The Steel Guitar Forum

Jerry:

At the Sky-Lite I had no knee levers. I used the A6th tuning on the inside neck (with the E9th reverse pulls) and an E13th on the outside neck with a high G# (with some of the E9th pulls).
I was sorking with a great Guitar Player named Hank (Red) Mancel. We did a lot of twinning together on some of the old Pop Instrumentals and Bob Wills tunes.

Greg Cutshaw took me to Carl Dixon's first show in Atlanta where I met Herb Remington for the first and only time. I asked him if he'd always played A6th. He said yes and if it hadn't been for Jerry Byrd playing C6th everyone would still be playing the A6th set up!!?

Do any of you A6th players drop the high E down to a B (like what a lot of folks have done to C6th) ?

Hey Billy, I'd forgotten about 'ol Hank (Red). We were pretty good buds for awhile in SoCal. When I first met him he was playing at Henri's Lariet with Sonny Thomas. The owner didn't seem to like Hank's singing so he had the band fire him and bring in Amil Presson as he said they needed more vocals than guitar playing and Amil was probably a better singer but Hank was d@mn sure a better guitarist with that old Gretsch. Do you remember that old piggy back amp he had? I think it was a Silvertone and had a Ford Galaxy or some other kind of automobile emblem on the front of it. Later when Hank went to the Skylite he started singing more and I thought he was a pretty good vocalist.........

Billy, again to your steel of that era, was that the steel you replaced with the Sierra 12/10 guitar or did you have another one after the Fender 1000.....JH in Va.

Jerry:

There was no other Steel between the Fender 1000 and the Sierra. I pretty much left playing at clubs and started working for the Fur & Feathers Lodges. After I bought the Sierra I still played the good ol'e Fender for another six months. I finally put the 1000 in the closet and said I'm either going to sink or swim with the Sierra. It was so much differen't from the 1000.

Years ago, after hearing and talking to Larry, I put his A6th tuning on the back neck of my Pro III. I never quite got the hang of it, and eventually went back to standard C6th.
I no longer have the tuning (if anyone has it, please post it), but I remember that it was a complex tuning in itself, and not merely C6th tuned down. The string gauges and pedal pulls were completely different.
Larry told me one time that he felt the A6th was a "West Coast" tuning, due to the influence of Herb Remington, and that C6th came from Jerry Byrd.
Also ,I know that Ernie Ball played an A6th tuning on his Bigsby, back when he was doing recording sessions in Los Angeles.He also had a series of Pedal Steel Guitar books that were written for the A6th tuning.
In any case, I think Larry is one of the finest players of this tuning and style.

Gary Jones

I think Noel Boggs was the Guru of the A6th Tuning when he preceeded Herb Remington with Bob Wills. Les (Carrot Top) Anderson introduced me to the A6th back in 1946. Roy Hunnicutt was also using it when Herb Remington replaced him with Bob Wiils. I think the tuning was around for a long time in the early to mid 40's ! Noel Boggs played the orininal "Texas Playboy Rag" on the A6th.

Tom Wolverton wrote:Do any of you A6th players drop the high E down to a B (like what a lot of folks have done to C6th) ?

I've got A6th with a B on the first string on the back neck of my Excel.

My A6th chopedant is like the above, except I keep the E on top, and pedal 4 I drop the C#'s to C.

Thanx,
Jim

I always thought that ol' Blackie Taylor of southern California had a unique approach. Blackie plays a 12 string steel tuned to A6th and lowers to E9th on his first two pedals. He also has an F# and D# on the first two strings like a standard E9 has. Then his third string is an A. I believe his tuning is like this (high to low)
F#
D#
A....Lowers to G# on pedal 2
E....Raises to F# on a knee lever
C#...Lowers to B on pedal 1
A....Lowers to G# on pedal 2
F#
E
C#...Lowers to B on pedal 1
A
E
A

He also has the E lowers & raises on 4 & 8. I've sat down at his steel before and with some practice I think a person could work a gig with it very easily (well maybe not too easily!)...........JH in Va.

I usually play a C6th tuning reset to Bb6th, with the same gauges of strings as a C6th set - I like the tone of it, it sounds "stringier" and less shiny. My pedals and knees are sort-of standard though, with a 4th on the ninth string etc. The first example above of Herb Remington's has an E on the ninth string.