The Steel Guitar Forum

As I am putting together ideas for my forever steel guitar, I want to be able to be able to play Hank Williams, Buck Owens, and Johnny Cash. How would one set up a steel to play the lower register of the guitar?

I am leaning towards an extended E9 add 6 tuning

F#, G#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D, B, G#, E

E9th/B6th Universal?

When playing with Buck Owens, Tom Brumley often played the guitar parts while Don Rich was singing.

For example: "Love's Gonna Live Here"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEor-yEW1hI

To play the guitar parts, Tom had ZB add a low E string to his standard E9 neck, so that he had 11 strings on E9.

It might be easier to buy a 12-string guitar and only use 11 of them, rather than find an 11 string steel guitar.

- Dave

Dave your a genus, great steel instructor too.
Ken from Queens.

Thanks Dave,

I am wondering what types of intervals and bends would be useful on the low end. I would think that a drop D lever would be useful as would some type of a raise to mimic a bend up.
Musically, I would like to be able to switch places with the guitarist and let him take the high end with a mando-taur. Like in Turn it on, Turn It Up, Turn me loose. Or, use an octave pedal to play the Don’t worry solo.,