The Steel Guitar Forum

Can some one please tell me the perceived advantage of B6 Compared to C6. They are one fret apart, so why. Also, I was told that C6 is four frets below E9, however. I have read sowhere that B6 is four frets lower the E9. I have come to the conclusion the reason that playes use different tunning is not they are better, but because they are more convienent for a particular person, especially if they aren't trying to imitate a particular player or song.

If you are playing a twelve string uni.you lower your E'S. Which puts you open in B6th,instead of open Cth,when you are playing in the normal C6th mode,just slide up one fret,same thing. DYKBC.

Charlies' got the reason an E9/B6 universal uses B6. A lever lowers E9 strings 4 and 8 from E to Eb, and that becomes the 3rd of a B6 tuning on the lower 10 strings that is identical to the intervals of 10-string C6, only a half-step lower.

The main practical difference between B6 and C6 is what you can do on the open strings. With the latter you get tap-ons and pull-offs in the key of C. Some C6 players would miss that on a uni, where you get those in the key of B. On the other hand, when I play my uni in B6 mode in the key of C, I enjoy being able to slide into the C chord.

Some people who play an E9/B6 uni pedal steel will tune a lap steel to B6, so the fret markers are the same.

Other than that, I can't see much point in tuning to open B.

I have read sowhere that B . 6 is four frets lower the E9

Are you sure you didn't read that B6 is a 4th lower than E9?

Depending on which B6 you're talking about, that might be what you saw - I don't know much about the E9/B6 universal but the B6 some Fender players play (versions of Sneaky Pete's copedent) would fit that description. In my case, I like it because it puts me tonally in 6-string range which happens to fit my style of playing better than the higher E9 (my string gages run a beefy .015 - .048), and uses both E9 and C6 type changes.

IMHO, B6 is easier than C6 because you use the same fret positions in typical keys (C,D,E,A, etc) to make the 1,4,5 chords.
i.e. key of D on C6 is 2nd fret, like playing in
F# on E9. How often do you play F# on E9? With B6, D is on 3rd fret, like playing in G on E9.
Also, if you are playing along on E9 and switch to B6 (time to jazz it up, whoopeee!) all you have to do to have the right key is go back 2 frets from the 1 chord with AB pedals. Sure, with C6 you only have to go back one fret but now you'er back to playing those frets you rarely do. Going to B6 is what got me up and running on C6, Lotts of people tune to it on their D10s.

I quit playing U12 and went back to playing D10 a couple of months ago. I now tune my back neck to B6 because I've become so used to the Uni fret positions that I'd keep screwing the songs up playing 1/2 step off.

Very few people can hear the difference.

I played a ZUM 12 string uni years ago [wish I still had it] then went to a D-10,Some seems to get confused between the two,It's so SIMPLE,when I switched over did'nt take long to get used to playing one fret back or one fret up according to which 6th mode I was playing.I'm sure I'm one of the dumbest members on this forum,if I have no problem with it,NOBODY should.It's real simple, DYKBC.

It's not a question of being confused. The principle is as simple as dirt. It's just habit. I started a new job a couple of years ago. The first day, I pulled into the parking lot of my old job before I realized I had been on auto-pilot as soon as I left my driveway at home. I'll get along just fine on the D10.

I really appreciate the answers. I myself really love the bass string on C6. I have heard some complaints of having to hold the E lever to have "B6" on a E9 guitar. Has anyone ever invented a mechanism to lock the lever in place so a palyer would have freedom of movement, so to speak?

Many Universal 12 strings have (had) lever locks to hold you in the B6th tuning, and free your knee up. My Sierra Crown U12 had this feature, but I never used it. Instead, I treated the U12 as one big tuning. There are advantages and disadvantages to the lever lock.

I look at 6th tunings in groups:

C, B and Bb 6th all belong to the same group, they are just set apart by frets... in other words, a little higher or lower than the other... the STRING GRUOPS remain the same. Maybe Bb6 is a bit the odd ball as the highest string, the top 5th (F) is not so high pitched and thin as it would be on the 2nd higher C6th tuning with a high pitched G, which some prefer to leave off for being too thin.

A6th is only one fret lower than Bb6th, but the difference is that the string groups are set back one string from the C and B tunings, thus while being the same chord, the tuning sounds different in "color". Now, the top 5th, is an E. Many non pedal players chose to keep "E" as their highest string, again for concerns of timbre and equalization, so, those playing C6th will not even have the top 5th.

You can explore this on most any E9th PSG. If you hit your E-to-Eb-lower lever (the gateway to universal) you get a B6th open... the chromatic F# being the top 5th... sticking out a bit on the trebleish side. When you depress only A&B pedals you get an A6th at the same nut... you could say it's a two "frets below (B6th) tuning", yet it happens at the same fret/nut... so, it sees itself moved back one string instead. Thus, because of the timbre of the thicker strings per interval, the tuning, while "only" two frets apart sounds and feels much more noticeably different than tuning down from C6th to B or even Bb6th.

Similarly, B11th is an A6th group tuning, just like F#9th is an E13th group tuning, and so forth.




... J-D.

Robert Harper wrote:I really appreciate the answers. I myself really love the bass string on C6. I have heard some complaints of having to hold the E lever to have "B6" on a E9 guitar. Has anyone ever invented a mechanism to lock the lever in place so a palyer would have freedom of movement, so to speak?

Sierra and Excel both have this feature.

My friend Johnny Robbins bent a coathanger to do it. It wraps around the lever and the leg of the guitar. When he wants to lock the lever, he just slides it down.

I suggested that he put the change on a pedal and use a brick, but he came up with a better solution.