The Steel Guitar Forum

Some name players have this change on 1 string, some on both F#'s, some none at all. Looks like Jeff Newman used it on E9 but not on his uni. I'd like to hear some comments as to advantages of it on 1 or both F#'s.

I haver this change on both F#'s on my Emmons push pull S12U.
I have at least three primary uses for it.
If you want to make an open chord into a minor chord you can switch from strings 8,6,5 to 8,7,5, thereby dropping your G# to a G.
If you want to go from G to Am, try fret 3 open-G strings 8,6,5 to fret-5 with the F# to G on strings 8,7,5.
If you are in the AB down position when you add string 7 it adds a nice 7th chord tone, analogous to adding string 9 to an open chord. I use this for a strum-able 7th chord on some Robert Randolph sounding stuff sometimes.
The high F# to G sounds good when combined with the C-pedal E to F# raise in a single note lick type of "ascending/descending" run to/from the high G#.
Play E to F#, F# to G, G#, up and back. It is basically a Buddy Cage style E9th lick, for the Bridge of Lonesome LA Cowboy, 4, 5, 1 chord changes. Try it on the Bridge of Silver Wings over 4,5,1 chord changes, too.
Then there is the Travis/Atkins style picking uses, where it adds another moving/bending pitch to a finger picking roll.
I'm sure there are others.
On a push pull it prevents you from having to add slack to the B-pedal to allow for the lower on strings-3/6.

Thanks, Pete - cool ideas.

I have that change on strings 1 and 7 with extended D9.

In addition to Pete's ideas,

In open position it gives you a way to play a #9 chord: strings 6, 5, 2(lowered a half step), 1(raised a half step). And if you riff around in Em on fret 12 (with B pedal down), it's your minor third.

Two frets down from AB, where you have a dominant chord with B pedal and E lever, you can raise the 5th of the chord 1/2 step to give you a +7 chord.

There's more but it gets pretty esoteric. Most often I use that lever in the context of AB position where it is the minor 7th.

Had it on an old Sho-Bud but recently swapped it for a more "modern" change. I occasionally miss it when I'm playing in the A6 pocket with A+B pedals down, and wish to raise the 6th to a 7th.

To further confuse the issue...

Consider raising both F#'s to G# with or without a half stop at G.

Or Raising the 7th string to G and G#, picking up 1st string to G as a half stop, which can give you a 13th on string one with A and B pedals down and string 7 to a G.

Or... raising the 7th string to G and G# with the lever that lowers 2 and 9. On an all pull guitar I raise 7 to G and G# with that lever, using an additional lowering rod on 7 and additional raise on 9 to pull them into tune at full travel (not necessary if you tune everything straight up.
I don't).

Or just doing what Buddy Emmons suggested and pulling string 1 to a G with your pinky behind the bar.

I really like raising string 7 but currently do not have it in my setup. My work around is to play one fret up from the pedals down position - lower Es, lower Bs and squeeze in A pedal alone (nice dominant 7th scale across all strings.

I have a lever that raises string 1 from F# to G then to G#, string 2 from D# to D# then to E, and LOWERS string 7 from F# to F then to E. This string 7 lower change gives you some quasi-B6 changes when lowering your Es, or by itself.

It's great for a sort of min11 kind of sound with the B pedal down. Minor sus4 kind of territory. Here's some brief footage of a session I did some years ago where I recall leaning on that particular minor use a fair amount.

https://youtu.be/fnYi6zB5kkA

I really like the F# to G# change on my 1st & 7th strings, but in pedals-down position I still use the G note (b7) often. I don't have a 1/2 stop, but it's relatively easy to hit the note spot on. The b7 is somewhat forgiving with regards to intonation, and bending up into the note or even a stopping quarter-tone below has a nice bluesy sound.

Yes, I do the string one G# these days too with no half stop. I've gotten a feel for where that semitone is and the bluesy quarter tone thing is little more expressive potentially with the extra bit of travel available.
There is something nice and tidy about that dead-on G raise though, and it works great against string 2 if you're moving around in 3rds.

Everything the two Petes said, plus...

My F#>G is on LKV
with pedal A + F lever there’s a nice single note lydian run from C# to G# (Db to Ab), strings 5-2-4-1-3.

G7b9 chord run with F&G levers on strings 10-9-8-7-6.

With F>G# on LKR, sliding into Em from Emaj is no problemo, no half stop.

Full 10-string Em pentatonic scale with B pedal and G lever, plus 1/2 step lower on string 2.

Engage G lever with E’s lowered for G#mM7 on strings 6-5-4-1.
Other cool G#m stuff when sequenced with the G# raise

I'm watching this thread!! I have this change and need more ideas about it...

The altered dominant tones Fred outlined are worth exploring. That #11 business over the C# is very cool too.