This question comes up regularly. It is usually answered incompletely and with various, sometimes conflicting, suggestions from whoever happens to be on the Forum and feels like replying. Below I give a complete, simple method for tuning 10-string E9 by ear after taking a single reference pitch. This is usually what a beginner is asking for. At the end is some elementary discussion of the alternate tuning methods of Just Intonation and Equal Temper, cabinet drop, and bar pressure tuning issues. If anyone sees any mistakes, please let me know. I'm going to try to save this and repost whenever the question comes up.
TUNING A 10-STRING E9 PEDAL STEEL GUITAR
The simplest method, and the traditional method, is to tune all the strings to open chords by ear. All you need is a single E note from a keyboard, harmonica or tuner. All the other strings and stops will be tuned to that reference. The strings are numbered from high to low. On an all-pull guitar (most modern pedal steels), the strings are tuned at the keyhead, and the pedal and knee lever stops are tuned with nylon hex screws at the changer end. Some older guitars (push/pulls) and student models are the opposite (Pedal and knee stops are tuned at the keyhead, and open strings are tuned by screws at the changer). Once a string or stop is tuned, do not change it during subsequent tuning steps. If you suspect a string has gone out of tune, go back to how it was originally tuned to check it. This will keep you from chasing your tail.
Tuning the open strings (at the keyhead):
1. Take an E note from a tuner or other source, and tune the 4th and 8th strings to E. In all the procedures to follow, do not retune these strings.
2. Tune the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 10th strings to a nice sounding E major chord, with the 4th and 8th strings as the roots. The 3rd and 6th strings are the third of the chord (G#); and the 5th and 10th strings are the fifths (B).
3. Use the open 5th string as the root of a B chord, and tune the 2nd string as the third of the chord (D#), and the 1st string as the fifth (F#). The 7th string is tuned as the fifth below the B root.
4. Use the 10th string as the root of a Bm chord, and the 7th string (F#) as the fifth, and tune the 9th string as the minor third (D) of that chord.
This may seem complicated when written out step-by-step; but in practice it is a simple matter of hitting three open chords and quickly tweaking the strings so they sound good. The trick is to know which are the reference strings for each chord (that remain unchanged), and which are the strings to tweak.
Tuning the pedal and knee stops (hex screws at changer) - for “Emmons” setup, the pedals are labeled A, B, C, left to right; for “Day” setup they are labeled from right to left:
1. Press the A and B pedals. This should change the E chord (I) to an A chord (IV). The open E strings (4 and
are not changed by the pedals, and these are the fifths of the A chord. Tune the pedal stops as roots (A) and thirds (C#) to these fifths. The roots will be the stops on strings 3 and 6; the thirds will be the stops on strings 5 and 10. Do not retune the reference Es on strings 4 and 8 while tuning the pedal stops; rather tune the pedal stops to those Es.
2. Press the B and C pedals. This should give an F#m chord (IIm). Tune the C pedal stop on the 4th string (F#) as the root an octave above the F# on the open 7th string. Tune the C pedal stop on the 5th string as the 5th (C#) of the F#m chord. Do not change the tuning of the 6th and 10th strings or the B pedal stops. You may need to tweak the 7th string slightly so that it is in tune with the B pedal stops for this chord.
3. If you have a lever that raises the Es to F (called the F lever) on strings 4 and 8, activate that lever and the A pedal. This should give a C# major chord. Tune the F lever stops on strings 4 and 8 as the thirds of this chord, with the 4th and 8th strings being the thirds (F), and the 3rd and 6th strings being the fifths (G#). Do not change anything but the F lever stops.
4. If you have a lever that lowers the Es to Eb (The E-lower lever), this should give a G#m chord (IIIm). Tune the stops on strings 4 and 8 as the fifths of the chord, with the roots (G#) on strings 3 and 6, and the minor thirds (B) on strings 5 and 10. Do not change the strings or stops on anything but the E-lower lever stops.
5. If you have a lever that lowers the 2nd string D# to D, tune that stop as an octave to the D on string 9. Or tune it as the minor 3rd of the Bm chord with the B on string 5 as the root, and the F# on string 1 as the fifth.
6. If you have a lever that lowers the 5th string B to Bb, tune that as the minor third (C) of the Am chord made with the A and B pedals and this lever.
7. Other pedals and levers are not standard, but should usually be tuned by the principles above, as part of the chord they are most commonly used for.
Usually only the open strings will need to be tuned at the keyhead. The pedal and knee lever stops will hold for weeks, or until the strings get old. The above method of tuning will sound pleasant for all the most commonly used chords. If you tune carefully by ear as above, and check each string and stop with a chromatic meter, you will see that almost nothing but the Es are straight up 440 by the meter. You have tuned to the natural harmonies called Just Intonation (JI). It is helpful to write down the exact offsets from straight up for each string and stop. This can be used to tune to a chromatic meter when you are unable to hear while tuning.
If you attempt to tune all the strings and stops straight up to a meter, most people will find that the chords sound harsh. The meter gives the Equal Temper (ET) tuning that is a compromise designed for fixed pitch instruments such as pianos. Some players feel ET tuning allows them to more easily play in tune with keyboards and other guitars tuned straight up ET. Many other players find JI more pleasing, and have no problems playing with ET tuned instruments. Top pros use both methods, or some compromise between the two methods. Technically, JI has been traditionally considered the “correct” or “true” pitch. Instruments without fixed pitches, which are played to the ear (orchestral strings, horns, vocals) use traditional JI intonation. But ET is considered acceptable for fixed-pitch instruments such as keyboards and harps. The fixed frets of guitars are placed according to ET. Some guitarists tune the strings strictly by ET; but many tweak the strings slightly to get sweeter sounding chords. The tweaking method works best for simple chords and progressions, and requires re-tweaking for each new key. Tuning everything ET is more versatile for complicated chords and progressions, and for key modulations, but the chords will not sound as sweet. Neither JI nor ET is “incorrect” for guitar, including pedal steel. It is a matter of taste and the type of music being played. As a practical matter, the harsh compromises of ET are more noticeable when playing alone, but not so noticeable when playing with others.
Cabinet drop:
The mechanics of pressing down the pedals may cause some unaffected strings to detune slightly and go flat. This phenomenon is called cabinet drop, and can result both from bowing of the guitar body under pressure, and mechanical slack in the hardware. When strings are lowered, there can be “cabinet rise.” Tuning by ear as described above mostly compensates for cabinet drop. However, when playing open at the nut, the A chord with the pedals down may be slightly flat. Some players tune the pedal-down As on strings 3 and 5 as the reference pitch rather than the unpedaled Es on strings 4 and 8. This gives an A chord at straight up 440, but the E chord may be slightly sharp. A compromise is to split the difference (according to a meter), and tune the open Es slightly sharp and let the pedal-down As be slightly flat. For these main chords, cabinet drop only affects the pitch at the nut, and bar-ear coordination will automatically compensate when using the bar up the neck. For some complicated chords, cabinet drop can cause out of tune chords for some combinations of open strings and stops. For some of these problems a mechanical fix is available in the way of extra pulls that change certain strings by a fraction of a tone. JI and ET each have their own problems and solutions for cabinet drop, and neither is perfect.
Bar pressure:
With careful tuning you may notice that strings that are in perfect tune open at the nut, do not play in tune with the bar up the neck. This is especially noticeable on the lowest strings of C6, extended E9, or 12-string Universal tunings. This is caused by bar pressure, and the remedy is to do a rough tuning of the strings open at the nut, and then to fine tune with the bar near the center of the normal playing region, say at the C or 8th fret. Remember to leave the reference Es unchanged, and to tune everything to them. It may also be desirable to do fine tuning of the pedal and knee stops with the bar up the neck.
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by David Doggett on 12 September 2006 at 12:45 PM.]</p></FONT>