Anyone own a single neck C6th pedal steel ?

[Larry Lenhart]

I found an old post on this subject and several people responded that they had an old Fender 400 tuned to C6th or maybe B6th, etc. I think it would be interesting to own such an instrument...anyone have one they are willing to sell me ? I guess this could go under the WTB category, but at this point I am just curious how many are out there. I suppose economics of it keeps modern day builders from making one, other than on special order...just wouldnt be that much interest in it. Thanks in advance for any information.

[Herb Steiner]

Larry
I have a 1968 Emmons S-10 with 5 pedals/4 levers in a C6 tuning, with the crossbar/bellcranks installed for a 6th pedal to be added if wanted.

Don't really want to sell it, and if you're just fishing for info, etc., you probably wouldn't want to make the investment in what this one would cost you.

[CrowBear Schmitt]

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=263132

[Dave Grafe]

I have seen ShoBud and Excel S10 guitars in the C6 flavor.

[Max Bernstein]

I have a Wilcox SD-10 that I had set up in C6 with the intention of learning it, which I have failed to do. Thinking about selling it if anyone's interested.

[Larry Lenhart]

Max, I sent you an email.

[John Billings]

'67 Shobud. 6 pedals, 2 right knee levers;

[Larry Lenhart]

John
That is a very nice looking Shobud...are you in the process of setting it up for C6th...looks great !

[John Billings]

Larry,
I'm undecided about tuning. I may have it converted to 3 and 5/6, and sell it. Or I may try a new tuning based upon Bottleneck Low Bass G Tuning, but with pedals.
Unfortunately single-neck C6th guitars don't sell well.

[Dave Grafe]

Unfortunately single-neck C6th guitars don't sell well.

...and they are equally difficult to find. Keep it as it is, somebody has been looking for that guitar and all they have to do is find out that you have one -- or as with our OP, that such a guitar even exists.

[Fred Justice]

Larry, one of my local customers here in Mesa has a SD-10 C 6th with 5x5
Call me.

[chas smith]

1959 Bigsby S-10

[Larry Lenhart]

Wow, that is a fine looking Bigsby...very impressive !!! I like how the front of the guitar has space where an arm rest might be...that is a real treasure to own, Charles.

[John Poston]

On a similar note, I've been thinking lately...

What are some good modern design steels that would be easy to pick up used and reconfigure for C6 - with the caveat that I would like to position all of the foot pedals very far over to the right.

I think GFI, for example, is one, their S10 body has holes routed for crossrods all the way down the body and the foot pedals are very easy to position.

[Max Bernstein]

FYI my Wilcox C6 is over in the For Sale section.

[Jim Williams]

I wish I had one. I play c6 on non pedal...would like to learn pedal c6.

[John Billings]

Dave,
When I said that they don't sell well, I meant that they sell for considerably less than an E9th guitar. Hundreds less.
JB

[Herb Steiner]

Dave,
When I said that they don't sell well, I meant that they sell for considerably less than an E9th guitar. Hundreds less.
JB

Where did that determination come from?

I would disagree with that. The intrinsic value... i.e. the value of the sum of its parts... of an S-10 with 5 pedals and 4 knee levers is going to be the same regardless of what tuning is on the instrument. There's nothing to keep an S-10 from being either tuning.

I think there's been too few C6 S-10s sold here to make a blanket statement of what sells for less or more. If a player is shopping for a C6 guitar, that's what he WANTS. He wouldn't be looking at a C6 guitar and bargaining the asking price down because it's not E9, since there are far more E9 guitars available.

There are fewer C6 guitars because there are fewer C6 players, but that doesn't mean a guitar of that type should sell for less than an E9; only that it might take longer to sell because it's a specialty item for a particular type of player.

If anything, an S-10 in C6 should sell for MORE than an E9 of similar brand and vintage.

[Jim Cohen]

I had an S-10 C6 Excel for many years and a list of about 3 or 4 guys who had already told me that, if I ever wanted to sell it, they wanted to buy it. I eventually did sell it, for the same amount that a similar E9 S-10 Excel would have sold for. They likely would have been willing to pay somewhat more, even, for the convenience of not having to switch it (or pay someone to switch it) over to C6 from E9.

[John Billings]

Going price for a Shobud C6th seems to be around $1,200. A 3 and 5 E9th goes for a couple hundred more. I will be selling this guitar, and it will have an all new barrels behind two-hole pullers mechanism. So,,,,,,, anyone interested, shoot me an email.

[Jim Williams]

Coming from a non pedal background, could I configure a guitar with four pedals/no levers to a useful limited c6 pedal? Guitar is a Blanton S10.

[Lane Gray]

Many people do without P4, and I think you probably do without the standard lever.
So I'd just go with (low to high) CFACEGACED
With pedals
1: 10 raise to D, 9 raise to F# 5 lower to F# (P5)
2: 6 lower to Eb, 2 raise to F (P6)
3: 4 raise to B, 3 raise to D (P7)
4: 10 lower to A, 9 lower to E, 7 raise to C# (P8)

Or put P8 on 1, P5 on 2, P6 on 3 and P7 on 4

[Sez Adamson]

I play mostly C6th on a D10 Legrand. I also have a S10 Williams E9th tuning, which is what I take on the occasional session and gig where the E9th sound is required.
Although the Legrand is a ‘standard’ double neck, I have made some sacrifices on the E9th neck in order to give maximum ‘utility’ to the C6th neck. So to all intents and purposes, it is the reverse of what I have heard referred to as “E9th tuning with a spare parts neck”.

RKR lowers (C6th) string 3 from C to B, and on E9th string 2 from Eb to D. I used to have the standard Eb to D to Db with a feel stop on the E9th neck, but I found that this affected the feel of RKR when using the C6th neck, so I abandoned the D to Db part of the change on the E9th neck in order to achieve minimum movement and optimum ‘feel’ of RKR on the C6th neck.

RKL (C6th) raises strings 4 and 8 from A to Bb. I previously had the F#’s moving to G# on the E9th neck, but again this meant a significant movement of the lever, much more than was required to move the A’s to Bb on the C6th neck. So I disabled the change on the E9th neck in favour of the better feel on the C6th neck.

The E9th neck still has loads of functionality so the changes I have made are not a train smash.

Ideally, if I were buying a new Steel (which I hope to do at some stage), I would want two sets of Right knee levers: One set operating on the E9th neck, and the other set on the C6th neck. I would simply fold away the set that is not required. Again just stating my own personal preference in this regard. I view the two tunings almost as two separate instruments. I play E9th in a regular way; two finger picks and a thumb pick; Right foot on the volume pedal. On C6th I use three finger picks and a thumb pick, and my right foot on the pedals, typically 7, 8, & 9. I ‘kick’ the volume pedal out of the way in case I touch it by accident.

Other than as a practice instrument at home, I find it difficult to ‘justify’ a single neck C6th instrument. My experience has been that whenever I do gigs, there is always a demand for the E9th sound.

My apologies if I have expanded the topic, and gone on a ‘detour’. This is a subject on which I have expended a very significant amount of thought time, and I still end up with a ‘best compromise’ solution. Bear in mind that the issues I have touched on, are in relation to the style(s) of music that I want to play, and will not apply to everybody. I don’t think there is any ‘one size fits all’ answer when it comes to Steel Guitar configurations. So my last comment would be to decide what style of music would you want to play on the C6th neck (Western Swing, Chord Melody, Single note improvisation etc), and configure the Pedals / levers accordingly.

[Stephen Gambrell]

Didn't Redd Volkaert get a C6 steel, a few years ago?

[Kenneth Caine]

I bought Jim Cohen's C6 Excel and switched it to E9th from C6. I played it as C6th for awhile. I had been playing C6th on a lap steel and wanted more the E9th sound. Still sounds great.