g lever

Terry Pendlay · Post by **Terry Pendlay** » 16 Aug 2006 10:43 am

I AM A NEW PLAYER JUST LEARNING. I SEE ON A JEFF NEWMAN TUNING CHART THAT THE G LEVER RAISES # 1 AND LOWERS #7 . ON MY CARTER SD10 THE G LEVER RAISES 1 and lower #6 can i get a 7th chord with a and b pedal down and g lever if i tune the 6 string with g lever to the same as the 7 string would have been. the 7 string is not connected to the g lever. looks like a easy 7th chord at the major position with a and b pedaldown/ any one?? thanks .terry

Michael Barone · Post by **Michael Barone** » 16 Aug 2006 11:51 am

Terry, String 7 is commonly tuned to F#, which gives you the 6th of the open chord, with pedals down. With pedals down, you want a G natural somewhere (usually on string 6 or 7) to make a seventh chord. You may also get a 7th chord using string 1, if it is raised to G.

Try this first. with pedals down, engage your G lever and see if string six is close to being in tune with the G natural that I think you want there. This is called a "Split", since the 6th string is (most usually) lowered a full step with a lever, and returned a half-step higher with the 'B' pedal.

If it is out of tune, go to the Carter website, where they have instructions on "Tuning the Split". If you follow their instructions carefully, you should end up with a 7th chord using pedals down with your G lever simulaneously.

Your Carter may have 2 pull rods for raising string 6. One of these is designed for tuning the split, where the tuning nut (on mine) is marked with paint. Take a look at your tuning nuts to see what you have.

Hope I'm on the right track here. Someone will hopefully post and correct me if needed.

------------------
Mike Barone
2006 Carter S10 5&5, Sho-Bud Pro-1 5&5, BJS 15/16" Bar, Nashville 112
Assorted Guitars & Keyboards

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 16 Aug 2006 6:35 pm

Which brings up an interesting...and confusing...point.

WHY can't builders and instructors somehow form a loose consortium and decide on SOME kind of standard for naming levers? I have very litle E9 material...don't even have an E9 guitar right now...and the stuff I have notes SIX different names for the first THREE typical levers (and there's not even any agreement on what the third one does - a drop to d, a drop to C#, or both with some kind of "feel stop" in the middle.

One lever with these names on tab/in books: E;(1/2)g;D;(1/2)D;1/2K3;K3;-;--.

Pretty ridiculous. You need a white board from Office Depot on a wall just to cross-reference all this gobbledegook.

The A, B, and C pedals are called the same thing, even when reversed, depending on their function. The knee lever thing is a mess - every post asking about knee levers has to explain what his are called AND what they do before going any further.

Consistency would be awfully nice.

I bring it up because it IS relevant to the thread - Terry is a new player as am I) and we have to explain the question...then hope the answers are explained in understandable terms, instead of "x" lever, "1/2 z" lever or something else that could mean 3 or 4 different things.

Is everybody too stubborn to just agree on one sytem of naming things?

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 16 Aug 2006 7:37 pm

Jim, You got that right,The c6th courses and tab is just as confusing,I have seen instructing and tab by such great players as Doug,Herby,Buddy,etc,etc,and all of them are different in a lot of ways.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 16 Aug 2006 8:53 pm

A lot of people raised both F#'s to G back in the 70's and 80's. There was a trend to do things in octaves. It was simpler that way.

Then along came the mechanical idea of tunable splits. and someone realized that he could get that G note out of a sixth string full step lower, with pedals down. This added a new, very useful change to the copedent.

Since the 7th string raise gives you the same note, lots of people moved the pull rod from the 7th string to the 6th. It was an evolutionary thing, one of the few changes that was a "net gain" in versatility.

Myself, I've stuck with the 7th string raise to G. I've been using it for too long to abandon it now. It's like an old friend.

And Jim, it's always been called the "G lever" by everyone I've known who uses it.

------------------
<font size="1"><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b2005.gif" width="78 height="78">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog </font>

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 16 Aug 2006 8:58 pm

By the way, Terry, I just checked and Jeff's G lever raises the 7th string F# to G. It doesn't lower it. http://jeffran.com/tuning.php

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 17 Aug 2006 5:27 am

I've lowered the 6th string to a full tone since 1972 (with a "feel" half stop on a PP Emmons and now a split with my Franklin).

Next to the Knee Lever that lowers the E's a half tone it's probably my most used change.

My knee lever also raises the 1st string a full tone and raises the 2nd string a half tone.

My copedent is on my web site www.gulfcoaststeelguitar.com

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 17 Aug 2006 6:19 am

Bobby,
I'm with you on raising the 1st and 7th

strings to G. I'd rather fight than

switch!

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 17 Aug 2006 9:58 am

Unless i am missing something here,the 7th string tuned to F# on the E9h tuning makes it the 9th.Not a 6th.Am i reading something wrong?

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 17 Aug 2006 1:10 pm

When you've got the A & B pedals mashed

down, the F# is a 6th.

Wayne D. Clark · Post by **Wayne D. Clark** » 17 Aug 2006 1:40 pm

Jim, you bring up an interesting point concerning KL's. My MSA D10 only has two KL's, one lowers the E's to Eb and the others raises the E's to F. The charts I have show D lever Lowers "E". E lever lowers D. F lever raises E and G lever raises F#, If I had 4 KL's I would set them up as "D" to lower E, "E" to raise E, "F" to lower D# and "G" to raise F#. My reasoning on this configuration is, The Knee that activates the D lever to lower the E to Eb would be the same Knee that would activate the E lever to Raise the E to D. since you cannot lower and raise the same string simultaneously. this leaves your other knee to deal with the other two levers adjusting 2nd string D# to D and and F#'s to G.

I have another Item about the "C" pedal Bob, but will start a new Thread

MSA D10 8/2

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 17 Aug 2006 2:17 pm

Erv.You are correct about the 7th string being a 6th with the A&B pedals mashed.But he was told that the 7th string F# was a 6th in open E.It is a 9th in the open E.Only trying to help him not get confused on this.