Favorite grips on E9th

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 3 Sep 2010 9:23 am

I guess you would call my style of playing "chordal melody".
The main reason I went to pedal steel was the ability to get full, three string chords.
I tab out a lot of gospel music and I find that my favorite grip is the 5th, 6th and 8th strings.
It just seems like this combination gives me the fullest and richest sound on the E9th neck.
Also, there are a lot of chord possibilites with the use of pedals and levers with that string combination.
Sometimes this results in having to play up in "Hughey land" but it is still my preference.

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 3 Sep 2010 10:42 am

Erv, I must say that I think the same way as you. My favorite strings are also 5 6 and 8, and in particular 5 and 6 and there again, the 5th string has its very own unique sound. It is something I can't describe but very special indeed. Maybe it's just my guitar or maybe its my ear, but this string is my favorite. It's not the way I set my amp...I have the 112 set quite an unorthodox way these days. Still the 5th rings thru as very special..to me anyway.

I can also sympathize with you about playing 'chordal melody' I love using 3 strings as wall. Maybe I do it too much.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 3 Sep 2010 10:46 am

Bent,
I have written complete tabs using nothing but the 5th, 6th and 8th string combinations.
They just sound richer and fuller than any other combination, glad you agree.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 3 Sep 2010 11:00 am

4, 6, & 10 have a big, rich sound, too.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 3 Sep 2010 11:47 am

4, 6, & 10 have a big, rich sound, too.

Yeah, I like 3, 5, and 8 too..

Bent Romnes · Post by **Bent Romnes** » 3 Sep 2010 1:14 pm

I want to add that I have taken a liking to 6 8 and 10 lately as well. This guitar of mine sounds so nice an bassy... rich kinda,on the lower strings. But then again it could be my tinnitus

Johnny Baker · Post by **Johnny Baker** » 3 Sep 2010 5:29 pm

I like the 4, 5, & 6 but settle for the 5, 6, & 8 on a
lot of songs. Sometime I will grab just the 3 & 5 to get
attention.

Bill Howard · Post by **Bill Howard** » 3 Sep 2010 5:29 pm

Bent Romnes wrote:I want to add that I have taken a liking to 6 8 and 10 lately as well. This guitar of mine sounds so nice an bassy... rich kinda,on the lower strings. But then again it could be my tinnitus

Winnie Winston once wrote about guys riding the 3rd and 5th string to death he also talked about it at a seminar,seems a Jeff Newman did also at a concert/show
4-6-10 I started playing the Unseen Hand using 4-6-10 I raise my 4th string(only4) to F# with a knee lever You can get some really killer sounds on those strings Glad to see some other person is doing it also,that tenth string adds so much to the Sound Sort of like Chet style adds to Guitar solos.
Keep it up Bent you would like it even better if you could raise that 4th string by itself, Later Thanks bill

Lonnie Zsigray · Post by **Lonnie Zsigray** » 4 Sep 2010 12:14 am

3,5 and 10 or just 3 and 10 have a cool bite on a ballad.I use these combinations quite a bit.

Ken Metcalf · Post by **Ken Metcalf** » 4 Sep 2010 6:04 am

Don't forget plain old 8 and 5 for all round, coolest sound..

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 4 Sep 2010 9:30 am

5,6,and 9 sometimes with the A pedal for some Jimmy day 7th stuff.

Richard Park · Post by **Richard Park** » 4 Sep 2010 2:23 pm

Well, thank you guys for this. I'm always reverting to 5,6,8 and telling myself I should be somewhere else. I guess there's some method to the madness.

Barry Hyman · Post by **Barry Hyman** » 4 Sep 2010 5:28 pm

My favorite grip when practicing is 11, 10, and 8 (on my extended E9th 12 string) but sometimes they get lost in the mix when the whole band is playing, so I switch to higher strings. I also have found some killer seventh chord inversions on 11, 10, 9, and 8.

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