The Steel Guitar Forum

chas smith wrote:To add to what Herb said, the top neck is ... and stacked 4ths.

Top neck is all 3rds. There are no 4ths in it. Also there are no 6ths.

Ernest
I realize you were replying to Chas' post, but I was looking at the tuning from the perspective of chord voicings. You are correct, of course, that the tuning is a series of alternating major third and minor third intervals.

Yes, it's like the common B11 tuning : great if you want to play thirds, some sevenths with the seventh on top, ninths with the ninth on top. Lots of triads in root position. No triads in other inversions. If you play it a lot, I think you would use lots of slants to get major & minor sixths. It seems best suited to player who likes to fly back & forth between necks.

Reece,

it was great talking to you awhile back, anytime you want to use the Bigsby just let me know.

oops, had the 4ths upside down, G C F Bb. Vertical dyslexia...

Larry S....Your offering me the privilege of being reunited with my first Bigsby which had such an impact on my musical life, would bring back a flood of great memories. It was very thoughtful and kind of you to contact me and tell me you were the proud owner, and offer to allow me to play the guitar for an extended time.

Possibly we could get together early next year. I would appreciate the opportunity to display your Bigsby at the Texas Steel Guitar Convention in March. I'm sure all the players would appreciate seeing what is likely the most well cared for and original Bigsby in existence.

Reece,

I would certainly let that happen. I would love to see it out where the public can appreciate it, and even more so, that you can play it and remember all those good times you had with it. I would be honored to do so!

Larry S.....Alright my friend...let's make it happen early next year. I'll look forward to meeting you, seeing and playing THE guitar that launched my musical career. I will look forward to hearing from you at your convenience.

Hey Reece, can you recall the tuning and pedal changes you had on the Bigsby S-10? That'd be great to see those! Was that guitar your first venture into the concept of a universal tuning? Thanks in advance..........JH in Va.

Jerry H.....Thank you for the question. Please keep in mind, thats been a long time ago, but I believe this is the tuning and the setup I used.

1 2 3 4 5 6
A
F.....................-1/2
D......... -1 .......................-1/2 ....+ 1
Bb..................................................+ 1
G
F.....................-1/2
D......................................-1/2. ..................+1/2
Bb...................................................................................+1/2
G
Eb...................+1/2

IF memory serves correct, my 3rd string one tone lower on pedal 1 combined with the same string lowering 1/2 on pedal 3 was what Paul Bigsby originally said would not work correctly, but later achieved.

It was when I went to my first 12 string MSA that I started combining the new sounds of the E9th tuning, which became increasingly popular "after" I received my single 10 Bigsby.

When experimenting with getting the E9th sounds on the 6th tuning, I quickly noticed it was possible to start with the 9th tuning and then reverse it into the 6th tuning. The fact I was playing far more swing and jazz, explains why I stuck with the 6th going to the 9th rather than the reverse.

Thanks for the question............

Sorry the pedal numbers did not line up with the changes as shown. I tried to correct it, but it would not accept my edit. If anyone needs an explanation I will be glad to respond.

Reece

I have several questions you may have a chance to answer.

Do you remember how long the waiting list was for your 1956 T-8 and then again for your S-10?
Do you recall how many months ahead of delivery you were asked to provide your requested setup?
Also, did Bigsby offer the engined turned option to you for the 1956 guitar, and was it not available for the 1959 or 1960 S-10?
Did he offer a choice between a new guitar or a refurbished one?
How much choice did you have in graphics?

Thank you, I appreciate your sharing your experiences.

Chris

Chris L.....I will address your questions in the order you asked.

1. The waiting time was scheduled for 4 years for my triple 8. However I received the guitar in about 3 years. I believe the deposit was $50.00 at the time.
2. The single 10 took about two years.
3. Paul did not offer me a choice of the swirled neck. In fact I was surprised when I got it, I don't think he used the swirls on many guitars. At the time I was also surprised because I had seen the raised frets in the neck casting on all Bigsby's before mine. I would be VERY interested in knowing if the spacing of the raised fret neck had the exact same distances between specific frets as I mentioned earlier in this thread.
5. Paul never mentioned an option for a refurbished guitar, and i've never heard he offered anything like that.
6. I expressed no preference on graphics, and was not asked.

Thank you for the questions.........

Thank you very much for the reply.
I sent you a pm.

Chris

WOW!! What a thread

Reece Anderson wrote:1. The waiting time was scheduled for 4 years for my triple 8. However I received the guitar in about 3 years. I believe the deposit was $50.00 at the time.

Reece
That is very telling about the limited options of pedal steel purchase to players around at that time. I couldn't see many having the patience to wait 3 or 4 years for a guitar these days. Little wonder that Bigsby's have appreciated in value the way they have.

Does that look correct, Reece ?

Ken B....There's no question the options were limited, but to tell you the truth, at the time that thought never occurred to me. I think people's mind sets in that era were a lot different than they are today. All I wanted was a Bigsby, and however it came, I thought that was the way it was supposed to be.

The wait was a long time, but to me and the relatively few others who owned Bigsby guitars, it was well worth it. Anyone who owned a Bigsby in that era was almost assured a playing job and "stood out" among steel players other musicians, and artists as well.

Stan S....I appreciate your taking the time to display my tuning correctly. Keep an eye on my posts because I'm sure I'll require your expertise again. This computer thingy can become mind boggling for me real fast.

Glad to be of help, Sir.

Besides, now I want to set up a guitar with that co-pedent....

Stan Schober wrote:[tab]
1 2 3 4 5 6
A
F -1/2
D -1 -1/2 + 1
Bb + 1
G
F -1/2
D -1/2 +1/2
Bb +1/2
G
Eb +1/2
-------------------------------

1 2 3 4 5 6
A
F E
D C Db E
Bb C
G
F E
D Db Eb
Bb C
G
Eb E[/tab]

Does that look correct, Reece ?

Are you sure that P4 raises strings 3 and 4? Raising 4 and 5 seems more likely (like early Alvino Rey and Bob White).

Ernest B.....I appreciate your catching my obvious error. Yes, pedal 4 should be raising strings 4 and 5 one tone each.

I appreciate you guy's looking out for me by helping with the pedal alignment and calling things to my attention.

THis is the correct setup ?

Stan.....thanks again for your help. Everything is now aligned perfectly.

Stan, thanks. That makes the changes much clearer.

I see pedals 2, 3, and 4 are the equivalent of today's pedals 5, 6, and 7, for the most part; these provide the standard II9th, IV9th, diminished, #11 and augmented chords.

Pedal 5 raises the 3rd tone to a 4th, pedals 1 and 6 provide a 9th tone.

Good stuff! Thanks to everyone and Reece especially for the insight into a blast from the past.

Reece, if you were to transfer that tuning from the S-10 Bigsby to a 12 string guitar, what two strings would you add? Also, that 1st string A note, is that the same pitch as the 3rd string on E9 with the B pedal depressed? Although I'm not much of a 6th player, I'm very interested in the history of the different tunings and this one seems to have a lot of validity and is very interesting!.........JH in Va.