C6 Tuning

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 19 Oct 2006 11:19 pm

The excellent book by Andy Volk lists Cindy Cashdollar's C6 tuning as, high to low:
GECAGECA

The standard C6 strings sold by JustStrings.com are gauged for:
ECAGECAG

Does Cindy use the tuning listed in the book for her C6 instructional videos?

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Lynn Oliver

Billy Wilson · Post by **Billy Wilson** » 20 Oct 2006 1:58 am

She does.

Roman Sonnleitner · Post by **Roman Sonnleitner** » 20 Oct 2006 3:13 am

Yep, definitely - I've got the video and the TAB that comes with it, and she does use the first tuning you mentioned.

Tony Harris · Post by **Tony Harris** » 20 Oct 2006 4:45 am

You sure that second tuning's not upside-down i.e high-to-low?

Tony Harris · Post by **Tony Harris** » 20 Oct 2006 4:47 am

Oooops! No, I take that back. It's my BRAIN that's upside down today!

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 20 Oct 2006 5:06 am

Lynn, to use the Just Strings set for high C6 tuning - just take out the low G string and add a high G.
.012 would be a suitable gauge for high G.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 20 Oct 2006 5:08 am

Having a 5 on top like Cindy is happenin'.
It's a common Western Swing thing to do but it's quite a bit handier than having the low G on most kinds of music,IMHO.
If you're worried about buying strings,just put together your own sets using this resource: http://www.hawaiiansteel.com/learning/gauges.html
Any music store will put a custom set together for you. Better yet,so will Bob - and Jagwires at that.

Mark Vinbury · Post by **Mark Vinbury** » 20 Oct 2006 6:17 am

One thing I noticed in Cindy's 1st video is she gets a bit confused when she talks about relating her 8 string to a 6 string and she says to just leave off the bottom two strings.This would be the A and C ,leaving the E G A C E G. She then goes on to list the strings as "E (C) A C E G".
This threw me off for a minute when I first started.
Seems to me it might be better to leave off the top and bottom strings (A and G) since that produces the more common C6th CEGACE Lo to Hi.

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 20 Oct 2006 8:20 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Lynn, to use the Just Strings set for high C6 tuning - just take out the low G string and add a high G.
.012 would be a suitable gauge for high G.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Ah, that makes sense. Just shift the strings with the notes.

I like the idea of Cindy's tuning because I'm coming from G tuning on a dobro, and having the major triad on top means that most things transfer over.

OTOH, the Just Strings set works fine for G6 tuning...

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Lynn Oliver

[This message was edited by Lynn Oliver on 20 October 2006 at 09:22 AM.]

Patrick Newbery · Post by **Patrick Newbery** » 20 Oct 2006 8:23 am

Some people using C6 find the high G a little too thin sounding.

Using the ECAGECAG set you can also retune to A6 to get the 5 on top again.

E
C#
A
F#
E
C#
A
F#

The 5th on top certainly gives a lot more flexibility (for me) in either Swing or Hawaiian.

Mike Fried · Post by **Mike Fried** » 20 Oct 2006 5:31 pm

I also prefer the E on top, and retune between C6, A6, and B11 on the same gauges. I tried the high G and it just sounds too shrill to me.

Maurie Junod · Post by **Maurie Junod** » 20 Oct 2006 5:58 pm

I use Jagwire strings that I order from B0b. My guitar scale is 24" and I have been
able to use a .014 gauge for that top G for over three years without breakage and I get
a fuller sound. Maurie

Mark Tomlinson · Post by **Mark Tomlinson** » 20 Oct 2006 6:04 pm

Well, darn if I didn't just re-string my guitar absolutely 1 string/note off from the high C6.

I've got a little project for the weekend, but now I've got to find a .012p for the top string, and shift everyone over by 1.

Kris Oka · Post by **Kris Oka** » 20 Oct 2006 6:32 pm

Mark, Cindy confused me with the statement of leaving the 7th & 8th strings off and keeping the the 1st string high G. Her suggested tuning ECACEG did not work with her tabs. But remember Cindy's tabs, for example, Cold, Cold Heart were written for 8 string steel and her tabs go to the high G. I went back to the standare 6 string C6 tuning leaving off the low A (8 string) and the high G (1st string) and finding these notes on the 2nd and 3rd strings on the 11th fret and 9th fret and the rest of tune was OK.

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 20 Oct 2006 8:19 pm

My guitar scale is 24" and I have been able to use a .014 gauge for that top G for over three years without breakage and I get a fuller sound.

That's a good point; with a 22.5" scale I should be able to bump all the strings up a bit, although I'm not quite willing to run that .015 SIT up to G.

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Lynn Oliver

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 21 Oct 2006 1:25 pm

Come on Lynn, chance um!
I've had 17s to high G, and have a 16 to high G# on my short scale Mag.

Does get a bit scary tho...

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 21 Oct 2006 3:04 pm

I'm more worried about stressing the tuning machines than I am about the strings...

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Lynn Oliver