Thank you for your help.
Didi Waechtler
JCH D10/10 FP/9 KL
Rickenbacher 1939
Melobar Lapsteel
homepage:www.dietmarwaechtler.cool.am

------------------
martin abend my homepage chicotarde@web.de
s-10 sierra crown gearless 3 x4 - fender hotrod deluxe

Didi Waechtler
JCH D10/10 FP/9KL
Rickenbacher 1939
Melobar

E
B
G#
E
D
B

This gives you a nice dominant 7th chord across the neck, which is VERY prominent in popular western music. The cool thing is that you can easily drop that D down a 1/2 step to a C#, giving you an E6 tuning. Or, you can leave the D, and drop the high E to D, and the G# to a G, like the following (high to low):

D (whole step down from E)
B
G (1/2 step down from G#)
E
D
B

giving you a G6 tuning.

So, with a few turns of a tuning peg, you can have two or three very usful and simple tunings that should fill your needs very well. I used this method this weekend (although, it was between C6 and A7), and it works GREAT!

Good luck in finding out what works for you!

Tchuss,
TJW

------------------
Todd James Weger/RD/RTD
www.franchise-yourself.com
1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (E13, C6)

E B E G# B E

Didi Waechtler
JCH D10/10FP/9KL
Rickenbacher 1939
Melobar
homepage:http://dietmarwaechtler.cool.am

Just kidding.

In all seriousness, you need to decide if you want low notes or not. For lead lines, you usually don't need anything lower than a B, but in blues you might want that low root like Lindley has.

E7 and G are the most comfortable for guitarists who are just learning steel. Paul Franklin does all of that lap steel that you hear on the radio using a C6th, though. Ultimately, the C6th takes a little time to learn but it's well worth the effort. You can subtly change the character of the C6th by retuning the 6th string. Use the A7#9 to get funky blues, or the Am7 when the song's in a minor key.

   E7   G    C6  A7#9 Am7
1. E    D    E    E    E
2. B    B    C    C    C
3. G#   G    A    A    A
4. E    D    G    G    G
5. D    B    E    E    E
6. B    G    C    C#   A 

.....DMaj C#minor..A7.....E6..C#min7..Emaj9
E
C#...D.................................B
A.........G#...............B...........G#
F#...................G.....G#
E
C#...D

BTW, in answer to the original question posted, I'd suggest C6 (E, C, A, G, E, C high to low) for maximum efficiency with 6 strings. It will give you majors, minors, and 6ths. Good for all-round pop, country, etc. If you want beefier jazz chords... diminished, M7, b5, as well as limited majors and minors, go with the Leavitt tuning (D, C, Bb, G, E, C# high to low).

------------------
www.dougbsteel.com

1
5
3
1
5
1

(in chord tones, that is) EG for D it would be:

D
A
E
D
A
D

I have never played lap steel until about a month ago, but I recently bought an acoustic Weissenborn style guitar, and an electic Weissenborn style guitar (the Asher Ben Harper model) and I am just in love with this tuning. The thing I have realized is that it is a completely different instrument from the pedal steel, or even a non-pedal C6th type tuning. You really need to concentrate on left hand technique, in that you really have to do a lot of movement to get fluid lines. The thing that kills me about the tuning is having 3 octaves of unison strings easily at hand. When I solo on my Asher using those unisons, it is a sound that is as big as anything I have ever heard. It is habit forming. I have done a ton of session work with this tuning over the last month, and I have a hard time getting producers to have me play anything but the lap.

I just started using this tuning in my country band, and it sounds phenomenal. I had been using an open G tuning (I only really played the three treble strings, which were G B D).

The thing I like about the C6 tuning I was given is that you can play just the treble strings and have a major chord, and then if you play the A C E strings, you have the relative minor using the same bar position.

Therefore, this tuning is pretty good for rock and country, but your rock and roll may sound a little Hawaiian if you're not careful.

This is such good information, shared freely and all in one place!!

I just love this place

------------------
Bill Fulbright

1998 Sierra U12 7x5; Line 6 POD; Yamaha P2100 amp; 2 Bose 802 cabs; Schecter Strat; Gibson ES-165; Peavey Classic 50-410.

Did you mean to say D-A-D-F#-A-D (low to high) for the tuning you are using? You had "E" for the third string, which is the second/ninth, not the major third of the D scale.

It's my understanding that D-A-D-F#-A-D is the tuning Lindley uses, but I could be wrong.

Thanks