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  Virgin,with Emmons 8-string-HELP! (Page 2)

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This topic is 2 pages long:   1  2 
This topic was originally posted in this forum: Pedal Steel
Author Topic:   Virgin,with Emmons 8-string-HELP!
DAN ROCKETT
New Member

Posts: 1
From: marion, MA , USA
Registered: JUL 2000

posted 09 July 2000 02:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DAN ROCKETT     

I just bought a Buddy Emmons 8-string pedal steel. It's tuned to E9, but I'm wondering if there's a tuning more appropriate for 8-strings, and what gauge strings are best? Also, what are the best resourses for a beginner? I've been playing dobro for a few years, but it's obvious to me that pedal and dobro are two different worlds. Has anyone else found that switch to be difficult, and what advise do you have? On a random note, does anyone have any info on Ben Keith, he plays pedal steel for Neil Young.

Thanks, Dan

[This message was edited by DAN ROCKETT on 10 July 2000 at 02:49 AM.]

[This message was edited by DAN ROCKETT on 10 July 2000 at 02:57 AM.]



Michael Johnstone
Member

Posts: 2535
From: Sylmar,Ca. USA
Registered: OCT 98

posted 09 July 2000 11:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Michael Johnstone     
You're in luck - Garcia hardly ever touched his chromatics......But personally,I'd put an A6,C6 or something like that on it.Since you have a Dobro background maybe you could put an extended G dobro tuning on it and add pedal changes where it made the most sense to you.However,if you're seriously interested in standard E9 style - you need a 10 string.

Ian
Member

Posts: 90
From: San Francisco, CA
Registered: APR 2000

posted 10 July 2000 12:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ian     
Hi Dan,

This post is a lot like the one I posted a few months back. I too have been playing Dobro and lap steel for the past few years and fianlly made the switch to pedal steel. I suspect you will encounter lots of advice, lots of conflicting advice. When I took my 8 string Emmons to Tom Bradshaw (a super guy by the way) he suggested that I set my copedent like the first 8 of a standard 10 string set up. His rational was that this is where most of the action takes place and when you finally do get a 10 string it's just a matter of incorporating the lower strings into what you are already familiar with. As for string gauges, buy a set of PSG strings and just use the top 8. 0r buy them individually, which would probably be cheaper. Here's what Tom Bradshaw suggests, starting at 1st string F# and descending to 8th string E: .013, .017, .011, .013, .017, .022p, .026w, .030.

Hope this helps, Ian

Jon Light
Member

Posts: 6528
From: Brooklyn, NY
Registered:

posted 10 July 2000 01:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jon Light     
Dan--after giving your question some thought (and after totally passing the buck once before when someone wrote me and asked me the same question) I have arrived at this thinking--

Several great artists pioneered the pedal steel guitar and evolved the E9 from an 8 string tuning to a 10 string tuning, Buddy Emmons being paramount.
It would be tempting to advise you to work with a traditional 8 string pre-"chromatric strings" tuning--I just recently had a great education on Mr. E's playing on an 8 string Bigsby. Sounds great! And with bar slants it sounds like there's nothing he can't do. Of course if that were true he wouldn't have forged ahead and added additional strings.
The trouble is, if you do this, then you will be reinventing this wheel. When you are ready to upgrade you will have to learn from scratch how to incorporate the new strings.
There is some wisdom in Ian's post and Tom Bradshaw's suggestion.
Not that I am totally comfortable with your loss of the two low strings in this scenario.
The easy-for-me-to-say solution, of course, is for you to ditch this guitar and do it right. Some help, huh?

BTW--the single best resource I have encountered is Winnie Winson's book Pedal Steel Guitar on Oak Publications. Check some of the links from the forum
www.b0b.com/outside.htm

to find someone who sells it. This will get you up and running real quick.
And if you hit the search button on top of this page you can input Ben Keith--there have been some forum discussions about him.

[This message was edited by Jon Light on 10 July 2000 at 01:35 PM.]



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