Slide/lap tuning on AJ's Good Time?

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 7 Mar 2017 7:31 am

What's everybody think is the slide tuning on this tune?
Song plays in E. I've tried open E and open G, so I dunno.

Credits for lap steel on the album go to Paul F. and Robbie Flint, so I don't know who did this one.

Solo starts around 1:40. Thanks. https://youtu.be/kWgL4NXO-X4

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 7 Mar 2017 9:03 am

I don't know what you are trying to play this on, but if it's a regular 6 string..........

I didn't recognize any "open" sounding strings in the recording.
I did recognize (I think) a 7th sounding lick or two.
So.......

Tune the guitar like a regular 6 string, but drop the high E to a D. This will give you that 7th sound on the top two strings.
It will also give you a full "open tuned" chord if you need it on the four treble strings.

In addition, if you drop the low E to a D, you will have an "open tuned" chord on the bottom three strings if you ever need it.

Just a suggestion, which may or may not work.
If it works, I want all of the credit.
If it doesn't, I was never here.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 7 Mar 2017 4:55 pm

C6 High G works.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 11 Mar 2017 8:49 am

So what did you find?

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 11 Mar 2017 11:09 am

I haven't messed with it enough to decide. I'm pretty sure this is recorded with a lap steel, Rattler or some such open tuned instrument.

So far, I think open tuned G....DGDGBD...lo to high, gets me the range I want for the solo and the A fills which are the signature slide licks for me.

I can play it in open E of course, or Dobro G, it's just a matter of trying to mimic the recording as close as possible. Getting the right tone and dirt is a challenge too.

I'm using 6 string lap steels for this. It's not unusual for me to retune between songs as called for. Sometimes I tune in open D and capo up 2 for E on a lot of rock and blues tunes. I use a hi G string set and tune these open tunings with them.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 11 Mar 2017 12:18 pm

It just sounds like standard Open E slide guitar "box patterns" to me. A lot of those licks involve glissing down two frets and immediately getting back up to play the next note on the lower string. I'm channeling Duane when thinking about this approach.

Of course, this can be done on a slide guitar, a steel, or in different tunings with different patterns. But both Open E (with roots on strings 1 and 6), Open A (with 5ths on strings 1 and 6), or either of those moved up or down (as you show in your pic) have all those basic box patterns. Your G dobro tuning would work too. But with Open E, you get the open root-chord. I think all this stuff lays out fine without even needing to use any Sonny Landreth-style fretting in back of the slide or anything fancy like that. Of course, if you fret behind the bar, it's easy to get tons of additional variations without needing to slide. But I don't hear any of that here.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 11 Mar 2017 7:19 pm

Did you try the C6? Paul Franklin seems to be pretty fond of it.

I'm not saying it's gonna work great for the whole song, but it sure does work for that solo.

I've been studying on Paul Franklin's work in the Peter Frampton song 'Double Nickels' from the album Fingerprints. That song is in G minor, he's playing in C6, and he plays some really nice stuff in it. Pretty sure that one is on the pedal steel, though.

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 12 Mar 2017 8:15 am

Tim, not yet. The guitars are out where we rehearse, so I'll try these tunings when we get together again. You say C6 Hi G? Mind listing the tuning lo to hi for 6 string?

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 12 Mar 2017 10:31 am

Well, I play C6 on my 8 string, but if I was gonna do it on 6, I would probably go

C-G-A-C-E-G low to high

I got to thinking about it, you can play that in Open E, you're just gonna have to go a little higher up the neck, is all.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 12 Mar 2017 10:46 am

I just tried on my Open E 6 string lap, it works great. You're gonna be using thicker strings, too, so that will make it fatten up like the record.

I'm changing my vote.

Dave Mudgett was right all along. I've been trying to learn how to C6 on my new Kingpin for the last couple weeks, I guess I had brain fart.

Richard Alderson · Post by **Richard Alderson** » 15 Sep 2022 7:41 pm

This song appears to be in the classic open E blues pattern. 12th fret on the high notes. A lot of the "grit" is in the tuning. Most of the two note chords would be at frets 5 , 7 and 12 if it was.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 9 Oct 2022 9:36 pm

I've been playing Good Time with one of the bands I work with. They absolutely want the standard Tele licks on this one, and I'm the steel/guitar/slide-guitar guy - there ain't nobody else. So I play the Tele in standard tuning. If I wanna add slide, I'm gonna have to either do it in standard tuning centered around the 9th fret (maybe temporarily drop string 5 to G), or find a cheap double-neck. This is one of those tunes where I could really use a set of Scruggs tuners on a Tele. Or I suppose I could just play it on steel without the pedals. I often play pedal steel with a guitar around my shoulder.

Richard Alderson · Post by **Richard Alderson** » 13 Oct 2022 4:17 am

You could drop the 1st string E to D, it gives you an open tuning on strings 1 - 2 - 3 - 4; You would still have standard tuning on strings 6 - 5 -4 -3 - 2 for any fingered parts. Thats a neat trick.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 13 Oct 2022 8:01 am

Yup, I drop just the high E to D sometimes. I think you may be correct. That might well work better on this tune because the signature guitar licks are mostly on the lower strings. I haven't yet had a chance to fiddle with it. My gut instinct is to have partial open tunings on the middle strings because I generally prefer the sonority of slide parts on those strings. But this case may be an exception.