The Steel Guitar Forum

Just Got my new Melbert 8 string Counsol to day, more on that later.

Does any one set their tuning as follows. botton to top. G,C,E,G,A,C,E,G, rather than A,C,E,G,A,C,E,G.?
Wayne D. Clark
usnyn2nd@frontier.com

Congrats on the Melbert, Wayne!!

I'm not familiar with that tuning.

I tune my bass string to a B, creating a C6/Maj7 tuning. This allows me to get a minor 6th interval on the B & G strings.

I think Joaquin Murphey used a B in this position, but perhaps he used a lighter guage string tuned to a B an octave higher.

I've read on the forum that Junior Brown tunes his low string to a Bb, creating a C13th tuning.

If you'd tune your low string to an F, then you'd be able to get a I chord, IV chord, and VI minor chord without moving the bar.

Lots of possibilities!

You should only worry about the top 5 or 6 strings--be flexible with the bottom part of your tuning, because you may want to change it around a bit to get different chords. A Bb for string 8 is nice and gives a C13 tuning. A C# string 7 and an A string 8 gives you a C6/A7. There are many other variations that I use.

I think lots of people change the tuning on the lower string depending on what suits the song. Tuning the 8th string to G takes away the root position minor chord (and minor seventh, etc) that the A gives you, and I'm sure what it gives in return.

My tuning, low to high. F/G,A/Bb,C/C#,E,G,A,C,E. I reserve the right to change the bottom 3 strings' tuning according to the song. I prefer the low C6 tuning because of 1)the tension of the strings and 2)I try to stay out of the fiddler's way!