b0b, check out these Bob Wills videos with Bobby Koefer (he's got the E13 on the outside neck). The C# note might be there with the A pedal or chromatic, but I don't think you could do stuff like this that way ...
Of course, no tuning is going help you play while looking straight into the camera... I know I'm not really talking about extended E9 here, but the idea of having all this plus the standard E9 tuning on one neck seems like a pretty cool idea to me...
Well, you might not be able to get that exact phrasing, but the notes are all there on standard E9th. The problem with inserting a C# string in the middle of E9th is that it complicates your E9th playing. You have to keep that string under control when the sympathetic vibrations from a simple A pedal lick starts it a-ringing.
If you're already an E9th player, you might find it very hard to skip that string in the licks that you already know. I ran into that when I tried to play the Sacred Steel E7th copedent. I thought adapting to an extra string (D in that case) would be a lot easier than it actually was.
Lastly, I strongly caution beginners against starting out with anything so non-standard. You will want to sit down behind someone else's steel at some point. It will be a challenge if their knee levers are a bit different from yours. If their strings are tuned to different notes, it will be impossible.
I agree with Bob. I have been playing D12 pedal steel since the late 60's and find it to be very rewarding espcially on the lower end of both E9 and C6.
Carter D12, MSA S12, 12 String Custom Made Non-Pedal, Evans FET 500LV, Evans SE200, Peavey Nashville 400, Fender Steel King
I just recently changed the E>F on string 12 over to E>C#.
I plan on changing LKV over to 1&7 +1/2 (I had it on an inside RKL, but the single body didn't allow for me to get at it easy).
Ideally, P4 should be a full Franklin, but I can only get the lowers a couple of cents sharp of their target regardless of what guage string. Even the string 6 lower that's on there right now won't go all the way.....
I'm not really making use of the string 10 raise on P3.
Bb is on my LKL because I like using it in conjunction w/ P0 to get a diminished triad, and I also agree w/ Mike Perlowin about it not being on a vertical.
P5 is a change I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Buddy Cage suggested it to me several years back. With a grip of 7,9 & 12 you can shuck a really brutal dominant chord, but I haven't found much use for it beyond that...
Basically, I'm open to suggestions with P4 & P5, and then some.
I know I'm not really talking about extended E9 here, but the idea of having all this plus the standard E9 tuning on one neck seems like a pretty cool idea to me...
