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Author
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Topic: 8-String Hawaiian Lap Steel Tunings?
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David Sizemore
Member From: USA
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posted 23 October 1999 09:56 PM
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I just bought a new Morrell "Little Roy Wiggins" eight string Hawaiian lap steel and was wondering if anyone could give a total newbie any suggestions for tunings? All responses would be greatly appreciated.
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Porter Fawcett
Member From: San Leandro, Ca USA
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posted 23 October 1999 11:12 PM
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E It is great for hawaiian music,
C also works great for other types of
A songs.
G
E
C
Bb
G------------------
 P. Fawcett, Ca.
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PD
unregistered
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posted 24 October 1999 07:12 AM
edit
Herb Remington uses:E
C#
A
F#
E
C#
A
F# A number of players used this in the early years. I personally never cared for it. Like BE says, "Sounds a little too bassy". But a lot of players like it. Pat
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c c johnson
Member From: killeen,tx usa
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posted 24 October 1999 01:59 PM
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look in scottys or john elys web site for a long list of popular tunings.------------------
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mikey
Member From: Hawaii, Big Island
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posted 24 October 1999 10:46 PM
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If you are a guitar player just starting on steel E7 is easy to relate to: EBG#EDBG#E...If you want to play Hawaiian...I use C13: ECAGECBbC...Bb gives easy 7th chords and the low C is nice..just my 2 cents,
Aloha,
Mike
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Jim Landers
Member From: Spokane, Wash.
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posted 25 October 1999 01:15 AM
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David, there is a lot of instruction books, tab, and tapes available for the C6 tuning. That's the one that Porter laid out for you. You can order a lot of it through Scottie's, and Jerry Byrd has an awful lot of real nice arrangements tabbed out, that is available directley from Jerry. If you like country and Western Swing, Herb Remington has a lot available also. Herb's is arranged for the A6 tuning, but you can also play it on the C6 tuning. Hope this helps. Jim
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Jim Landers
Member From: Spokane, Wash.
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posted 25 October 1999 01:23 AM
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Just thought of something else. If your just starting out, Cindy Cashdollar has a couple of really good instruction tapes available, that come with tab also. They are in the C6 tuning, and are availble from several different sources. Homespun is one. Jim
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Dennis Boyd
Member From: Suisun City, CA USA
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posted 30 October 1999 10:40 PM
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Here's a form of C6th tuning that I've been wanting to try once I get an 8-stringer.
G
E
C
A
G
E
C (C#)
G (A)Dennis
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PD
unregistered
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posted 31 October 1999 06:13 AM
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Dennis,One of JB's 8 string tunings is: E
C
A
G
E
C#
C
A (octave lower)
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Bobby Lee
Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA
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posted 31 October 1999 08:39 AM
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I'm getting a lot of good melodies out of this tuning. It's a D13th with a high "chromatic" 9th:E
F# (highest string)
D
B
A
F#
D
C Lower it a step if you're more comfortable with a C tuning. ------------------
Bobby Lee  www.b0b.com/products
Sierra S-12 E9th 5p+6k, Fender Stringmaster D-8, Sierra S-8 Lap
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Charlie Fullerton
Member From: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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posted 05 November 1999 05:02 AM
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Hi David:
If your interest is Hawaiian, C6th may be the way go. If you subcribe to Hawaiian Steel Guitar Assoc. Quarterly, as I did until it became too pricy (through no fault of theirs), you will notice that all, or at least most, of their tabs are C6th.
Aloha, Charlie
P.S. The other side of that is the guy who used to be the Canadian Director of the H.S.G.A has a single, a double, and a triple; and he doesn't use C6th on any of them.[This message was edited by Charlie Fullerton on 11-05-99]
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Al Terhune
Member From: Newcastle, WA
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posted 08 November 1999 02:17 PM
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Hi David,I just ordered the same guitar from Bobbe Seymour. Haven't gotten yet -- I'm fully expecting to love it, but how do you like yours?
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tbhenry
Member From: Trenton GA USA
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posted 22 January 2005 09:05 AM
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Hi B0b,Are you still using this d13 th for 8 strings. Can you post some scale and grips that are good for melodies please. |
Todd Weger
Member From: Safety Harbor, FLAUSA
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posted 22 January 2005 09:25 AM
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quote:
If you are a guitar player just starting on steel E7 is easy to relate to: EBG#EDBG#E...If you want to play Hawaiian...I use C13: ECAGECBbC...Bb gives easy 7th chords and the low C is nice..just my 2 cents,
Aloha,
Mike
That low C is really important, I think. When I first met Dick Sanft, he came over to my house, tried a few licks on my A6 neck, and asked if he could retune it. Then, he dropped that low string to a low C, and retuned it to C13 with a E on top. It made all the difference in tone for Hawaiian stuff, and I've used that ever since, though I prefer to get my 7th dominant chords with subs, and I like that A on string 7 for thicker minor 7th chords, so I often tune that Bb to A. Aloha,
TJW ------------------
Todd James Weger/RD/RTD
1956 Fender Stringmaster T-8 (C6, E13, B11); 1960 Fender Stringmaster D-8 (C6, E13); Melobar SLS lapsteel (open D); Chandler RH-4 Koa semi-hollow lapsteel (open G); Regal resonator (open D or G) |
Bobby Lee
Sysop From: Cloverdale, North California, USA
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posted 22 January 2005 08:35 PM
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Wow - a 5-year-old topic!
I haven't played the D13 in the past year or two, but it's pretty straightforward. The middle 6 strings are just like the C6th lap steel, but raised one step for D6th.
Then I added the low b7 note, like on an E7th or E13th, but lowered a step for D13th.
The first string is a 9th tone, like the first string D of a modern C6th pedal steel, but raised a step for the D tuning.
The neat thing about D13th is that the timbre is close enough to C6th or E13th to pass for either. It's a great choice for old country and western music, where the players switch tunings a lot. The first string is really handy when I'm playing fast licks.------------------
 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6) |
HowardR
Member From: N.Y.C.,N.Y.
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posted 22 January 2005 10:12 PM
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quote:
Wow - a 5-year-old topic!
and....your 5 year old picture....  
Porter was a good character also. Miss him & the slingshot dog.... 
Ok, back to tunings......
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basilh
Member From: United Kingdom
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posted 23 January 2005 08:15 AM
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David .. one question firstly.. do you ALREADY play guitar ?
This would be VERY relevant to what tuning is reccomended..
Baz------------------
quote:
Steel players do it without fretting
 
http://www.waikiki-islanders.com |
Robbie Daniels
Member From: Casper, Wyoming, USA
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posted 25 January 2005 07:51 AM
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I use the following tuning on one of my necks on my D8 Rickenbacker as mainly my main tuning. Top to bottom.
D
G
E
C
A
G
E
C |
Leila Tuttle
Member From: Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA
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posted 15 November 2005 07:08 PM
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This is an all-too-obvious beginner question, but with all the different tunings...can you use the same tablature for all of them? Or how do you do this? |
Andy Sandoval
Member From: Bakersfield, California, USA
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posted 15 November 2005 08:15 PM
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Leila, different tunings would require their own tab but C6 tab could be played on A6. |
Charlie Fullerton
Member From: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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posted 16 November 2005 06:29 AM
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I see my old comments have been unearthed -- still valid, I guess. I would like to add that I am currently "foolin' around" with a six-string B-11th (two more strings would be nice). Lots of chords! For the first time (on a six) I can find thing like " Song of the Islands", even "Moonglow"; I would recommend it for a second or third neck -- of course I haven't used it for long! |
Ian
Member From: San Francisco, CA
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posted 16 November 2005 08:59 AM
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Does anybody tune an 8 string lap with 2 chromatics on top?
F#
D#
G#
E
C#
B
G#
EI'll bet one play some licks similar to the PSG - well.... |
Keith Cordell
Member From: Atlanta
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posted 17 November 2005 04:37 AM
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I tune mine B*E*B*E*G#*B*C#*E. Got it from Darick Campbell, and it's a lot of fun! The other neck on my National D8 is A6 Herb Remington style. |
Donald Ruetenik
Member From: Pleasant Hill, California, USA
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posted 17 November 2005 06:04 PM
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I called this, 'Chuck Fisher's Weirdo Tuning'. And I thought it was until he showed me the versitility of this formulation. Now I pick up the Lap that's tuned to it all the time. To me it's just fun to play.E
B
D
E
G# (Drop the G# to G for the minor)
B
C#
E
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Don Barnhardt
Member From: North Carolina, USA
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posted 17 November 2005 07:38 PM
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These are some interesting tunings but a nice simple tuning is GECAGECA. Works well with Hawaiiain and western swing also country especially old Hank Williams songs. I use regular E9 strings minus the two bottom ones. |
John Bechtel
Member From: Nashville, Tennessee,U.S.A.
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posted 19 November 2005 10:54 PM
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I had an 8-string Lap~Steel back in ’01, while waiting for a new PSG and although most folks probably wouldn’t go for it, I tuned mine to C-Diatonic: (C)–(E)–F–(G)–(A)–B–(C)–(E)------------------
“Big John” Bechtel
Soon to be: New Burgundy D–10 Derby (w/6 & 8)
’65 Re-Issue Fender Twin–Reverb Custom™ 15” Eminence
web site
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David L. Donald
Member From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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posted 21 November 2005 01:28 AM
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David, stagger into Brad's page of steel,
and tells us when you come up for air.
http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html |
Edward Meisse
Member From: Santa Rosa, California, USA
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posted 28 November 2005 10:34 AM
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I have more or less just begun to seriously play lap steel. I'm using what they call a low C6 (that is with the E on top) and I tune the 7th and 8th strings back and forth from A, F and Bb, G. I have a long way to go to either learn my way around this tuning or figure out any reason why I would need another one. I strongly suggest a C6 tuning to begin. The important part of that(from high to low) is E C A G E C. That is the heart of the tuning and the strings you will probably use most. You may just as well tune the others to whatever 8 string formation suits your fancy for now. Only after playing awhile can you figure out what you personally are going to need. |
Chuck Fisher
Member From: Santa Cruz, California, USA
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posted 01 December 2005 01:41 PM
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"Weird Chuck Fisher Tuning"????I resemble that. Actually its just Jerry's 6-string E-13 with a IV powerchord underneath, I think Steiner uses this too. Its pretty versatile. BTW can we ban any posts that mention a tuning without defining LOW-TO-HI or HI-to-LOW??? |
Ray Montee
Member From: Portland, OR, USA
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posted 03 December 2005 04:12 PM
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HIGH to lo has been standard for decades. (Before rock and roll and Hank Williams Jr.)Younger folks are re-writing the book.... but at times it is confusing at first glance. Anyone that is using the olde standard verson of C6th are short changing themselves possibly; by tuning that bottom "C" note to "C#". It gives you so much versatility, I do believe. And having that really, really LOW note below that is really a kicker. |
Steinar Gregertsen
Member From: Arendal, Norway
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posted 03 December 2005 04:27 PM
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quote:
Actually its just Jerry's 6-string E-13 with a IV powerchord underneath, I think Steiner uses this too. Its pretty versatile.
Yeah, I really like that tuning, being used to playing 6-string in straight major tuning I found it easy to adapt to, plus it has all the advantages of the 6-string major tuning and those cool "extras". At the moment I'm busy trying to figure out this C6add9 tuning though; (low to high) ACEGACED. That added ninth up there opens up some nice harmonic possibilities... Steinar ------------------
www.gregertsen.com
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