Determining My Copedent On Dekley S12 5+4 Universal Tuning

[James Eckels]

Hi everyone,
My name is James, I live in Utah & I just bought my first Pedal Steel Guitar! I got a Dekley S12 5 pedals 4 Knee Levers (SN# is either 121-0028 or SK103-2 ), not sure how old it was or what the original setup was. It didn't come with a copedent chart and the seller was unsure, the 5+4 setup seems a bit odd from what I can tell. I do not know how to play a standard guitar or any other string instrument! I have been playing the trumpet since 4th grade and would consider myself highly advanced but I've never had to deal with chords aside from a little theory and improvisation but I have a good ear and have lots of experience transcribing on trumpet, so please be patient as I am new to the world of guitars! I've been doing lots of research the last few months & finally decided to pull the trigger on a PSG. (I did buy a used 6-string lap steel a few years ago to get my feet wet and have learned a few songs by ear but I have no clue what notes or chords I am playing haha. I quickly realized that what I really wanted to learn was pedal steel, both because of the sound and most of the songs I wanted to learn were originally played on it & very difficult on lap steel.)

I went through & tuned the strings they were already in E9/B6 Universal I believe, most of the strings were about a 1/4 step flat. I then went through and tried to determine what each pedal & lever did to each string and filled out the chart I made below. I am wondering if this is a copedent that anyone recognizes or if it makes sense / if I may have some out of tune movements and need to adjust things? I also am looking for some good learning resources for Universal tuning on S12, I found a few good things but am open to any suggestions for a very beginner player. Big thank you in advance & thanks for this forum, great resource!

[Ian Worley]

If you haven't already, have a look here: https://b0b.com/wp/copedents/. There are a lot of different players' copedents listed to give you an idea of the potential variability.

The most standard uni setup will have 7 pedals, with peds 1-3 covering standard E9 changes (A-B-C pedals) and peds 4-7 covering the standard changes found on C6 pedals 5-8 (usually in a slightly different order than standard C6). Strings 9 & 10 on standard E9 are D and B. Uni tuning omits the D to provide the same string to string intervals as C6 on strings 4-12 when the Es are lowered but a half-step lower, so B6. So when I say "C6" here I'm referring to the standard changes on a double neck guitar where the back neck is tuned to C6. A uni like yours is emulating the intervals of a standard C6 neck, but those pitches/changes are all actually a half-step lower. I hope that's not too confusing.

Your A-B-C pedals and left knees are standard E9. You have an extra G#-A raise on string 10, which is common on a uni

Peds 4 and 5 are not standard but contain parts of some standard C6 changes. The P4 string 7 F lower is part of a standard C6 ped 5 change, the string 11 change should be F also, not F#. The string 8 D lower is the most important part of a standard C6 ped 6, but the G#-A raise on this pedal will alter how you can use it.

The RKL G raise on string 1 is very common on E9, the string 9 raise to D is very common on uni. These should work fine together, though it's more common to have the string 9 D on the same lever as the string 2 D lower.

The RKR D lower on string 2 is also very standard on E9, the other changes on that lever are useful and common on a uni, though not typically combined in this way. This is most likely a product of having too few pedals for all the normal uni changes, and an offshoot of the previous owner's style of play. The D lower is a very useful and common E9 change but also having the Bb change on 5 would alter how you could use it. It's not a change I would want but I'm sure there was a reason the previous owner did that based on their style of play. The low G# on that lever is a standard C6 ped 8 change, AKA the "boo-wah".

There are lots of things you could do to change the copedent around, but I would suggest just focusing first on the A-B-C pedals and the left knees to start, learn the fundamentals of E9, then you can start incorporating the other changes (or altering them) with a better understanding of the "whys". I would also suggest backing off the tuning nut on the string 5 Bb change on your RKR for now. Just loosen the nut until it no longer contacts the changer when you engage the lever. The string 2 D lower is a fundamental change you should include in your early learning process.

[James Eckels]

Hi Ian,

Yes I had gone through that site and found a couple charts as references that where mostly similar, used those as sanity checks when filling out my chart.

I noticed that most uni 12 seem to be 7-11 pedals, I'm sure it'll be fine for getting started though. Yup so you would drop the E's & paly one fret higher right?

I thought that F# on 11 seemed weird, thanks for confirming!

Thanks for the advise, I will try loosening that and getting rid of that Bb change! Definitely going to get more comfortable moving around before I try learning much C6 stuff.

[Fred Treece]

5 & 4 is more of an E9 extended setup on an S12. This looks like a Uni wannabe.

[Chris Brooks]

I agree with Fred. It's an extended E9 with a couple of extra pedals--which is great!

This is a good solid axe. Play it as is and get the changes in good working order. Ext E9 is a great tuning.

Later you could add the lower F# (string 7) to G change to RKL.

Oh: I strongly suggest leaving the B to Bb change!

[Ian Worley]

There is no steel guitar dictionary but I think to most folks, "Extended E9" is standard E9 tuning with two extra strings on the bottom. That would include a string 9 D, with E on the lowest string, the number of pedals is not really that relevant but what they do is. This guitar is tuned as a uni without that D in the middle, B6 across strings 4-12 when Es are lowered, the extra changes lean toward that usage too. But... you can call it whatever you want.

[Fred Treece]

Understood, Ian. It is obviously trying to be a Uni. I would put that D string back on and go with E9ext. A lot of options for Pedals 4&5, and the levers. Either that or go all the way 7&4 with the Newman Uni setup.

[Justin Shaw]

I probably would put a D string on it as well, but the OP said that he's pretty new to stringed instruments generally. The tuning as it is would be more forgiving while he learns the fundamentals. The D is a wrong note much of the time, and having it in the middle of the tuning of 12 strings can be a lot for a beginner. Actually I'd love to play it as is there's a lot to like there. Still, there's lots of the repertoire that requires that D string.

[Pete Burak]

I would use the exisitng parts on pedals 4 and 5, to be pedals 5 and 6 of and S12U.
So the pedals would be: A B C 5 6
Pedal4 already lowers string7 F# to F. Put the other change on string1 F# to G and you have P5 of a Universal.
Pedal5 already lower string8 to D, so just remove that string6 change and you have P6 of a Universal.
RKL already raises string9 B to D, I would put the other change on string 2D# to D (this is more of an E9th change on Uni).
RKR already lowers string5 B to Bb, and that's all you need for E9/B6 Uni (just un-do those other changes on RKR).
Happy to discuss by phone if you want.
Pete

[Fred Treece]

Pete, those are all changes I have on my E9ext. I guess I am more of a Uni fan than I thought

As far as being confused by the D string and its location, as a 7th year beginner I still find 12 strings confusing no matter what the tuning! But I think at this point I would feel lost without that “wrong” note in the middle.

[Pete Burak]

I was mainly going for the simplest way to set this posters Steel up as a Universal with the least modifications.