The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a Carter D12 and my C6 I have top strings 1-D and 2-G and my 12th string is a low F under the C.
I have been using that style since my first D12 in 1968.

Hey Patrick, I live off Corrine dr near Stardust. Would love to meet and talk steel one day. I have a group called Oak Hill Drifters that plays around alot. Dec 11 at Wills pub next show. I play a D8 Consolette in that group. I play pedal steel for Summit church and for an old style country group called Giddyup Go. Having a blast learning steel. BTW, I play A6 on both rigs so not to get confused. Really like A6 on the D8 so went ahead and changed back pedal steel neck to A6 also. I'll be playing Summit Waterford campus this sun. 407 739 7903 is #. Great post. I play an Emmons Legrande ll. Still trying to learn back neck pedals. Really cool to have alternative tuning to E9. I look for opportunities to play it whenever possible.

One of the reasons I turned my D12 into a D12/11, (with the C6 having 11 strings), is because one of my tuners broke.

Before that, I tried having an F, an A, and a B on string one. I did like the B the best, but after I lost that string, I found the true brilliance of having the D as the first string. I like Richard's idea of the B as string 2 though! Wonder why I never thought of that? Maybe I'll turn it back into a 12 string, although I think I might finally be done with searching for my ultimate setup.

At any rate, for the music I'm interested in, if I had to choose between the G or D, I'd definitely choose the D....Especially with the C-C# KL. One of the reasons I kept the G for thirty years on my D10, was because of the first string G-G# pull on pedal #5. I still love having that!

..its G for me....

Robbie...

You say you have a low F BELOW the low C? What gauge string is that? Do you get down to that string much in your playing? That is one interesting string.

Richard, I use it a great deal. I play C6 more than E9 and I can get full rich chords with that low F without having to use the boo-wop pedal, although I do still have the boo-wop pedal I just don't use it as much to get full depth chords. The gauge is about an .084 or first string of a bass.

Robbie...

Did you have to modify the slot in the finger to accept that large of a string? I had to modify mine to accept a .070.

Richard
My first D12 from MSA had a peg that the strings attached to and did not create a problem but in 1974 I ordered a new MSA D12 built to my specs and then in December of 2005 I special ordered my D12 through Carter. If you don't special order then you may have to make some adjustments to accomodate that low string.

High G string for my way pf playing. This lets me play an all 'pop' gig (old standards) without sounding too country. Some of the clubs I played where we wore Tux's, would kick us out if they heard the whine of a pedal steel. (sometimes you have to hide the country licks).

Also, I grew up playing the A6th, so C6th with the high G is no problem.

Thanx,
Jim

Hey, all

I'm going to revive this to ask where are all you folks playing high D sets finding them? The only ones I've seen are the SIT Emmons sets on this forum's store. It seems like half the people responding to this pole play a D on top. Are you all playing SITs, or are you swapping out 1st strings?

Thanks again

I order sets in quantity from GeorgeL's (now from Show-Pro), and I ask them to swap out the .012 strings for .017s, which they've done gladly.

Since so many use the D on top, I guess I need to either hear some licks with it, or see some tabs showing what to do with it.

Willing to try something new, if there is a reason.

Thanx,
Jim

Jim Bates wrote:Since so many use the D on top, I guess I need to either hear some licks with it, or see some tabs showing what to do with it.

Willing to try something new, if there is a reason.

Thanx,
Jim

Jim
The D string is used in much the same way as the F# string is used on the E9th tuning, as a scale tone, a chord tone, and a very handy melody position note. In chord solos I use it as the root, the 9th, the add 9, the sus 4/11th, the 6th/13th, etc. It also reduces the amount of bar movement necessary for playing in certain positions.

Can some of these chords be found using other strings? Yes, partially; the D string simply adds another tool in the player's toolbox.

I also have a 10-string non-pedal guitar and I have the D on top there as well. It's ingrained into my visualization of the neck and melody pockets contained therein.

There are trade-offs with those players who have their styles rooted in the G string. The steel simply is not as universal as the piano... we have to decide what we personally want to play and then follow our own muse.

I went to the D string in 1977 because Paul Franklin explained to me why and how to use it. I tried it and it made sense to me, so I kept it. A player who's curious to expand his knowledge might try it and make a decision of his own.