posted 25 October 1998 12:40 PM         

Thanks,
Rick Richtmyer

[This message was edited by RickRichtmyer on 10-26-98]

posted 11 June 1999 09:02 PM         

The basic tuning was an A "low bass," tuned from smallest to largest strings as follows: E, C#, A, E, A, E.

The pedals were set up as follows:
Pedal 1 (nearest the player) raised the 4th string from E to F#, to get an A6th chord.

Pedal 2 lowered the 2nd string from C# to C, raised the 4th string from E to F#, and lowered the 6th string from E to D, to get a D7th added 9th chord.

Pedal 3 lowered the 2nd string C# to B and the 3rd string A to G#, and raised the 5th string from A to B, to get an E major "low bass" chord.

Pedal 4 lowered the 3rd string A to G# and raised the 5th string from A to B to get a C#mi7th chord.

The back page gives instructions on how to tune the pedals and changer levers and lists a dozen "low bass" and two dozen "high bass" tunings. In the early days there were a lot of "thumb pickers" on steel who preferred the low bass tunings so they could play the bass and counter-bass notes while they were picking melody and harmony with the other two fingers on the higher strings.

The "high bass" tunings were preferred by players who wanted to do more melody and chord work. A common 8-string high bass tuning was A6th (smaller to larger strings);
E, C#, A, F#, E, C#, A, F# or E. Since the F# sixth tone was now in the basic tuning, the first pedal raised one or both the F#s to G to get an A7th chord.

The Harlin Brothers sold the company and the last I knew (15 years ago) it was owned by the Pickett Brothers at Rt. 6, Box 256, Noblesville, IN 46060, phone 317-846-1726.

[This message was edited by Fred Layman on 06-12-99]