The Steel Guitar Forum

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 15 Mar 2004 2:51 pm

Well, if I could only find out what tuning to use as my primary, I might figure out where to put it.........

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Rick Aiello · Post by **Rick Aiello** » 15 Mar 2004 4:54 pm

Yep ... I got that video.

Thats the one were Barney I. praises JB for his teaching efforts.

I only have a few double necks ... I always put C6/A7 closest to me (my primary) and E9 (JB's) on the outside neck.

I believe JB had his "primary" C6/A7 nearest him and his diatonic 7 string tunin' on the outside neck .. on that Sho-Bud.

Don't most PSG have their E9 on the outside neck and their C6 on their inside ... must be a "sittin' thing"

I think they even have some double neck bodies for single neck guitars... with a pad in the place of the inside neck.

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www.horseshoemagnets.com

Keith Grubb · Post by **Keith Grubb** » 15 Mar 2004 9:02 pm

I've got a triple neck that I'm going to restring soon. I'm planing on having the mid neck with my main tuning C6th/D7th, inside neck w/ E7th, and the outside neck (from)C6th/A7th.

I like to sit when I play, so I think it'll be easier to hit those high notes on the necks further from my body.

I believe that Don Helms plays his e6th on the outside neck and b11 on his inside neck.

Keith

Michael Lee Allen · Post by **Michael Lee Allen** » 15 Mar 2004 9:12 pm

REMOVED

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 15 Mar 2004 9:51 pm

I like my primary tuning on the outside neck; C-6th outside, B-11th inside.

Chris Scruggs · Post by **Chris Scruggs** » 15 Mar 2004 9:59 pm

Higher tunings should be put on thicker necks. It evens out the tone. That's why I put my C6 on the inside(where the root string is an .018) and my E13 on the outside(where the root string is a .015).

My main tuning is C, so I have it on the inside. But if I played E6, I would put it on the outside neck(which E6 experts Roy Wiggins and Don Helms did/do).

However, I make an exeption on my triple neck Fender Custom. I should put my B11 neck on the inside, but I put it in the middle, because I like my C6 tuning to be on the inside, since that works better for Byrd style wah wah stuff.[This message was edited by Chris Scruggs on 15 March 2004 at 10:00 PM.]

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 15 Mar 2004 10:00 pm

I've been fooling around with a D-8 Stringmaster for about 10 years and I used to have Junior Brown's C13 on the neck closest to me and a variety of tunings(most of which I never did get together)like Jerry Byrd's E13,Tom Morrell's middle 8 strings off his 10 string E13,Remington's A6 and the bottom 8 strings of a pedal E9.Right now I've got Joaquin's C6/A9 on the inside neck and a Dobro G variant I call G11 on the outside neck which is real cool.As we speak I'm restoring a 56 pushbutton T-8 Stringmaster and I'm finally gonna get the E13 tuning together and probably put it on the number 3 outside neck. The question of course is - which E13? There's about 5 different variations and I'm leaning toward Ricky Davis' version with Leon Mc's version a close second. And here's a question - what about the different neck thicknesses on a Stringmaster? Should you put the heaviest strung tuning on the thinnest neck and vice-versa to equalize the resonance between necks? -MJ-

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 16 Mar 2004 3:24 am

I've always put my main tuning closest to my body. When I owned a triple: C6th, McAuliffe E13, B11th or whatever I was experimenting with at the time. To my ears, one's choice of string gauges and action stiffness makes a lot more of a difference than which tuning goes on which neck based on wood thickness.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 16 Mar 2004 5:59 am

On my 1950's D6 Rick:

I have C6 on the outer neck "i.e, audience side" and B11 on the inner neck or my "ample mid-section" side. IMHO C6 on the outer neck is pure show-biz. It looks better from the audience's point of view.
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Gerald Ross
'Northwest Ann Arbor, Michigan's King Of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar'

Gerald's Fingerstyle Guitar Website

[This message was edited by Gerald Ross on 16 March 2004 at 05:59 AM.]

Tim Whitlock · Post by **Tim Whitlock** » 16 Mar 2004 6:06 am

On my T-8 Stringmaster my tunings in order of preference:

Primary: A6 on the middle neck
Secondary: E13 on the outside neck
Third: C6 on the inside neck

The inside neck is not as comfortable to play because there's nothing to rest your picking-hand forearm on.

George Keoki Lake · Post by **George Keoki Lake** » 16 Mar 2004 7:42 am

I wonder if any of you have the same "problem" I have...that being to locate a r/guitarist who is really comfortable playing in the key of Db ? I solved the "problem" by simply lowering my C6th a half pitch to B6th which puts stuff like "Steelin the Blues" in the easy rhythm guitar key of C. My main tuning is E6th, secondary is B11th, the third (outside) neck is B6th. (On my double neck, I go with E6th and B11th).

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 16 Mar 2004 8:03 am

Yeah I also have been tuning my Murphey C6/A9 down a half step to B6/Ab9 lately. I also play an E9/B6 pedal guitar so my main reason is to keep key positions on the same frets on both guitars. -MJ-

Bob Stone · Post by **Bob Stone** » 16 Mar 2004 8:14 am

On my D-8 Stringmaster I put my primary tuning, C13, on the outside neck. That way I have nothing in the way of my right hand--better for harmonics, etc. I think the tone is better on the thicker neck. I generally keep the inside neck in a major chord tuning--either E or G--for blues, but really have not settled on a tuning for that neck.

Chris Scruggs has a good point about balancing string gauge and neck thickness for tone, but I'm not so sure it always works. it seems most multineck players seem to agree that each neck has a different sound and the thicker necks sound best.

Maurie Junod · Post by **Maurie Junod** » 16 Mar 2004 10:00 am

C13 on the outer neck,as primary. C#mb9 on the inner, as secondary.

I usually use the secondary on the second
chorus for contrast, or as back up for the vocals.

Maurie

seldomfed · Post by **seldomfed** » 16 Mar 2004 11:28 am

I do what Gerald does. But I think it's just because that's how it was tuned when I got it. I like that 'showbiz' thing!

But I may change someday, I find that in summer if it's hot, I have to wear a sweatband (sock) on my right wrist so the back neck doesn't get all wet.

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Chris Kennison
Ft. Collins, Colorado
"There is no spoon"
www.book-em-danno.com

chas smith · Post by **chas smith** » 16 Mar 2004 11:39 am

When I used to play out my T-10 Bigsby, I had E13 on the front neck, C6 in the middle and A6, with the maj7, on the inside neck.

John Bechtel · Post by **John Bechtel** » 17 Mar 2004 12:35 am

I play a T–8 Fender Custom. My main/most interesting tuning is the C-Diatonic. I have it on the center-neck, with C6/A7 on the inside-neck and E9/13 on the outside neck. Several months ago when I changed strings, I thought since my favorite tuning was C-Diatonic, I'd just move it to the inside-neck. However, my guitar didn't like it there! There was no way it would let me get comfortable behind my steel with things switched around like that. So, I was forced to put things “back to normal” for me! And that's the way that works best for me all the way around for all three tunings! Live and learn!

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“Big John” Bechtel
Franklin PSG D–10 (9 &

Fender ’49–’50 T–8 Custom
Fender ’65 Reissue Twin-Reverb Custom 15”
http://community.webtv.net/KeoniNui/BigJohnBechtels

johnely · Post by **johnely** » 17 Mar 2004 1:03 am

I always play my most frequently used tuning on the far neck furthest away from me. This is appears to be contrary to most players. I do it because of the way I play harmonics and special strumming effects. If there's another neck in front of my right hand, I can get hung up if my fingers bang against that neck. I have more freedom, knowing nothing can get obstruct the forward motion of my hands.

Barney played so much E13th that you could almost argue that his setup made the most sense for him.

Ian McLatchie · Post by **Ian McLatchie** » 17 Mar 2004 5:14 am

I think Chris is right about the fact that the outer neck better balances the tone on high-pitched tunings like E13. Still, I use the outer neck on my Stringmaster triple for C6/A7 simply because that's my primary tuning and that neck sounds best. Not to mention the show biz aspect that Gerald refers to. At the moment I have E13 on the inner neck and an extended Leavitt in the middle, but for the sort of music I'm doing now I'll probably switch the Leavitt to an A6