The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi folks- newbie question for the Jerry Byrd aficionados: I’ve been learning ‘Steelin the Chimes’ in B11 tuning as taught in the JB course but in listening to his studio version (https://youtu.be/dMfH_aS7cTo) his lead break starting at :39 lays out really nicely in C6/A7… so my question is did JB record with a double neck? Or maybe overdubbed the solo after retuning a single neck? I haven’t found a straightforward way to play the lead note for note in B11 and I’m not aware of him using a double neck but I could easily be wrong! Just curious what you all think… thanks!



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Hi Gerard, Jerry Byrd was a prolific over dubber, seemingly quite early on, and definitely during the 50s-60s album era. You maybe be able to fudge a fair amount of the solo owing to the similarity of B11th to C6th via A6th. Especially if you simplify three note chords to double stops.

Check out this old post by Mr. Chris Scruggs from a thread about D9th tuning:
“Jerry Byrd used it alot in the '40s and '50s in the form of D9/A6:

E
C
A
F#
E
C#

Byrd's Nest and Byrd's Expedition are both in this tuning. Jerry Byrd used this tuning frequently, overdubbed with C6. Listen closely to "Sweet Corn" off of Hi-Fi Guitar as he blends the two tunings together, making it sound like one fluid take. “

P.S. I’ve come across your Poi Rogers instagram page, and look forward to any steel vids or recordings!