C6 lever analysis

Dave Marshall · Post by **Dave Marshall** » 21 Apr 2006 6:02 pm

More newbie thinking:

I have just been analysing C6 copedents since I am in the process of building another PSG.

Some guys put a D on top and some put a G on top, and keep swapping them as the mood hits them.

Herby W's C6 201 book shows two extra levers for a total of three. Herby uses a G on top.

Al Brisco's "Pickin' Up The Dust" tab book has a tune "Slightly Sea 6th" in which he uses another lever which pulls the C's up to C#. He uses this lever in conjunction with P5 a lot. Al uses a D on top.

Using Al's lever and looking at only the first 5 strings for reasons of brevity we have:

<pre>
st 0 P5 K4 p5+K4 p5+K4 (3 FRETS RIGHT)
---------------------- ---------------------
1 | D | | | F | G#
---------------------- ---------------------
2 | E | | | E | G
---------------------- ---------------------
3 | C | | C# | C# | E
---------------------- ---------------------
4 | A | | | A | C
---------------------- ---------------------
5 | G | F# | | F# | A
---------------------- ---------------------

</pre>
So although the G on top starts on the second string, you have the best of both worlds without string swapping, by adding the C# pull.
[This message was edited by Dave Marshall on 21 April 2006 at 07:12 PM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 22 Apr 2006 3:21 am

Dave, IMHO, by far the easiest thing to do is to notice what the pros are doing. Some have the "D" on top, and others have kept the older "G" on top tuning. The important thing to keep in mind here is that the neck can be played very well with either, you really don't need to have both variations. Trying to get every change that every player has will relegate you to doing more changing than you do playing, and more importantly, it keeps you from learning and using the full capabilities of what you already have.

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 22 Apr 2006 6:31 am

My advice for a newbie on C6

Learn the OPEN TUNING
Find the chords
Find the scales
Listen to western swing progressions

Once you've done that, you will be using bar movement to get the common pedal changes and will UNDERSTAND why the pedals do what they do.

The 10-string C6 tuning is a wonderful collection of scale tones. It can be rooted in C, Am, FMa7 -- with a LOT OF STUFF THERE without using a single pedal or lever.

Once you add pedals you will find A7, D9, CMa7, and many ways to play aug and dim chords and scales. BUT . . . Explore the non-pedal tuning first. It's where most of the greats came from. Buddy Emmons, Paul Franklin, Doug Jernigan, John Hughey -- all of 'em -- can tear a C6 lap steel apart -- with no pedals. That degree of understanding will serve you well in your quest to master the C6 tuning.

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
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Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 22 Apr 2006 11:19 am

You're right, Dave. The addition of the C# lever goes hand-in-hand with the abandonment of the high G string. The C# lever made the D string possible, by giving us back the A6 tuning with the 5th on top.

There will always be disagreement about this, but I maintain that if you have the C# lever you don't need the high G string for western swing. You can use p5+k whenever you need the 5th on top. Many of the original western swing recordings were done on the A6th tuning. P5+k gives it to you.

The D string adds a lot of power for fast runs on the high strings. I have the equivalent on my non-pedal Stringmaster with a high F# on the E13 neck. The out-of-order sequence comes naturally to anyone who's spent time playing E9th pedal steel.

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<img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b2005.gif" width="78 height="78">Bobby Lee (a.k.a. b0b) - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Williams D-12 E9, C6add9, Sierra Olympic S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop S-8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6 or A6) My Blog

John Steele · Post by **John Steele** » 22 Apr 2006 12:19 pm

I must have missed something.
Dave, how did your first string end up going from D to F ?

-John

Dave Marshall · Post by **Dave Marshall** » 23 Apr 2006 6:59 pm

Thanks for catching my error, John. Bummer! It looks like I got the F in the wrong column first time around, then I did an edit to move it right to G#. Luckily it did not affect the reasoning in trying to put across my point of view.

Copedent should be:

<pre>st 0 P5 K4 p5+K4 p5+K4 (3 FRETS RIGHT)
---------------------- ---------------------
1 | D | | | D | F
---------------------- ---------------------
2 | E | | | E | G
---------------------- ---------------------
3 | C | | C# | C# | E
---------------------- ---------------------
4 | A | | | A | C
---------------------- ---------------------
5 | G | F# | | F# | A
---------------------- ---------------------</pre>
Thanks for your advice, guys. I appreciate the varied points of view.

Larry: I bought Don Helms non-pedal C6 "Your Cheatin' Heart" a while ago and have tuned a 6-stringer up hi to lo ECAGEC. I had some fun trying to learn this neck.

Of course, I play only for my own amusement, since I do not have the natural talent you guys have.
[This message was edited by Dave Marshall on 23 April 2006 at 08:02 PM.]