The Steel Guitar Forum

Here's 3 different E9th tunings I've been trying, still can't decide which I like best.
E9TH # 1
1 - E 014
2 - B 017
3 - G# 024
4 - F# 026w
5 - D 032w
6 - B 038w
7 - G# 046w
8 - E 056w
E 9TH # 2
1 - E 014
2 - B 020
3 - G# 024
4 - F# 026w
5 - E 030w
6 - D 032w
7 - B 038w
8 - G# 046w
E9th #3
1 - E
2 - B
3 - G#
4 - F#
5 - E
6 - D
7 - B
8 - G# or E
All are taken from Scotty's Home page http://www.scottysmusic.com <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Guitar_Bobby_Leach on 25 February 2001 at 08:30 PM.]</p></FONT>

Interesting.I'll tell you what I finally did in and effort to put something on the 2nd neck of my D-8 Stringmaster that I could actually play(1st neck is C6) - I just put the 1st 8 strings of a regular pedal steel E9 on there and it's quite playable.That would be high to low:F#,D#,G#,E,B,G#,F#,E. It's a fairly bright tuning that way with no real low strings and I suppose it could be transposed down to a lower key,but I kind of like it the way it is.Using the chromatic strings and slants,I can even cop the standard pedal moves.With a little practice,I feel I could take it to an E9 pedal gig and get by quite nicely.A nice by-product is I'm forced to explore all the non-pedal positions of that tuning - something I tend not to do if there are pedals handy.For instance,there is a B6th(G# min7)chord in there which I normally don't think about when I sit down with pedals. -MJ-

I've been experimenting, too. Have you considered adding a c# string in there, making it an E13 tuning? Whether you want the strings high and closely spaced or spread out with a low E depends on what kind of group you're playing in, I guess - the bigger the group, the less you'll probably want the low notes. I find as soon as the other guys are there I stop using the bottom two strings in some of my favourite tunings. So why not start with string 6 and fill in the gaps?

My friend Jack in Montreal played in the 40s and 50s using just one tuning all the time:
EG#Bdeg#c#'e'. He gave up the f# string in order to have octaves on the e and g# strings. (With the 4th string at f#, you can get a great dominant 9th by bending the d up - or a nice I9 - IV6 at the fifth fret.) I also found the 4th between string 2 & 3 a little hard to deal with. But Jack could play great leads and chords in this tuning, in Hawaiian and swing styles.

The one I use now is Bdef#g#bc#'e'. It's like your second two, with a c# and without the low string. There are a lot of chords there, especially if you use string bends, and the layout is almost a pentatonic scale, so there's lots of pretty melodic stuff that lies easily, too. It's good for faking pedal steel sounds, though the one Michael Johnstone uses is probably better if you're used to playing a "real" pedal steel.



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John Kavanagh
D-8, acoustic 8

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by John Kavanagh on 01 March 2001 at 06:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks for your replies, Michael and John. I already use an E13th tuning with a G# on top.
Recently I seen someone asking for Lee Jackson's E9th tuning. He's been a friend for about 4 years, but I had my wallet stolen at the airport last Nov. which had my phone book
with Lee's and all the members of Big Sandy & His Flyrite Boys in it. They played in St.Louis where I live while in Houston. I heard that Lee was quiting the band at the first of the year. I like to get in touch with him again.