Speedy West for 6 string lap steel video

[Mike Neer]

BTW, Rick informed me that it's the Potbelly that I have installed in that Epi, not the MRI. D'oh!

PJ asks "what's next?" Hmmm...Good question. Back to the woodshed for me.

[Rich Taylor]

Mike -Thanks for the post , I spent some time trying to learn it on my C6th neck while at work. I didn't realize till I got home that I could play it on my E13 neck using the original tuning just by re-tuning one string. Thank again - Rich

[Terry Barnett]

Terrific post Mike...I was wondering how you would extend this tuning to an eight string guitar since your F#9 is different than the F#13 tuning attributed to Speedy in another post?
1.E
2.C#
3.G#
4.E
5.Bb
6.F#
7.D#(high string, 1/2 below the first)
8.F#(also high, whole step below)
Would you simply add the C# and A# to the bottom two strings or are there some more interesting options? I like the tuning.

[Mike Neer]

Terry, strings 7 and 8 would be C# and B, respectively. If you wanted to lower the B to A#, you could do that, but I don't think Speedy did. If I'm not mistaken, his guitar had only a single raise.

[Terry Barnett]

Thanks Mike...I'm gonna give that a go. Cheers man, keep em coming.

[J D Sauser]

Well Mike, I reckon you have been named our Speedy West man. So, you will have to give us another one!

It was time somebody started to seriously investigate Speedy's playing on HIS tuning. All attempts I have heard so far on C6th have not been conclusive because of the timbre of that particular tuning being so different of the E-based swing tunings, as Speedy's was since his C# to B raise set the F#9th "back" into E6th, just reverse of the II9th change on C6th.

Btw. did some realize that the intro to Speeding West and the first few bars was plaid on the E9th neck with the pedals down (A6th mode)? Only when the wild swobosh-boowah part comes, did he switch to his F#9th swing tuning.



... J-D.

[Mike Neer]

Well Mike, I reckon you have been named our Speedy West man.

Nooo, guys like Lee Jeffriess and Mike Black and others I'm sure know way more about Speedy than me, but I have been fascinated with him for a long time and recently sat down and transcribed a bunch. My favorite of his, though, Afternoon Of A Swan.

Btw. did some realize that the intro to Speeding West and the first few bars was plaid on the E9th neck with the pedals down (A6th mode)? Only when the wild swobosh-boowah part comes, did he switch to his F#9th swing tuning.

I think you're partially right--he did play the intro in A6 on his inside neck, but this was on his T-8 Bigsby with pedal on the outside neck. I believe the solos were played on his middle neck which had no pedal and was tuned E C# G# E Bb F# followed by chromatic strings F# and D# on 7 and 8.

[J D Sauser]

Well Mike, I reckon you have been named our Speedy West man.

Nooo, guys like Lee Jeffriess and Mike Black and others I'm sure know way more about Speedy than me, but I have been fascinated with him for a long time and recently sat down and transcribed a bunch. My favorite of his, though, Afternoon Of A Swan.

Well, don't hold back... show us.

Btw. did some realize that the intro to Speeding West and the first few bars was plaid on the E9th neck with the pedals down (A6th mode)? Only when the wild swobosh-boowah part comes, did he switch to his F#9th swing tuning.

I think you're partially right--he did play the intro in A6 on his inside neck, but this was on his T-8 Bigsby with pedal on the outside neck. I believe the solos were played on his middle neck which had no pedal and was tuned E C# G# E Bb F# followed by chromatic strings F# and D# on 7 and 8.

It's interesting. This is the first time I am reading some info about the "other" tuning (besides E9th and F#9th).
I got Scotty's DVD on Speedy. This is out of the latest years when he plaid a BMI D10. All tuning and setup charts of that time show only his E9th and pedaled F#9th. On that video one can see and hear Speedy play Speeding West on both necks... starting on E9th, obviously in A6th mode.
He might have changed the way he plaid it as he go more possibilities out of the 4&1 F#9th setup(?).
Again, no attempt to contradict you Mike, the info I have is sketchy at best. I am much rather inviting to a discussion, but it may not be limited to non-pedal only.

... J-D.

[Tim Whitlock]

Bump for a very cool thread. All Speedy fans need to take a look at this. I tried it - it's fun!

[Mike Neer]

Thanks, Tim. When I can get a couple of minutes, I've got a bunch of others to do, like Emmons' "Four Wheel Drive", Lloyd Green's "John Henry", Speedy's "This Ain't The Blues", etc. Right now I'm in the middle of a few different projects and time is at a premium.

[Steve Ahola]

This was the YouTube video that opened my eyes to the possibilities of a lap steel. I just looked it up again to get the F#9 tuning that Mike used and found that it was exactly like the top 6 strings of the high E13th tuning used by Don Helms and Little Roy Wiggins, but with the 4th string lowered one fret.
E13th (high):
G#, E, C#, B, G#, E
F#9:
G#, E, C#, A#, G#, E

Funny thing is that Mike mentioned that Speedy used a pedal to raise the A# to B which would give him at least the top six strings of the high E13th tuning.

I just found another post here that spells out the 8 string version of Speedy's F#9 tuning (which still has no root):

G# E C# A# G# E C# A#

The bottom 2 strings are lowered one fret from the high E13th tuning, so I am sure that you could use the special SIT set that b0b sells here.

Steve Ahola