The Steel Guitar Forum

This is a bit off topic, but I need help settling an argument regarding Stratosphere Boogie. Does anyone here know (as in definitively!) How Jimmy Bryant tuned the 12 string neck of his Stratosphere Twin on Stratosphere Boogie?

I haven't messed with it but I read somewhere that it was a combination of major and minor thirds...

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Definitive? Maybe, maybe not ...
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum10/HTML/004708.html

Rich Kneizle:
On their next session together, September 3, 1954, he used a doubleneck Stratosphere Twin guitar (he owned part of the Stratosphere company), playing on the 12 string neck with its pairs of strings tuned in thirds. It gave him a radically different sound, as though he had overdubbed a harmony part, and the four songs they recorded remain some of his finest moments.

Well, I've tried major thirds and it doesnt seem quite right, maybe a combo of major and minor thirds....

Steve,I heard it was something like this.
High to low: GE EC CA AG GE EC
What this does is allow you to play all the two note harmonies that you could get on a C6th steel guitar on ajacent strings but play them as if they are single strings. This could make for some speedy two note harmony playing. Terrific idea! BW

Are the pairs in the same octave, or an octave apart like a conventional 12-string?

Ian

same octave

BW~

Thanks for idea, I'll give it a try...however due to my intensely retarded nature, I will most likely end up poking one of my eyes out!

Steve -- Billy could be right...though I heard it was all minor thirds. Jeez, now I'll have to dig it out of a pile of cassettes... -Steve M.

It's definitely a combination of minor and major thirds. When it worked this out a while ago, I figured it was tuned to minor thirds except for the 6th and 2nd string pairs:
EG# AC DF GBb BD# EG

<pre>
-----------------|------------------|--------------------
-----------------|------------------|-7-6-5-4---------0--
-----------------|---------10-9-8-7-|---------8-7-6-5----
---------4---6-4-|-----6-9----------|--------------------
---4-5-6---6-----|-5-8--------------|--------------------
-7---------------|------------------|--------------------
</pre>

I got interested in these cross tunings after hearing guys like Frank Wakefield do it on the mandolin. Bill Monroe even used similar mandolin tunings for songs like "Get Up John." <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Dylan Schorer on 09 February 2005 at 06:52 AM.]</p></FONT>

I seem to remember that there was a story about Bryant in Guitar Player Magazine quite a few years ago. It included a small, flexible record, and the tab, and tunings for this song. Maybe you can find it somewhere on the web.
JB

Just type "Stratosphere Boogie tablature" into your search engine. I used Dogpile, and came up with a couple dozen places to get the tab for this song. JB