The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a question for the members. I have a Ritterberry SD 10 3 X 4, Emmons set up. I would like to tune to an open G, for Cajun music. Keep in mind, I cannot roll my foot and hip to activate the foot pedals and knee levers. Is it possible to go from E 9 to Open G? What strings are recommended, and what changes will I have to make to my foot pedal, knee lever configuration?

Hmmm.. From your post, it sounds like you may be looking for a console steel or lap steel rather than a pedal steel. That Rittenberry of yours is a pretty sought after instrument as a pedal steel, though I'm sure you could set it up as a console tuned to G and just not actuate (or even connect) the pedals and levers.
If I were in your position, I think I'd look for a lap steel or console without pedals and sell the Rit. You should come out well ahead on that deal and I'd be wary of anyone who want to make you a "straight across" trade. Look through previous postings in the "for sale" section of the forum. Maybe you can find what you're looking for as well as getting an idea of the value of the Rit.
Good Luck

Mark
I saw a guy play over the weekend, who hat a Rittenberry D 10. The C 6 neck was tuned to Open G, with the knee levers removed. I was wondering if it were possible to do that on an SD 10, E 9 neck. He did have 2 foot pedals. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about his set up.

Mark, there are several players that play cajun music that use a G tuning on pedal steel. Check out the guys in Louisiana. There are some killer players there.

Thanks Rich,
This is very helpful. I need to eliminate LKL and LKR, due to a hip isssue, but can incorporate the tuning and foot pedal configuration to my needs.

Hi Jody,
Sorry, but I think I may have mis-interpreted your original posting. I thought you were saying that you can't operate any of the pedals or levers due to hip and foot issues.
It looks like the link posted by Rich above should be pretty helpful. Watch out though on string gauge compatability with the nut rollers on the standard E9 neck you have. Looks like your getting into some pretty fat wires!

Mark,
I can operate the 3 foot pedals, but can’t LKR, or roll of A pedal onto B pedal. My ankle doesn’t roll any more. I’m not sure of the notes I’m trying to achieve. I just acquired the contact information of the guy I watched over the weekend. I will be contacting him, to find out his set up.
I just want to know, if I can go from E 9 to Open G and what Guage strings should I use.

Jody,
Place a capo on your 3rd fret. Strings 4,5,6,8 is your major G chord. Your AB pedals still give the primary changes all of which you’re able to play Cajun music with an open tuning and still play E9th starting at the G fret. Remove the capo and your back to E9th with no changes to pedals, knee levers, or string gauges.

Jody,
The link Rich Peterson provided takes you to a recommended G6 tuning Andrew Frost posted previously on forum. This includes string gauges as well. I don't know if this is what you were after, but on the lower strings, the gauges are getting pretty heavy. I was concerned that you might have some binding issues at the nut rollers with string gauges significantly heavier and wider than the nut radius is on the guitar now. Maybe this isn't a big problem in practice, but it seems as though it could be.
Good luck with this endevor!

Thank you Mark.
I have looked at the link and thought the same thing. I may buy a set of strings, just to try them. I appreciate all the advice.

Yea. What the heck. Give it a try and see how it goes.
If you do find issues with binding or those bass strings standing too proud of the others, maybe contact Derek at Rittenberry and see what he thinks. Perhaps he could set you up with some different rollers (if in fact, they're needed). Best of luck.

Consider tuning down a full step, from E9 to D9. This way, when you press your A and B pedals together, you’ll get a G tuning on strings 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10. You won’t have the low G found on standard dobro tuning, but the rest of it will be there, plus a high G on the third string. You’ll also still have all Your E9 sounds, only you’ll need to transpose two frets higher when you play in that style.

Hi Jody,
One of the things I intend to experiment with is:
-leaving the guitar tuned to E9th
-placing a .012p string for the 3rd string
-engage the A&B pedals and (taking cabinet drop, etc into account) be sure that the A’s are at 440 because most Cajun accordions are 440
-use the Digitech Whammy pedal and transpose the entire tuning a whole step down to G

***this method only requires changing one string, and it will sound fatter in both E9th & G modes, and just adjusting your global tuning to the accordion if needed.**



If my Digitech pedal arrives by the weekend I will use this method Saturday evening at a job locally. Depending upon the results I’ll either not like the pedal and unplug the it and set my Lapsteel on the back neck for the remainder of the night or I will stay with the pedal. If you want to PM me I’d be happy to tell you where I’ll be and you’re welcome to come talk shop and witness the experiment.

Best regards,

Hi Jody,
One of the things I intend to experiment with is:
-leaving the guitar tuned to E9th
-placing a .012p string for the 3rd string
-engage the A&B pedals and (taking cabinet drop, etc into account) be sure that the A’s are at 440 because most Cajun accordions are 440
-use the Digitech Whammy pedal and transpose the entire tuning a whole step down to G

***this method only requires changing one string, and it will sound fatter in both E9th & G modes, and just adjusting your global tuning to the accordion if needed.**

If my Digitech pedal arrives by the weekend I will use this method Saturday evening at a job locally. Depending upon the results I’ll either not like the pedal and unplug the it and set my Lapsteel on the back neck for the remainder of the night or I will stay with the pedal. If you want to PM me I’d be happy to tell you where I’ll be and you’re welcome to come talk shop and witness the experiment.

Best regards,

Hi Marty,
That sounds great. I’ll pm you tomorrow. I would love to come hear you play and talk shop with you.
Thanks for the advice.

Jody, if you watch Marty play please realize he does things that no one else is able to do but amazing to watch him and what he comes up with. You will walk away totally in awe. We all still do it after decades of seeing him play when we get the chance. 🙂

Marty,
If you’re not satisfied with the drop pedal try using the whammy DT. The drop pedal adds a bit of additional delay and isn’t as clear when playing multiple strings at the same time. The DT was a vast improvement and can be used to lower or raise pitch. Makes switching from Bb to D accordion easy as turning the knob. 🙂

David,
I will be watching Marty tomorrow night. I look forward to learn more of his style and pick his brain on a few things. I will be paying close attention to what he says and does.

David,
Thank you for the prop-up.
And Thanks for the tip. I originally ordered the DT but they were out of stock so I opted for the Electro-Harmonix version. Fingers crossed…..

David, the pedal I received didn’t perform the way I wanted. I tried it for a few minutes and set it aside. Will be sending it back and waiting for the DT.

Jody, sorry we didn’t visit more. Make sure you holler if you need anything.

Marty,
Thank you very much, for taking the time to talk to me last night. I learned a few things, in the short time we spent together. Look forward to seeing you play again. Will do, you do the same. Keep me posted on the DT pedal.

I play a D6th tuning with some E9th pedals. My "B" pedal raises the F# strings to G and gives me the open strings of the dobro G tuning:
[tab] p1 p2
E
F# +G
D
B
A ++B
F# +G
D
B
G
D [/tab]

E9th doesn't have the range to get the low G, and the only high D note is on the 2nd string - too far from the B. With a D9th tuning you could have a special pedal to get the open G major notes instead of your "C" pedal:
[tab] p1 p2 p3
E
C#
F# +G
D
A ++B ++B
F# +G
E
D
C -B
A ++B --G
[/tab]

String gauges for D9th are .014 .017 .013 .015 .020 .026w .030w .034w .038w .044w

Thanks bOb,
I may try the D6 tuning. I cannot roll my left ankle, so coming off of the A pedal, and rolling on to the B pedal, in conjunction with lowering the E’s at the same time are impossible.
What strings would you recommend?

I sell strings for D tunings at https://www.steelguitarshopper.com/d-pedal-steel/