Posted: 20 Apr 2021 9:52 am
I don't have a pedal steel tuned to G. However, I do have a couple of nonpedal steels tuned to a G-based tunings, and the reason is that the sonority is quite different, which I find useful for some things.
The solid-body console steel with a G6 neck has a sound of its own, but quite different than a resonator. But one of these steels is a '38 National Silvo which I use to approximate an amplified resonator type of sound, and it works pretty well. Not perfect, but in a band mix it's pretty cool. These Silvo bodies were built to make National tri-cone lap steels, but apparently when sales weren't so great, they replaced the cones with a plate with a pickup in it, dropped it in, and called it the Silvo. It's very unique.
If you tune to the typical intervals of (1=root) 1 2 3 5 1 3, which is the same as strings 8 through 3 of an E9 pedal steel, I don't see why it particularly matters what you choose for your root except for the tonality - you're gonna learn to play it like strings 8 through 3 of a pedal steel. I also don't see why you couldn't change strings to make an E add2 tuning (it's not really E9 owing to the absence of the b7th note on string 9). Of course, you'll need to select strings appropriate for whatever root you choose. For a typical resonator-range instrument starting at G2 on the bottom, the frequency range is lower, so those strings would be heavier than typical E9 pedal steel. Once you know the scale length of the guitar, you can use something like this string tension calculator to figure out what an appropriate set of strings might be for the G tuning - https://tension.stringjoy.com/. Just figure out the tension for E9 pedal steel, and then figure out which strings give you that same tension for the G tuning. This is important if you don't want to have to totally re-jig the pulls if you decide to change tunings.
Personally, for pedal steel, I would not substitute a G-based tuning for E9. I doubt the G tuning will sound much like classic E9 pedal steel owing to the lower range and different sonority. But as an extra neck or guitar for some situations, I think it's a great idea. The Franklin Pedabros do not go for big money just because they are rare. That's part of it, but it's also a great sound. I think Jimmie was building some at some point, I'm sure he can elaborate. Here's Paul Franklin mixing standard pedal steel (I assume E9 but with Paul you never know for sure) and Pedabro back when - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgJXbIP83A8
The solid-body console steel with a G6 neck has a sound of its own, but quite different than a resonator. But one of these steels is a '38 National Silvo which I use to approximate an amplified resonator type of sound, and it works pretty well. Not perfect, but in a band mix it's pretty cool. These Silvo bodies were built to make National tri-cone lap steels, but apparently when sales weren't so great, they replaced the cones with a plate with a pickup in it, dropped it in, and called it the Silvo. It's very unique.
If you tune to the typical intervals of (1=root) 1 2 3 5 1 3, which is the same as strings 8 through 3 of an E9 pedal steel, I don't see why it particularly matters what you choose for your root except for the tonality - you're gonna learn to play it like strings 8 through 3 of a pedal steel. I also don't see why you couldn't change strings to make an E add2 tuning (it's not really E9 owing to the absence of the b7th note on string 9). Of course, you'll need to select strings appropriate for whatever root you choose. For a typical resonator-range instrument starting at G2 on the bottom, the frequency range is lower, so those strings would be heavier than typical E9 pedal steel. Once you know the scale length of the guitar, you can use something like this string tension calculator to figure out what an appropriate set of strings might be for the G tuning - https://tension.stringjoy.com/. Just figure out the tension for E9 pedal steel, and then figure out which strings give you that same tension for the G tuning. This is important if you don't want to have to totally re-jig the pulls if you decide to change tunings.
Personally, for pedal steel, I would not substitute a G-based tuning for E9. I doubt the G tuning will sound much like classic E9 pedal steel owing to the lower range and different sonority. But as an extra neck or guitar for some situations, I think it's a great idea. The Franklin Pedabros do not go for big money just because they are rare. That's part of it, but it's also a great sound. I think Jimmie was building some at some point, I'm sure he can elaborate. Here's Paul Franklin mixing standard pedal steel (I assume E9 but with Paul you never know for sure) and Pedabro back when - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgJXbIP83A8
