Question for Earnest Bovine (lowering string 7 to F/E RKL)

[Steve Leal]

Hi Earnest,

First I must say that you are one of the greatest and innovative pedal steel players I have ever heard live. I used to watch you at Swallows Inn playing with Chris Gaffney and was just awwed by how cool of notes and tones you produced. This was before I ever tried playing pedal steel.

My question to you is why do you lower string 7 to F/E on your RKL? What type of sounds/licks does this change do? Does it work in conjunction with other lever changes?

On my BMI lefty steel, I have a couple of your regular changes (lowering 3 and 6 a half tone on a lever, raising 6 a whole tone on zero pedal) and I love using these two together to get your seventh tone on string 3 in the A B pedal position. This is so much more useful than how Norm Hamlet got this sound with his zero pedal setup. I had raised 6 a whole step for many years, but just recently discovered how this works so well with the 3 and 6 lower. Thank you!

Stephen

[John McClung]

I'd like to know too, Doug! Always studying copedents as I revise my own.

[Earnest Bovine]

why do you lower string 7 to F/E on your RKL? What type of sounds/licks does this change do? Does it work in conjunction with other lever changes?

Thanks for the nice words and reminders of Chris.

Lowering my 7th string F# was originally just a copy of the common P5 on C6 tuning, lowering only a half step. At that time my 3 pedal E9 had P3 raising 5 and 6 a whole step, a copy of the common P7 on C6 tuning. So with those 2 changes, my E9 tuning had most of the C6 sounds that you would have on a universal tuning (but not the very low notes of course.)
That use of the half step drop on string 7 would be to E#, giving you a C# 9th chord for example. But I found that it was also useful to change the D major chord to D minor. The 5th string with A pedal gives you Dm6 and Dm Maj7, which are useful melody notes. The temperament (fine tuning) of that F is quite a bit higher than the note when used as E#, but since it's a knee lever, you can just listen and control it.


The whole step drop on string 7 came soon after, just tightening the nut to see what would happen. The half stop at F worked right away on the old Sho-Bud, with the half stop on string 2 on the same lever. It is just like dropping your middle G to F on the C6 tuning. Maurice Anderson used it a lot on his Bb 6 tuning (lowering F to Eb on a knee lever).

Also, because the same lever lowers string 9 D to C#, you can even get the hillbilly sound of mashing the AB pedals on strings 6,7,9, or strings 7,9,11, using just RKL to change between the D major triad and A major triad.

And of course there are lots of other uses for this pull once you get used to knowing it is always there

[Earnest Bovine]

I have a couple of your regular changes (lowering 3 and 6 a half tone on a lever, raising 6 a whole tone on zero pedal) and I love using these two together to get your seventh tone on string 3 in the A B pedal position.

This I do not understand. Are you raising 6 a whole step to A#, and also using the knee lever to lower it to A? I think that would be hard to tune, and anyway it is much easier to just mash the AB pedals.

[Steve Leal]

Earnest,

Wow, thank you so much for your great info! I can’t wait to fiddle around with this change.

Yes, when I raise 6 to A# and lower 6 back down to A with a separate lever, the tone is landing right on A with my BMI (no splits). When I do this combination, I get my G note on string 3 rather than having to grab the G on string 1. I still do it that way typically, but it is cool to have both options and I like sweeping down from 3 to 6.

[Steve Leal]

Earnest,

I sat at my steel and lowered string 7 first a half step which I see is great to get the D minor position starting on string 9. I also see how cool it sounds in conjunction with lowering Es and lowering string 9 to C# to get the 6 interval 9th chord,...or just lower string 7 and 9 a half step together to get that BooWah chord!

Dang, I see the compromise. Man, would be nice to have a separate lever to lower 7 independantly

[Steve Leal]

Hi Earnest,

Here is what my copedent worked out to be. I am really liking this setup. Thank you again for the inspiration!

[Earnest Bovine]

Wow, that is the closest I've ever seen to my setup. Lowering 7 F# only a half step actually has an advantage that I sometimes wish I could do; namely a nice 2-5 in F# minor on open strings 5,6,7,9. (5,7,9,11 on my 12 string)

[Steve Leal]

I really like when I have my Es lowered two frets down from open position making the 2m chord ... then activate pedal 1 to get that dissonance note ... deactivate pedal 1 ... and finally activate the half step lower of string 7 and 9 to make the 5 dominant 7th chord (still two frets down from open).

Also love the sound when the open position is 5 chord ... active lower of string 7 and hit strings 4 and 5 together ... then slide down 3 frets ... then release and slide up 1 fret while lowering Es to get the 1 6th chord to resolve. Like Buddy's jazzy version of "I Love You Because" haha!

[Billy Carr]

While there's certainly different ways to use the F# note, up or down, I first heard Gary Hogue dropping the F# to E while he and Jr. Knight were playing together at a music store in Texas. Then the 1993 Waco show video is GH on a D-10 MCI and the F# to E lick is there along w/JK. Great pickers all over Texas !!!