10 string lap steel tuning recommendations?

Steve Green · Post by **Steve Green** » 1 Jul 2011 10:23 am

Mitch Druckman wrote:I've been using a modified C6 tuning that I discovered from the great Billy Robinson.

Low to High
F A C E G A C E G D

Very easy to deal with if you're already familiar with C6, but much more versatile.

Does anyone know if the High D is tuned between the HIGH C and E (ala Reece Anderson) or not?

Stephan Miller · Post by **Stephan Miller** » 1 Jul 2011 12:58 pm

Yes-- it's betweeen strings 3 & 4 in pitch.

Paul Warnik · Post by **Paul Warnik** » 18 Jul 2011 9:47 pm

I sometimes tune my Epi Alkire to an E13th tuning- sort of combination of Leon's and Noel's.
lowest to highest string
E,G#,B,D,E,F#,G#,B,C#,E
Basically,this is just two strings added to my
"mostly used" E13th (on 8 stringers)
again lowest to highest
E,B,D,F#,G#,B,C#,E

Kristen Bruno · Post by **Kristen Bruno** » 21 Apr 2013 7:29 am

I have been playing around with 6 string C6 and I have a 10 string (Alkire) I would like to string up without mental stress.
So I saw this variation of a C6 in this post.

Low to High
F A C E G A C E G D

I would like to try this tuning since I am somewhat familiar with the middle 6 strings (C,E,G,A,C,E).

Since I will have to buy single strings, can anyone recommend the string gages for these 10 strings?

Thanks
K

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 21 Apr 2013 7:55 am

I love my current 10 string tuning:
L-H) C Bb C E G A C E G (d). It has a really strong 7th chord which I love and with just a few quick changes can easily transform to any number of other tunings (like the Billy Robinson tuning), although I've found no reason to change the tuning.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 21 Apr 2013 11:13 am

Ms. Bruno, what you've got is the top 9 strings of a 10-string C6th pedal steel tuning, plus a lower "re-entrant" or "chromatic" D, most people would look at a 15 to 17 for that. In singles, you'd want 54-42-36-30-24w-20p-17-14-12, + the 17 D. The Live Steel strings people could make the trade of a low 68 or 70 (out of a normal C6th set) for a D, or b0b here might be able to make the trade out of the sets he sells (which help support the forum).

http://livesteelstrings.com/

http://www.steelguitarshopper.com/categ ... dal-steel/

For more generalized string gauge guessing, we go again to b0b's links. Here's a bit of reading:
http://b0b.com/wp/?page_id=96
and here's the string guide:
http://www.b0b.com/infoedu/gauges.htm

Kristen Bruno · Post by **Kristen Bruno** » 22 Apr 2013 4:20 am

Ms. Bruno, what you've got is the top 9 strings of a 10-string C6th pedal steel tuning, plus a lower "re-entrant" or "chromatic" D, most people would look at a 15 to 17 for that. In singles, you'd want 54-42-36-30-24w-20p-17-14-12, + the 17 D. The Live Steel strings people could make the trade of a low 68 or 70 (out of a normal C6th set) for a D, or b0b here might be able to make the trade out of the sets he sells (which help support the forum).

Thanks. I will go with this for now. I'll start with the interior 6 strings and work outward.
Probably the main thing to get used to is the narrower string spacing.
(I also play around with the E9 on a basic pedal steel type guitar, but are using it mostly for chord changes right now.
I think the lap C6 is more melodic, plus its convenient to take around because no setup required.
C6 also presents great "blocking" practice when trying to play a bluesy tune, or to make it sound a little different than the "traditional" western swing.