Alkire E harp... Need help!

Ed Miller Jr · Post by **Ed Miller Jr** » 2 Jan 2002 4:15 pm

An Alkire E harp was brought into my shop today to have the keybuttons replaced. This is the first time i have seen one of these steels. It is a ten string model and it appears to be set up in a split tuning arrangement.(It had bass strings in the middle of the neck and on the bass side of the neck.) I need to know string gauges and how to tune this critter. it appears to be yet another supro product. any info would be appreciated.
Thanks, Ed

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 2 Jan 2002 6:04 pm

Dave Van Allen has an article about these guitars on his web site.
I don't know what string gauges were used, but Claude Brownell said in an earlier discussion that the tuning was (high string to low string):
<h3>E C# B A G# G F# F E C#</h3>

------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 2 Jan 2002 7:44 pm

This tuning has been talked about several times on the Forum.
Did the inventor play it as a solo tuning?
Was it used in the Big Band format, country, pop bands etc.? Does anyone know?
In my long association with steel guitar I
probably have heard and/or tried most of the tunings but this one eludes me.
Does anyone have any sound clips that demonstrate it's sound and strengths?
Maybe there's a web site that features a wav
or demo??

Roy

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 2 Jan 2002 11:27 pm

Claude is an absolute MASTER of the eharp. I would go so far as to say he outperforms his teacher, (the late inventor) Eddie Alkire on the instrument. Listening to Claude's tapes, you could swear he was playing a pedal guitar when in fact, it is the 10 string eharp. He plays single string and full chordal phrases with apparent ease. I tried the eharp tuning on my 10 string ShoBud frypan, but you know what they say about "teaching an old dog new tricks" !

Bill Moore · Post by **Bill Moore** » 3 Jan 2002 6:25 am

I had an E-harp for a while, it came to me set up like you describe, I think it was just a matter of someone buying 2 sets of regular guitar strings and putting them on. I later got a set of strings from Mrs Alkire, they sizes were not marked, but I checked them with a micrometer, this is what I got:
1st--.014
2nd--.016
3rd--.018
4th--.020
5th--.022
6th--.024P
7th--.026W
8th--.028
9th--.032
10th-.036
I never really got into trying to learn this tuning, I have enough trouble with E9th. Good luck.[This message was edited by Bill Moore on 03 January 2002 at 06:26 AM.]

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 3 Jan 2002 11:50 am

I formerly had a complete collection of five different models of Alkire E-harps-the first one was made by Epiphone and is the same type used by Lucky Oceans of Asleep At The Wheel fame-the following models including the rare double neck were all manufactured by National-Valco in Chicago-while I did acquire the entire numbered lesson catalog with one of the guitars-I do not care for the Alkire tuning instead I usually put on an E13th or C6th[This message was edited by PAUL WARNIK on 03 January 2002 at 11:52 AM.]

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 3 Jan 2002 5:05 pm

The E-Harp represents yet another turn in the eternal road steelers seem to follow in search of the tuning holly grail - that one tuning that does it all; an elusive and likely futile pursuit. Eddie Alkire played classical and pop music and to my ears, sounded very stiff. As Keoki said, Claude sounds great - very loose and swinging.

About 10 years ago, E-Harp player, Bob
Schaefer sent me some info on playing this tuning. Here's some of what Bob wrote said ...
--------------------------------------------
"This tuning was thoughty of and copywrited by Eddie Alkire in the late 1940's. He wanted to be able to play a simple lap steel guitar that allowed the playing of many more chords than were available at that time with the chordal tunings then in use which necessitated a lot of tuning changes, use of double or triple necked guitars or slanting of the bar with the resulting inaccuracy these steel slants produced. The E-Harp tuning allows the player to play nearly any chord the sheet music calls for without having to slant the bar. The main reason is because this tuning uses 8 of the 12 chromatic notes of the musical scale. .... To become proficient at this tuning takes a fair amount of patience and pratice. You cannot strum across any or all strings as is done in a simple chordal tuning. Three finger picks and one thumb pick are necessary. ... The right hand blocking technique you may or may not be using is only partially successful with this tuning. More important: left hand technique is recommended to silence unwanted string sounds, lifting the steel very slightly."
--------------------------------------------

Andy again:
Personally, E-Harp tuning never interested me. The Byrd diatonic interests me the most and seems the most useful of all the close interval tunings I've come across.

Claude Brownell · Post by **Claude Brownell** » 6 Jan 2002 9:41 am

Bob Schafer had it right about The Eharp. I really enjoy my eharp, started many moons ago in Easton PA,played everything Eddie ever wrote. Eddie had NO time to practice as I know he worked writting and printing 10 to 14 hours a day 7 days a week. Never took a vacation, did not drive a car until about 1950 had a secretary and his wife in his 6 story building in Easton Pa. and used all floors. I will say, if you don't want to wear 4 picks and get your ring finger working,eharp is not for you. If you don't want to read music, forget the eharp. If you need to slant forward and backwards, forget the eharp as you do not need to slant with this tuning. Yes you can slant and sometimes I do,it's your choise. I always liked the idea of six and seven string chords. which you do on rolls. You can have 3 and 4 if you like. Sometimes single notes are best.The person that tells me he is happy with a 3 string chord and sometime happy with a 2 string haromy, I would like to sit and play with him or her. I may not be the best in the world, but I wouldn't trade my eharp tuning for any other.I thank all the guys who have said good things about the eharp and me. God Bless you all Pro or Con. Happy Picking.Claude Brownell

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 8 Jan 2002 9:36 pm

Claude, I believe that you are the best Eharp player in the world today. Is that "kitchen" recording of yours available to members of the Forum? I think that most of the participants here would be blown away by the variety of chords that you get out of that long-neck steel guitar.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E7, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 9 Jan 2002 4:25 pm

I don't understand how this tuning as laid out above can work on a 30"scale guitar?
Maybe Claude scales the tuning down maintaining the same intervals?

Roy Thomson · Post by **Roy Thomson** » 12 Jan 2002 1:05 pm

Thanks to Maurie Junod I have finally been introduced to the E Harp Steel Guitar.
Last evening I listened to the artistry of Eddie Alkire, Mae Lang, Jack Moore and Ray Gaitsch.
Had I not known what tuning was being played I would have said it was a mixture of sounds from C#minor and C6th tunings.
Jack Moore really plays the chords and.. very cleanly. Mae Lang has a very exquisite vibrato on her single string playing like nothing I have heard before. Eddie's harmonics and up tempo songs were excellent considering the time frame.
It's too bad this tuning had not been perpetuated.

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 12 Jan 2002 8:47 pm

Roy,

I think that Claude's long neck guitar is tuned down a fourth, so that the Alkire tuning is actually at the 5th fret.

------------------
<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (E7, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 18 Jan 2002 5:50 am

Roy T-I dont know if you are aware that Jack Moore passed away almost a year ago-His friend Ray Gaitsch assisted Jack's widow with selling off his 125 or so acquired instruments including several E-harps-Ray told me at the IHSGA show at Joliet last year that he had to repair many of the guitars and they had been mostly all sold by that time

Claude Brownell · Post by **Claude Brownell** » 23 Jan 2002 10:39 am

YES Bobby I do have a CD, anyone can contact me at eharp@gate.net. You can't get them in stories and neither can I so hurry and e-mail me. I just got home after being gone for two weeks. Was playing in north Florida. The 30 1/2 in scale I use puts the middle of my guitar at the standard 7th fret. With 32 chords at each fret this gives me a whole lot more chords staying on the top strings for my melody. If you never played a steel and you sat down at the eharp you would find that picking certain strings together you would get chords, just as a piano player does with his right hand. Simple. The tuning allows you to play all the scales in full harmonics. All inversons are there. Many times you can run a 9th add a 7th to a 6th. Eddie really worked hard on this tuning.And wrote a complete course of thousands of studies to arranging music. Whith his teaching, when I was in high school, that was___ years ago, I was writting and arranging music for the high school band. His teaching was more then just the eharp and playing. One other thing he did was to bring the music down on the staff so you could read store bought piano sheet music. Remenber the steel music was WAY WAY up there, that got changed.
Best I get out of here, thanks for your instrest. Please e-mail me for your CD or any other reason. My very best, Longneck Steel Claude

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 23 Jan 2002 11:51 am

Yes, we owe much to (the late) Eddie Alkire. He was a pioneer who brought to the steel guitar much of what pedal players are only now discovering, and doing so without the use of pedals. Claude mentioned the fact Alkire wrote music within the parameters of the treble clef. It has always been a mystery to me as to why it was written "8va" in the first place. The only conclusion I can arrive at, recalling the old style of playing, (back in the early "A" major days), steel guitarists not only played the melody, they usually accompanied themselves on the lower strings while doing so...hence, the lower strings in order to be read had to be shifted one octive higher on the clef. This required a lot of reading in the leger lines above the staff. Also, most songs were usually written in 3 sharps to accomodate the "A" tuning. In reality, a proper way to write for the steel guitar would be to utilize both the treble and bass clefs....but who the heck would ever be able to handle all those "chicken tracks"! (ha!) Leave that job for pianists to do. Although I never had much success with the eharp tuning, (hard to teach an old dog new tricks), playing with 4 picks has been with me for some 35 years, and in addition, Alkire's book woke me up to the importance of reading music. Be sure to order Claude's tape...you will be totally amazed at this man's genius!

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 24 Jan 2002 5:53 am

Non-pedalers-please check the "Buy and Sell" section of the forum for the E-harp that I have for sale