The Steel Guitar Forum

Who is playing Bb6 besides David Wright and Junior Knight?

Hi Sonny. I don't know! But I sometimes wish I was.

When I started learning (on a D10) I had the foresight to tune the C neck to B, as I had a hunch I would convert to B6 uni and sure enough I did.

But Bb seemed a step too far, and although I can see the virtue in it, I'm past the point of no return now.

I think I was confused by Reece Anderson's Bb setup and I was too inexperienced to think of just taking a standard B6/E9 and lowering it a half step.

Me, I’ve played Bb6 exclusively since 2011.

I use Maurice’s last copedent, although I’m sure he would have tinkered with it forever…. Bb is where it’s at!

I think it's about TIMBRE above all things. There is nothing one can get on a Bb6th guitar over a C6th guitar using the same setup.
I tried it and to me it's too dark for what I am trying to do.

I don't think we need to find out who dunne it first... but I think Maurice Anderson played Bb6th early on. Bud Carter comes to mind too.

I never really drilled down on him "why?" in my discussions with Maurice, but I hear from other's who were close to him too, that he felt that it had less "mud" than A6th, which was a common tuning in Texas way back (along with E6th or E13th). So, it may have been born as a "raised A6th".

I think this is why Jerry Byrd claimed to have been the "first" to use C6th. Sometimes even called "inventor" of C6th, but by that it's not C6th which is meant but his C6th/A7th as he had a low C# instead of the expected C (which gave him a Major third to the Am7 relative minor of the C6th tuning, THAT may be viewed as a pre-pedal invention, and actually the C6th PSG "8th"-pedal reflects just that. Am I drifting off subject already?

It's interesting but not illogical that Maurice Anderson, when he went more into non-pedal pedal in the late 90's he chose C6th: His non-pedal S12 was a 22" scale. So, imagine a 24.25" Bb6th with about 2 frets cut short on the left, et voilá, as the French say.

Maurice's latest Bb6th SETUP had changed considerably from his early ones. I believe to know why, but it was, lets say because "personal" considerations. Maurice, just like BE was a great user of the so called "7th"-pedal and probably understood that pedal beyond what most ever did. I had the pleasure of observing Hal Rug, John Hughey and Bobbe Bowman, turn around together and watch Maurice reel off one of his famed "chord-solos" in total awe... and that day he was playing his E9th/B6th guitar.
Many of the so called "Maurice Chords" use the "7th"-pedal in conjunction with altered bass notes. On his latest tuning the "7th"-pedal change was split up and moved to levers and thus it is quite difficult so "see" what he was playing in later years, because the changes had been moved around considerably to levers one would not expect.

Is Bb7th better or superior to C6th or E9th/B6th?
I don't see an advantage unless one has a superior setup, which could then be set up on a C6th or B6th guitar the very same.
One thing that is FUNDAMENTAL on Maurice's Bb6th and later C6th non-pedal is, the bottom string tuned to C instead of Bb on Bb6th or D instead of C on his C6th non-pedal. To him THAT bottom string was as he said pointing down to it "I wouldn't want to be without that D on my C tuning"!
I must admit, I did not forget that conversation and followed suit and agree.


Frankly, being a C6th player exclusively now. I could very well live behind a B or Bb6th guitar. Although I find that the bottom string, even being tuned up a full tone as mine too is, already is wobbly enough in C6th (D). I sometimes find myself dying for the sound some of the E13th players had.
Some of the "ol' Swing Guys" were known to tend to play on old sometimes even "black" strings, chasing after the sound of hollow-body Jazz guitars (with semi or flat wound strings).
Jerry Byrd even admitted that not only did he use o.o18 Gibson strings for all 3 top strings (his highest being E) and to love keeping "aged" to "black" for a "warmer" (other's may rate it a less flattering "deader"-evidently JB never sounded "dead") sound. I know for a fact that some of the Texas Swing players in the 60's and 70's when they played "heavy" Jazz tunes, eagerly kept aged dull strings for "that" sound which was in a stark contrast to what Nashville and the West Coast played and sounded like.

I'll re-consider Bb6th once somebody builds me a 26" or 27" PSG. Ha!

... J-D.

Christopher Woitach wrote:

Me, I’ve played Bb6 exclusively since 2011.

I use Maurice’s last copedent, although I’m sure he would have tinkered with it forever…. Bb is where it’s at!

Christopher, if you had to drop one pedal, which would it be?

Wow… hard one.

Probably the AB pedals, since the original concept of Bb6 12 was sort of backwards E9, with the LKL and RKR lowering the tuning instead of AB raising - that was a later Universal idea. It’s handy to have them but I could live without them.

Everything else feels impossible, for my needs

Current conventional wisdom says get rid of P4 (or change it, but your question was what to get rid of), but I never want to lose anything that creates a half step between two strings.

The only thing I’d add, probably on a knee (although every knee option seems awkward to me, people seem to get used to extra knees) is to raise my 5th string to B - like the C to C# on C6 - seems very useful although there’s ways to get around not having it.

I like Bb6, and I really like this copedent. Since I play very little straight country, I could easily get along without the AB (P1 and P2), and use P3-P8 and the knee levers to cover it when I do.

Thanks for your thoughts. I asked because I have a 7+5 Universal. It’s set up a bit unconventionally now. Anderson’s copedent looks interesting but I’d like to avoid adding a pedal.

I don’t play any country, don’t even like it really. I do really like what I can do with A and B pedals along with raising the E’s. I haven’t run into any brick walls yet so there’s really no need to change. There’s just that lying voice in my head that tells me I’d play better with a "better" copedent.

The reasons I went for Bb6 were that I got tired of having E9 be the open tuning when the 6th tuning was what interested me and made the most sense to me, and when I mentioned that to Reece, plus deciding to get a guitar built for me by MSA in 2011, he said that he thought I was a good candidate for Bb6 - as usual, he was right.

Truth is, to paraphrase a friend of mine, “all tunings is good tunings”, lotsa music in every one…

I've been playing C6 for decades, and for the past 15 years or so my impulsive, or spontaneous, key choices when working up arrangements have all been in the flat keys, i.e F Bb Eb Ab primarily. I just like the darker, throaty tonality of those keys.

I hear you on that, Herb!

The other thing for me is since I’ve spent the bulk of my life as a jazz guitarist, those keys feel a lot more natural to me. With the Bb6, Bb, Ab, Eb, are all on those happy marked frets, hahah