Tuning a Blanton?

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 30 Apr 2014 7:30 am

I will soon be in possession of a Blanton Single 10 that I have rescued. I understand the tuning of these is very simple but a bit different as pedals are tuned from underneath. This one has four pedals and no levers. I have read posts on the forum saying they were very easy to set up once you get used to the mechanism. If anyone who has or currently owns one of these could send me a short description of how the pedal tuning works, it would probably save me some time and would be appreciated. Thanks.

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 30 Apr 2014 10:29 pm

Jerry Blanton Lives In The San Antonio, Tx. Area.
If You Know Any Steel Players Over There, They May Be Able To Give You A Contact Ph. No.

Roger

Bill Bertinot · Post by **Bill Bertinot** » 2 May 2014 12:32 pm

Jim, I played a Blanton for 30 years. I bought it new from Jerry in San Antonio.
Here's how I tuned up:
1. Tune up with no pedals first
2. While sitting at the steel feel underneath (you'll probably have to look under and locate in the beginning) - find the big screws that are on the bell cranks, brass part connected to the rods under the steel
3. Depress the pedal you're tuning and adjust the screw - they turn very easily. Also by depressing the pedal you can feel that you have located the correct screw.

They stay in tune very well and sound great. See my YouTube video of the Blanton in action!

http://youtu.be/8QxUHtoTFGw

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 3 May 2014 6:36 am

Thanks. I've seen your video before and and love your performance of that song, and the old Blanton sounds great. Mine is a single 10. It is very nasty from apparently setting up for years, but I think it is going to clean up very well. It is set up to a bit different copedent than I've seen, or someone may have moved a rod or two. I'm probably going to remove the rods and give it a good cleaning and lube underneath, then remove keyhead and tuners and work on the topside. Not sure what to do on the changer yet. Its not all that gunked up and I'm a bit Leary of messing with it much. I'm probably going to post some before and afters later on.

Bill Bertinot · Post by **Bill Bertinot** » 3 May 2014 7:50 pm

I'm glad You liked that video - I sold the Blanton shortly after. One day I'll get another one. That would be great to see some pictures of your project. The Blanton was very solidly built and extremely easy to work on.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 4 May 2014 5:41 am

I tuned it up (at least the 7 strings that are on it) yesterday and set the A and B pedals up. It sounds great and was very easy to tune. I'm going to take the strings off today and give the topside a good cleaning and polishing and restring it. I'm debating how to set this guitar up. Since it has four pedals and no levers I'm considering C6th. Ill probably set it up E9 to begin with though and play it awhile before deciding. What would you suggest for pedal 4?

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 4 May 2014 6:24 am

Off the top of my head, I'd go
1:A
2:B
3: lower Es
4: drop 6 to F# (and maybe 2 to C#)

OR (I can see others doing it, I wouldn't)
1: raise Es
2:A
3:B
4:C

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 7 May 2014 8:13 am

So Lane, I'm assuming you are putting the E lowers on pedal 3 so they can be used in conjunction with the B pedal easily? Is the loss of the C pedal something to be concerned about? What about putting the C pedal on 4 to give basically the equiv. of a 3 pedal 1 lever setup, or do you think the Pedal 4 you mention above would be more useful? Would I need to mutate and grow a third foot?? This is really a nice old guitar...I'd like to make it as useful as it can be. If I had access to the right machinery and a bit more talent I would consider adding a few levers.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 7 May 2014 12:54 pm

Right. The E lowers in example 1 sit next to B so you can use them together.
To get the commonly used B9th chord of A+B+E lowers, you'd need to double foot
Is the lack of a C pedal something to raise a concern? No more so than your missing levers. I think I'd see if Jerry Blanton has parts sitting around to complete the guitar to 4&4 or 4&5, or two more bellcranks to make it a 4&0 C6th guitar.
To play a 4&0 E9th setup will, be definition, be incomplete and full of compromise: more easily played by seasoned players who can envision how to pull what they want out of a guitar lacking changes than by a newer player still trying to come to grips with the absurdity of wrangling tones out of these crazy things.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 7 May 2014 1:12 pm

what could I do towards C6 with the 8 bell cranks I have currently? I did correspond with someone the other day who indicated he might have a couple of bellcranks as well. I mean, if I wanted to go ahead and set it up for c6 while waiting on the bellcranks, what would be the best setup / what to leave off initially?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Lane, I really appreciate it.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 7 May 2014 1:29 pm

Hmmm. I think I'd modify the tuning a bit while waiting for the bellcranks, because a C6th 4/0 needs 10
D
E
C
A
G
E
C
A
E
D
P1=P8, pulling 10 down to A and 7 up to C#
P2=P5, pulling 9 up to F# and 5 down to F#
P3=P6, pulling 2 up to F and 6 down to Eb
P4=P7, pulling 3 up to D and 4 up to B
When two more cranks and rods appear,
tune 9 to F, with P1 pulling it down to E and 2 pulling it up to F# and
tune 10 to C, with P1 pulling it down to A and P2 pulling it up to D

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 7 May 2014 1:38 pm

Thanks Lane, I really can't decide what to do with this guitar. I have a little more cleaning to do on it, but it is in very playable condition as is. It is a very good instrument, but I am concerned about the lack of levers as a beginner. I also have a good E9 3/3 BMI, so the thought of trying C6 on it is appealing. I've played 6 string non pedal C6 for about a year now, but don't really know much about pedal and there doesn't seem to be a large amount of info out there for it either though. Being used to C6 non pedal, do you think it could be picked up fairly easily without a lot of instruction?

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 7 May 2014 2:53 pm

YES. I assume you already do corner slants, so that you have a E9th or G7th with the nose at the 2nd fret (hitting the E and C strings on 2 and the G string on 1 for the E9, and the C and A strings on 2 and the low E on 1 for the G7)
That's what P5 and P6 do.
If you watch the C6th videos out there, most of the playing happens without pedals.
If you don't know what I mean by corner slants, I'll try to put up a video this weekend. My steel is packed up for shampooing the Carpets in my living room, but I still have the Dobro.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 8 May 2014 4:34 am

Yes I know about slants. That would be helpful the have pedals for that. A bit concerned about what to do with the 4 extra strings

. I'll probably pick up a set of c6 strings and give it a try.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 8 May 2014 8:41 am

That's a big drop on string 10...I hope this changer can do that much.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 8 May 2014 8:52 am

10 can drop pretty far. The Boowah pedal moves less than the A pedal.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 9 May 2014 6:22 am

Well, I got a set of C6 strings on it yesterday but did not change any pedal settings as of yet. I just decided to play it a little without pedals before changing anything.

The only real problem I notice is the huge 10th string being uneven with the others. The set I bought carries a 66 for that string. I put a smaller string on it temporarily which is ok for non pedal but I am sure will have a problem lowering to A.

I am probably just going to put the E9 strings back on and finish cleaning it up and put it out there for sale. I really bought it to rescue it from neglect to be honest. I would love to see someone wind up with it that needs a good basic guitar and appreciates the design and build quality of the guitar and knows how to "play around" the lack of levers. Although I did find out that Jim Flynn sells a lever kit for $175 each for the Blanton. If I didn't already have a good BMI I would probably invest the money to put a couple of levers on it.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 9 May 2014 7:46 am

66? That's light. I like 70 or 72.
It doesn't take much bar pressure to get 10 sounding good.
I think it'd sell quicker with the knees, but I dunno if they'd add $700 to the value

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 9 May 2014 8:08 am

I doubt if they would. Somebody who buys this would probably be someone who is familiar with Blanton and wants one for what it is. If I didn't already have a steel to play I could add the levers and have an ok amount of money in it, but I doubt I could get it out.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 13 May 2014 11:16 am

An update Lane, I tried playing the ten string C6 tuning a bit and it was extremely awkward to me coming form a 6 string. I currently have strung it as an 8 String using leaving off the 1 and 10 strings and tuning (lo to hi) A C E G A C E G. I find this easier to adapt to...when I get comfortable with this I will probably add the other strings back in for the standard 10 string setup. I haven't configured the pedals yet. I may just go back to the ten strings though and try to get used to it, as I really hate to set the pedals up twice. The thing really sounds nice in C6.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 13 May 2014 11:31 am

Quibble. That leaves off 9&10. And many have gone to a reentrant D rather than G on 1.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 13 May 2014 11:52 am

I miss stated that, I meant I'm physically using string positions 2 - 9 to keep strings in the middle of the fretboard, but yes leaving the two lowest strings off. I did that somewhat due to the fact that string 1 on this guitar is right on the edge of the fret board and a bit hard to see. I may move them back over though so I could set the pedals "normally" and not have to re set them when I put the other two strings back on. Think I just created a bit of work for myself, and this thing is not the easiest thing in the world to string.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » 22 May 2014 12:09 pm

Lane Gray wrote:Off the top of my head, I'd go
1:A
2:B
3: lower Es
4: drop 6 to F# (and maybe 2 to C#)

OR (I can see others doing it, I wouldn't)
1: raise Es
2:A
3:B
4:C

How about: 1 - Raise E's, 2 - A 3 - B 4 - Lower E's?

Would give two most used pedals and levers for beginners type stuff?

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 22 May 2014 2:42 pm

I admit I'm in the minority, but I'd give up the E raises before I'd lose the 6 drop.

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 23 May 2014 10:22 pm

Typically I'll get a Fender 400 in for a setup and if the player wants a 9th tuning on it I'll set it up with a D9th tuning to avoid string breakages and lots of them have only 4 pedals so I'll set them (as you say Jim) - P1=E raises, P2 and P3= std A and B pedals, and P4= E lowers.