TUNINGS

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8 STRING TUNINGS


Fender Stringmaster T8  and  Fender Custom
and Remington Steelmaster T8
and Gibson Console Grande T8
and Fender Stringmaster Quad


Back Neck:

E7 E13 Em9/E9 C#m7
E
E
E
E
B
C#
B
C#
G#
G#
G
G#
E
F#
F#
E
D
D
D
C#
B
B
B
B
G#
G#
G#
G#
E
E
E
E


Middle Neck:

A6 A6/F#7
A 13
C6/A7 C6/FM7 C#m7
B11 A9 AM9
E13
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
C#
C#
C#
C
C
C#
C#
C#
C#
C#
A
A
A
A
A
B
A
B
B
B
F#
F#
F#
G
G
G#
F#
G
G#
G#
E
E
E
E
E
E
D#
E
E
E
C#
C#
C#
C#
C
C#
B
C#
C#
D
A
A#
A
A
A
B
A
A
A
B
F# or E
F#
G
G
F
G#
F#
E
E
E



Front Neck:
hi C6 C13 E13 E6/AM7
G
G
G#
G#
E
E
E
E
C
C
C#
C#
A
A
B B
G
G
G#
G#
E
E
E
E
C
C
D
C#
A
Bb
B
A




4th Neck of Quad:
JB Diatonic (with added low C)
E
C
B
A
G
F
E
C



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Retuning from A6 to C6/A7 and C6

  




Here are the gauges I prefer:

 

JB Diatonic
C - .036
E - .030
 F - .028
G - .024
A - .022
B - .020
C - .018
E - .015
C6 - A-.042 C-.036 E-.030 G-.024 A-.022 C-.018 E-.015 G-.012
A6
F# -.056 A-.042 C#-.034 E-.030 F#-.026 A-.022 C#-.018 E-.015
E7 E-.056 G#-.046 B-.038 D-.034 E-.030 G#-.022 B-.020 E-.015
I use Jagwire nickel wound strings -  available from b0b on Steel Guitar Forum.

Fender Stringmaster D8

Front Neck - F#13
the one Herbie gave Speedy back when music was all real . .
Speedy said it was that tuning that got him his Capitol Records contract.
E
C#
G#
E
Bb
F#
D#  (1/2 step below 1 st string)
F#  (whole step above 1st string)

Back Neck - E13
E
C#
B
G#
F#
D
G#
E



Rickenbacker D8

Front Neck - Leavitt Tuning
D
C
Bb
G
E
Db
Eb
C



Back Neck - E6
G#
E
C#
B
G#
E
C#
B




Regal 8 & 7

Back Neck (8 string) - Leavitt tuning raised a whole step

from            to

D E
C D
Bb C
G A
E Gb
Db Eb
Eb F
C D



Front Neck (7 string) - Jerry Byrd Diatonic tuning
E
C
B
A
G
F
E

I put the transposed Leavitt tuning on this one and the JB diatonic.
This diatonic tuning is great, it's kind of like playing a harp.
The 7 strings cover 1 octave, and there are some nice combinations and slants.




Roland Peachy T-7 Tunings
(Low to High) 
D9
A7
E13
E
E
E
C
C#
C#
A
A
B
F#
G
G#
E
E
E
C
C#
C#
D
A
D







6 STRING TUNINGS


Fender Champion  &  McKinney #2

The Fender Champion was my first steel guitar - this is the tuning I first started with many years ago when I just wanted to transfer what I'd been doing on guitar with  flaming bic and foaming bud:

G6
lo bass G
D
D11
E
D
D
D
B
B
A
A
G
G
F#
G
D
D
D
D
G
G
A
A
D
D
D
D

In the first tuning, the top 4 strings are the same as  guitar tuning, and the bottom 4 give you a huge 5151 power chord.
You can get a minor chord on strings 1, 2 & 3 and a major chord on strings  2, 3 & 4 with a straight bar. 
It's a good first tuning for a guitar player who gets his first steel and wants to take it to the gig that night.

Then it's a quick retune for the G and D tunings . . . . . . . . .


Dobro Squareneck Reso
& front neck of Supro D6
& Gibson BR9

G G6
D D
B B
G G
D E
B B
G G

Basic Dobro Tuning aka high bass G



Fender Champ

A tuning

E
C#
A
E
C#
A

This is one of the first steel tunings, a nice basic tuning with lots of slant possibilities - a whole step up from "Dobro" tuning

 Rickenbacker 6
& McKinney 6 & back neck of Supro D6
 

E
E7
lo bass A
A9
E
E
E
E
B
B
C#
B
G#
G#
A
G
E
D
E
C#
B
B
A
A
E
E
E
E

These are good basic tunings for Blues, Rock, and Hawaiian.

 National New Yorker  & Rickenbacker BD6
& Supro Supreme

 
A6 C6 C6/A7 D9  E7 B11
E
E
E
E
E
E
C#
C
C
C
B
C#
A
A
A
A
G#
A
F#
G
G
F#
E
F#
E
E
E
E
D
D#
C#
C
C#
D
B
C# or B

This is the way to go with a 6 string for versatility. 

 Gretsch Electromatic

Leavitt tuning

D
C
Bb
G
E
Db
Eb
C

The yellow notes are the 2 lowest strings of the 8 string version of the Leavitt tuning . . 

 Alkire Eharp (Valco 10)

Alkire tuning

E
C#
B
A
G#
G
F#
F
E
C#

With the Alkire tuning you can get one or more inversions of pretty well any chord.




Retuning from A6 to C6 - video
Retuning from E7 to C#m7 - video
Retuning from high C6 to high E6 (aka E13) - video
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