron Hogan

 

From:
Nashville, TN, usa
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 7:03 am    
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I do the same change as Dale.

Last edited by Ron Hogan on 5 Sep 2018 11:32 am; edited 1 time in total
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Geoff Noble


From:
Scotland
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 9:44 am    
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I lower string 7 to E on my zero pedal along with a tone raise on string 1 and a half tone raise on string 2.

I play a 12 string Universal so no 9 string D, which means with pedal zero down I can strum over all 12 strings as a major chord.

I made a little thingamay which holds the pedal down without having to use my foot. Combining this with a pottery bar gives a nice bottleneck type sound.

It's a lot of fun Very Happy
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Brian Hollands


From:
Geneva, FL USA
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 10:33 am    
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Jon Light wrote:
Yes--after a chat a number of years ago with Robert Randolph (yes, I am name dropping) I put this on a lever for this purpose. The SS tunings actual have dual E's with a lever or pedal to raise one to F# so "reverse Sacred Steel" is an apt way to regard it.


I'd thought I remembered that being a SS tuning - b0b has that copedent linked here https://b0b.com/tunings/sacredsteel.html
It's certainly interesting.
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Kristen Bruno

 

From:
Orlando, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2018 8:42 pm    
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Thanks. I am thinking about adding a rod to one of my pedal or knee levers to lower the F# to E.
My 10 string E9 GFI setup is at the link below. Pretty standard, I think. Looking for suggestions as to what pedal or knee lever I should connect string 7 to.

Ideally I would like to not interfere much with my regular playing, if that is at all possible.

http://www.gfimusicalproducts.com/documentation.html#E9Copedent

Thanks
K
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Jon Light


From:
Saugerties, NY
Post  Posted 6 Sep 2018 3:52 am    
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Be aware that this is a long throw. I'm not sure how much movement is required for the full step 2nd string lower on RKR but the 7th string lower, in my experience, requires pretty much the maximum that the changer can deliver with the Sho-Bud, Carter and Fessenden on which I've used it.
This could involve either changing the hole assignment of the second string rod and/or putting a lot of slack into its pull train to allow the 2nd string change to function after adding all the travel the 7th string calls for.
OTOH it is possible that the second string already requires quite a bit of pull too. In that case this addition would not be mechanically involved.

This is all to say that that RKR is the only place on that setup that I can see putting this but personally, I'd like to add an RKR2, dedicated to the 7th string lower.
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Kristen Bruno

 

From:
Orlando, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 14 Sep 2018 7:50 pm    
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mmmmm I am thinking about adding a separate vertical knee lever, since I don't have one, to lower the 7th string to E for some extra strumming power.

Geoff Noble mentioned having a tone raise on string 1 and a half tone raise on string 2. Doing that to my string 1 (from F# to G#)would be identical to my string 3. And if I did a half tone raise on string 2 from D# to E, that would be identical to my string 4. I don't think I need strings 4 and 3 duplicated with strings 2 and 1.

Does anyone have any other string change "open chord" ideas to add to this lever to give me a little more blues fun? I figured I would use it alone without the other pedals when I want to go off the country tangent a bit. Kind of like playing slide guitar, which I do a lot of.

Thanks
K
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 15 Sep 2018 7:19 am    
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Kristen Bruno wrote:
mmmmm I am thinking about adding a separate vertical knee lever, since I don't have one, to lower the 7th string to E for some extra strumming power.

Geoff Noble mentioned having a tone raise on string 1 and a half tone raise on string 2. Doing that to my string 1 (from F# to G#)would be identical to my string 3. And if I did a half tone raise on string 2 from D# to E, that would be identical to my string 4. I don't think I need strings 4 and 3 duplicated with strings 2 and 1.

Does anyone have any other string change "open chord" ideas to add to this lever to give me a little more blues fun? I figured I would use it alone without the other pedals when I want to go off the country tangent a bit. Kind of like playing slide guitar, which I do a lot of.

Thanks
K


The 1 & 2 string raises don't only give you the unison notes. They give you many licks that really can't be duplicated using strings 3 & 4 together. I hear the argument (not a fight) that "why should I have such and such a change when I already have that same note on another string". It's not just the notes you get, it's what you can do with those notes when you get them. If we all went by that logic, we would'nt have the lever that lowers the E's to D#, the C pedal, the 2nd string lower to C# if we raise 5 to C#, etc.
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Earnest Bovine


From:
Los Angeles CA USA
Post  Posted 15 Sep 2018 8:33 am    
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Bobby Snell wrote:
I lower string 7 on a pedal; it's like a reverse Sacred Steel change for strumming.


IMO it is much better on a knee lever, so you can put a half stop at F natural (E#).
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Kristen Bruno

 

From:
Orlando, Florida, USA
Post  Posted 15 Sep 2018 5:52 pm    
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I was asking for some other possibilities of what to put on the vertical knee lever besides string 7.
For the changes on strings 1 and 2 for the "licks" , I already get those changes using my RKL and I wasn't planning on changing them. ... oh , I see, my RKL ALSO affects string 6 which I don't want to change with the a string 7 lever. Let me sleep on this.

Thanks
K
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