E9th tuning for lap steel music

[Paul Brennan]

HI there,

I'm thinking about purchasing an instrument, and, as far as I can figure out, some of the music I like most (e.g. Bob Wills and Hank Williams stuff) seems to have been played on a non-pedal steel in a sixth-based tuning of some kind.

I think I saw a comment somewhere on the site to the effect that you could use a single neck E9 pedal steel (e.g Carter Starter) and push a couple of pedals to get a
sixth lap style tuning which you could use for non-pedal sounds. But maybe there are limitations to this approach...

Could someone straighten this out for me, is this a realistic option? Another option would be to start on a non-pedal instrument, maybe switch later....

Thanks in advance for your help. This site is a great resource!

Paul

[Bobby Lee]

All of Don Helms' parts from Hank Williams records can be played note-for-note perfect on an E9th pedal steel. Jerry Byrd's parts, well, that's another story. They are a challenge even on a lap steel with the exact same tuning.

It's not hard to cop the basic style of 1950s country/swing on E9th pedal steel. Some exact licks might be inconvenient, but the E9th tuning grew out of that era. The roots of those old styles are still there in the E9th copedent. Listen to my ride on Sagebrush Shuffle - this is basic E9th stuff.

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