Maurice Anderson - Statement on Universals

[Chris Reesor]

Check out this thread, Olli.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=341331

It is quite interesting.

Nice playing with Swamp Ash, BTW. Looks like you had a fun birthday.

Cheers, Chris

[Olli Haavisto]

Thanks Chris!

[Pete Burak]

Here is a link to a full article on this topic by Maurice Anderson:
https://b0b.com/wp/articles/the-future-of-steel/
Here's one quote:
"Can everything played on a double neck be played on a universal? Probably yes. Can everything played on a universal be played on a double neck? Probably not".

I am more in the Jeff Newman camp with regard to the "Mission Statement" or purpose of the Universal tuning.
Jeff's "Mission Statement" for the Universal was basically, the Universal allows you to play eveything that a player would typically need to be able to play on a typcial bandstand gig, on a single neck.
For example, he felt that nobody used the C6th "P4" change on any popular song being played on the radio or bandstand, so it was not needed.
He didn't want to hold the E-lower lever over with the same foot that used the pedals, so he lowered E's on the right and removed LKR.
It was basically a subset of the D10 pedal/lever changes.

With regard to my own needs, I myself am a big fan of the smallest, lightest, Steel possible, with the common pedals/levers I need for my gigs, and easy transport for local gigs and air travel.
Around here I leave my Steel set up, and carry it on my hip in and out of the house, in and out of my mini-van, in and out of the gig, and back. For air travel to Steel Conventions I would like to get a steel that comes in under 50lbs in a wheeled case with telescopic handle that fits in the overhead.
I am generally looking for lighter instruments and amps in the future.
Single body S12U's are what I mainly use. I can lift them easier than any other size body without straining my back.

I agree with Johnny that the Bb6th is short on typical E9th changes, but, it's Mission Statement is to play Jazz (it's lucky to even have an AB pedal!). I do however think they got the string order correct, with the top three strings being 1-D#, 2-G#, 3-F# (in E9th terms). I also think they got the Eb/Bb correct, because it puts open E and open A at the first fret, (for me as a guitar player and Steel player, this aligns existing neck knowledge).
I am basically playing an E9/B6 Uni but I have the string order of Bb6th and I tune it down to Eb9/Bb9.
This (Eb/Bb) is where I think the Sierra Session Series unwittingly gets the 25-inch Scale length correct, in that it stabalizes the lower tuning by way of string tension. I am still using standard Universal sets of strings (I occassionally try custom gages). The pedals and levers feel great with everything tuned to Eb/Bb on 25-inch Scale.

[David Mason]

The more I learn, the less I know, but... it seems to me that the early years of country music specifically on AM "hit" radio - meaning, roughly 1955 - 1968 (I'm willfully trying to exclude the geeky/college/hipster experiments of early FM radio, and burgeoning "country-rock") - it looks to me like there was a lick-by-lick, look-at-what-I-got kind of competition between a relatively small number of Nashville-based professional, radio-oriented steelers. And THAT was the process that begat the modern E9th tuning, and without that "right" tuning, you couldn't (and can't) do the right tricks. And while there's been an expansion into more pedals, combinations, more strings, and some re-arrangment of placement - "THE" essential country steel cliches are still pulls to unison, and (less) from 2 to 3 (9 to 10). And a bit of 3 to 4 and back suspension tricks?

And because it is still both a new instrument, and comparitively FAR less-played than some others, there have just been far, far fewer people doing the headscratch "what-the-hell?" moments that generate leaps in usefulness. It's more one-foot-after-the-other, sloo-oowly evolving. If it did have a proportionately larger number of jazz, classical, i.e. dissonance-loving wierdos playing it, we would hear a lot more of what's obviously in there - b7's to roots and back, 5's to 6's and back, b5's to 5 etc.

E9th steel is a steed still bred to win the 3 1/2 minute-long, AM country radio hit wars. It's not at all hard to conceive of things a steel COULD do - a bottomless, endless pit - 3-to-5-down-to-4, which begats M7-to-9-to-root, which begats b7-to-b9-down-to-root (yikes!) but you'd need both the musical reasons to DO that and the weirdos to find and use them.

There have been open-tuned, "wrong" guitars forever, if you mix in lutes and ukes and banjos and the rest. The consensus 6-string standard tuning is a mix of what intervals are desired and how fingers work and how string gauges work. And if you look at cheap, almost toy-type keyboard instruments they seemingly love to stick those magic one-finger chording kinds of features on them - and why not, if making music is a goal placed ahead of chop-building? In that context, an E9th tuning built around major-scale radio-friendly gimmicks isn't unexpected, and it's actually surprising it CAN leap out of the ruts and chase about madcap so well! In that it's "rut-brothers" are essentially major-key harmonicas and banjos, and almost malevolently-retarded "fiddle-playing" (I LOVE violins! But, fiddle....?)

The C6th family of tunings might appear more capable of coherently assaying more evolved music; but because of simple numbers, I still doubt that there have been too many people who took the entire idea down to zero, said "I can tune a 0.011" string this high and a 0.070" string this low, I can get pedals to to do THIS, so....?" Being able to execute what's needed "on a typical bandstand gig" has long had precendent over the compositional possibilities - that kinda shows, but it also means there's no end yet in sight. By now it's near-impossible to find "a voice" on six-string electric that isn't highly reminiscent of somebody else - even if you're NOT copping licks direct, whatever approach you try - somebody else has tried it too. (Better than you, too.) Steel guitar is still a wide-open frontier.

EEEK! YAY! EEEK! YAY!

[Ian Rae]

b0b recently pointed out on another thread how little time the PSG has had to evolve. As David suggests (in another fine piece, or shouldn't I encourage him?) it's more GM than organic. But despite the rapid standardisation of the D10 there are still players who experiment with other tunings because they don't have to live up to a particular musical image every day.

I went for the ready-made B6/E9 universal tuning because I seldom play country or swing, but mostly covers of a wide range of songs, and at 62 when I started I did not have a lifetime to spend experimenting - I needed to get going. I continue to study each "neck" separately because most tuition is written for one or the other but I use bits of both all the time, gradually discovering the points of overlap between the two. I couldn't do that on a twin-neck.

I'd like to think that Anderson and Newman were actually plotting the survival of their instrument beyond the rigid genres of their day.

[Rick Schmidt]

My OCD kicked in a little while reading this.... the term "E9/B6" can't be correct since there's no flat 7 note in that version of an open uni tuning. Technically, you have to have an open D natural note in there for it to be truly called E9.

Maybe they should call it EMaj9/B6?

Okay, ya'll may now carry on while I go back to turning the light switch off and on again... ad infinitum

[Pete Burak]

A Rose, by any other name...

[Ian Rae]

Rick, you're not obsessive, merely correct. When we say "E9/B6" we are acknowledging the fact that we have combined the two tunings - the fact that the D string has disappeared in the process is just one of those things. The 8th string can find itself at F, E, D# or D so it's a bit tough to pin down.

[Fred Treece]

Universal is a big word with a big meaning. With no consensus on the open tuning or copedent for a 12-string pedal steel guitar capable of being played in multiple keys at the same fret, the use of the word seems a little fraudulent. Looks like we’re stuck with it though, and it does set it apart from other “standardized” tunings and copedents. We know the difference between E9, C6, and Uni (yep they’re all roses...), no matter the accuracy of the monikers. Maybe the 6’s and 9’s and multiple key qualifiers could be dropped from uni since they are either inaccurate or redundant. Just call it E Universal, or Bb Universal, or D or whatever key your open tuning most identifies with.

[J D Sauser]

Once pedal steel guitar building evolved from the cable puller and simple changer mechanism, Maurice, understanding chords very well, felt that MECHANICALLY the two tunings could become "one".
One should keep in mind that in those years most had 3&4 on E9th and 5&1 on C6th.
But once you COMBINE, you'll find that a lot of changes blend from one into the other side, like the "B"-pedal on E9th IS the next typical added knee lever change (doing EXACTLY what it does on E9th, which is to convert the B6th from the E-to-Eb lever into a B dom7). Likewise the B-to-Bb-lever (C-to-B on C6th), has become a common change on E9th. Same again with the G#-to-G-drop, on E9th which works both tunings (A-to-G# drop on C6th, an other common add on lever. So quickly, you have 3&5 on E9th and 5&3 or more on B6th!
In other words, the two basic tunings did not just share strings, but changes from the other tuning. To Maurice as well as to Jeff Newman (although he as a teacher talked it like TWO tunings, he PLAYED it as one).

MANY did NOT understand this and thought of it of limiting themselves to two very basic versions put together and thus declared it "limited"!
One thing one side it CANNOT be limited is the E9th side! You can even add the Franklin pedal! The 6th side... I think it can be viewed as quite more sophisticated than the basic 5&1.

An other factor may have been the "Lloyd Green effect": Most if not all the older "founding fathers" of steel guitar had started on non-pedal steels and thus were well at home on 6th-tunings. The sound was Swing and even Jazz and only was "adapted" to "country"... only after Bud Isaac's "moving sound"-E-tuning did the instrument change in "character". As the instrument progressed thru the 60's newer players flocked to it, but this time, not to emulate Jerry Byrd or Speedy West but for what they'd heard Buddy Emmons, Jimmy Day etc play on Country records. And thus they went directly into E9th which quickly became the "money"-neck. While most manufacturers where still utmost happy to sell D10's to new customers, most of them C6th necks lived the worry free lazy life of Lloyd Green's back pad.
I think that is what thwarted the overtake by S12U'!
E9th-mainly players did not want to make their "money"-neck more intimidating and complicated and just stuck to S10 or D10.

I remember the last concert I saw Maurice play at the TSGA in Dallas 2000 or 2001, he got some other fellow star players spellbound a couple of times... and nobody doubted he played his infamous B-FLAT6h (which was not more complicated than his E9/B6 but was indeed a little more equipped on the Bb6th end... in fact, for those who knew him and his "house" guitars... he played the E9th/B6th that afternoon!

I have long been an E9th/B6th player and "advocate"... NEVER of course at the level of Maurice or Jeff...
I came back to steel just recently after and almost 20 year hiatus doing other things, among that playing Jazz and "Gypsy"-Swing rhythm guitar.
Got me a brand new MSA S12U E9/B6 set up as my last Carter and... well, my musical interests have changed over the years... I am not much into squeezing A&B-pedals anymore. I don't even like listing much to most of that. I am more attracted by Swing, Jazz and moderate B-Bop.
After one month, I turned the guitar upside down, yanked the "C"-pedal out, and replaced it with a B-to-C (the C-to-C# on C6th) pedal, which now conveniently sits to the left of my "5"-pedal (the II9th chord over the I6th).. they work together and moved my "6"-pedal (V dom7 two frets above the I6th) on a knee lever so that I can reach my "B"-pedal while engaged and my "A"-pedal too.
I moved the high G# to 1st and moved the F# (high G on C6th) onto 3rd string to bring the 6th tuning in line and also have it in line with A&B down (A6th)... eventually the high G# became a "chromatic" with the 2nd string "D"... so no more "Together Again".
In the end, my tuning is B6th extended using all of the key E9th changes left... I can "do" some whiny "E9th" sound if I were to become depressed or my dog got lost or.. oh well, you know!... But I changed directions.

At his point I am totally open to go to a D10 and have a standard... well HA! "standard" E9th (I wouldn't have the D on the 9th string but pull it up from a B at it's place and have a low G# to growl at people on the bottom.
And have my more elaborate C or B 6th as my home base.
But still... for an E9th player, I believe the smart-choice is an S12U. It's ALL there!


... J-D.

[Junior Knight]

It’s true I love the Bb universal tuning. I can play every E9th lick
that you play on the E9 setup. But after experimenting with
all the changes both pedals and knee levers, there are to many
tuning issues to deal with so I now settle for a more basic Bb setup..
instead of 8 & 8 on a single neck Bb, I have a basic 6 & 5.
If you didn’t know it was a Bb tuning you would think it was E9th..

[Dennis Detweiler]

I started on D-10 and played it for 8 years. I found myself playing nuances of the 6th tuning on the E9th neck. Then I bought a 12 string. At that time the 12 string players were experimenting with the tuning and copedent. I had 5 floors and 4 knees and had it tuned to D9th/D6th. I was getting a little more of the 6th tuning, but not all of it. Then Jeff Newman introduced the E9/B6 and it all fell into place for me. Plus, the E9th and B6th chords, knees and floors all landed on the same frets up and down the neck. I was able to transpose C6th tab to B6th and all of the pedals and knees fit. Dissecting E9th or C6th licks or instrumentals from a recording could be duplicated on the U-12. Also, as already mentioned, I could work in and out of both tunings in the middle of a passage or song and be more creative in an instant. The absence of the D note and being able to pull the B up to D on the ninth string created some unique voicings that aren't available on the standard E9th or C6th tuning which opens the door for a personal style. I tune my 2nd string open to C# and raise it D/D# on the same knee that raises my 9th string D to B. With the 2nd string tuned open to C# I have the best of both worlds on the B6th. So, my 1st string is F# and the 2nd string is C#. Typically on the C6th neck you either have a G for the 1st string or a D for the 1st string. I have both. The G on a C6th is my F#. Or, the D on the C6th is my C#. 5th tone and 9th tone.
The local players in my area that played D-10 for years and tried a U-12 always went back to their D-10's because it was more familiar and comfortable for them.
For me, the U-12 just made more sense, but it's not for everyone. The E9th is the money neck and provides most of the jobs in my area.

[J D Sauser]

... after experimenting with
all the changes both pedals and knee levers, there are to many
tuning issues to deal with....

I agree, TUNING is another issue. There are many "stacked" changes... some forces one to play some inversions almost in the middle between frets and others with the bar slanted some one or the other way.

... J-D.

[J D Sauser]

Has anybody looked at John Hughey's C6th?
He had a first pedal that was raising he top A half and the C next to it a whole... essentially a "Bud Isaacs Pedal"... somewhat of a C6th "universal". Ha!


... J-D.

[scott murray]

I have those changes on my C6, just not on one pedal. much more useful to separate them but yes, it's great for E9 style passages. I do it in the lower register too