The Steel Guitar Forum

Does anyone have Hal's E9/6 Tuning chart?


ROGER

I've been told Hal used the Jimmy Day setup on E9th, same as John Hughey & a lot of others. Don't know about C6th.but they both sure knew what to do & when to do it. Andy H.

I believe that he later went back to C6 or maybe D6. I also believe he told me that the two bottom strings on this tuning are out of sequence (like the top two on E9 -- not in order). My memory ain't what it used to be, but I believe the 8th string is the lowest string and the C# is tuned 1 step above the B on the 7th and the F# is 1 step above the E on 6.

Hal Rugg used his E9/6 tuning on the "Altered Ego" album. Check out the intro to "Here's That Rainy Day" to hear the modern jazz sound of this tuning. For study purposes, I've transposed Hal's set up into C to see how it relates to C-6th:

If one was to use this tuning what guage strings would you use?..thanks in advance..
Charlie......

I think this needs a bump. There might be some that’s never saw Hal’s E9/6 tuning. Has anyone tried it or playing this tuning now ?

Tony

My memory ain't what it used to be, but I believe the 8th string is the lowest string and the C# is tuned 1 step above the B on the 7th and the F# is 1 step above the E on 6.

Well, this is illuminating. Thanks Larry. I've spent time studying that chart in the back of the Winnie book, and have been curious about those two bottom strings. I thought it was like a bass guitar power chord, which seemed plausible but odd...

Bruce Zumsteg should have a chart on this. He built Hal an SD10 with this tuning on it. I played around with it for a couple days but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Didn't Hal and Welden tune their second string to a C# for a while in the 70's?
I Remember Hal saying he liked raising stings rather than lowering them. That would make it also, a E9/6 tuning.

Here is Hal's chart (in his hand writing) for the E6/9 tuning that he had on his Franklin, used on the 'Altered Ego' album. I'll leave it up to you guys to chart it out in a format that is easier to visualize.

I built Hal a guitar with this tuning in 1982, and I agree with Johnny, I couldn't get anything out of it.

Thank you Bruce.

Tony

For many years i have asked for Hall'S E9/6 copedant.Mister Zumsteg has written the action of the pedals and knee levers , but what are the names of the strings? are they the ones written in W.Winston's book " PEDAL STEEL GUITAR"? please, does anybody know for sure? and are the two botton strings really out of order? thanks in advance

Johnny Cox wrote:Bruce Zumsteg should have a chart on this. He built Hal an SD10 with this tuning on it. I played around with it for a couple days but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Wow! That says a lot. Johnny is known for being able to sit at about any guitar and play it well in a couple of minutes.

Bill - I was about to say the same thing.

If Johnny couldn't figure it out, then it's a pretty arcane tuning!!

D13th is giving me all the headaches I can handle.

Hal was a musical genius !!!