Which neck for which tuning?

William Cannon III · Post by **William Cannon III** » 9 Mar 2015 5:30 am

For everyone out there with double or specifically in this case triple neck steels. Do you find a certain neck to be better or worse for a certain tuning? I have a Fender T-8 custom, I'm using C6 on the neck closest to me (which also happens to be the thinnest of the three) and Leon's E13 on the middle.
The far neck pickup is out for repair/rewind so I haven't had a chance to try that one yet. I've found the middle neck, being that it's thicker has a little something extra that the closest neck doesn't seem to have. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 9 Mar 2015 8:29 am

On all my multi-neck steels, the sound quality deteriorates as you get further away. Hard to pinpoint but definitely something electrical going on as the impedence changes or something.

For example - I like to use a volume/tone pedal and the tone sweep effect is always much more noticeable on the neck closest to me - I don't even bother to use it on the other necks so for me, I put my most used tuning on the neck closest to me.

I think any improvements as a result of the thicker necks is outweighed by the electrical side of the coin.

Jack Aldrich · Post by **Jack Aldrich** » 9 Mar 2015 9:20 am

I have C6 closest to me, E9 in the middle, and B11 farthest out. btw, Jerry Byrd had B11 closest to him and C6 on the outside on the ShoBud non-pedal steel he often used late in his life.

William Cannon III · Post by **William Cannon III** » 10 Mar 2015 4:53 am

My C6 neck pickup is around 15K
The E13 neck pickup is closer to 10K
I wonder now if I'm finding the lower tuning and more mellow pickup a little more pleasing to the ear than the C6 neck. Maybe this will save me the trouble of swapping pickups from one neck to the other in an endless quest for the "right" tone.
Also the C6 string set I'm using are the S.I.T brand
and I'm tuning (bass to treble) A C E G A C E G
gauges .015 to .054

Rick Abbott · Post by **Rick Abbott** » 10 Mar 2015 6:48 am

Would it be useful to put the tuning with the lightest strings on the "hottest" pickup? Then the volume would balance a bit better, too. Just thinking out loud. I don't know if that's a common practice, but I do it.

William Cannon III · Post by **William Cannon III** » 10 Mar 2015 7:12 am

I think I may just be buying into the "more mass = more tone" idea. But considering this is one massive piece of wood all the necks should resonate approximately equally, one would think. I'm definitely a newbie when it comes to multi-neck steels so this could just be part of the learning process for me. Additional question, not to derail the thread, but can anyone suggest a good 8-string minor tuning? My band plays western swing/hot jazz. I'd like something that would work over the Django stuff and some of the minor key swing tunes we do.

Jamie Mitchell · Post by **Jamie Mitchell** » 10 Mar 2015 8:53 am

William Cannon III wrote:My band plays western swing/hot jazz. I'd like something that would work over the Django stuff and some of the minor key swing tunes we do.

not that this tune is exactly gypsy jazz, but the double time solo part has that vibe. i used (6 string) C6, with a D on top. if i had 8 strings, i'd start with an E after the D and an A on the bottom. just a guess...

http://bengallagher.bandcamp.com/track/ ... er-told-me

Jack Aldrich · Post by **Jack Aldrich** » 10 Mar 2015 3:42 pm

Upon further contemplation, I notice a difference in volume and tone on my Stringmaster D-and-T-8 necks. I had thought that it was just due to pickup ageing, but now I don't know. There' no such problem with my Canopus D8, which is a lot newer.

Todd Clinesmith · Post by **Todd Clinesmith** » 10 Mar 2015 8:17 pm

On my T-8 I usually have two necks hot at one time. My main tuning A6 is in the middle, since that neck is mostly on, if I want to switch necks in the middle of a solo it is only one neck away. I keep my second most used tuning on the outside neck.
If I was playing a D-8 only, I would have my most used tuning on the outside . If both necks are kept hot, my arms are muting the inside neck.