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 .015 E
 E
 E
B .020 C#
 B
 C#
G# .022 G#
 G
 G#
E .030 F#
 F#
 E
D .034 D
 D
 C#
B .038 B
 B
 B
G# .046 G#
 G#
 G#
E .056 E
 E
 E



Middle Neck:
A6 A6/F#7
A 13
 C6 C6/A7 C6/FM7 C 13
 C#m7
 B11 A9 AM9
E13 Locke
E  .015
 E
 E
 E E
 E
 E E
 E
 E
 E
 E
 E
C# .018 C#
 C#
 C C
 C
 C C#
 C#
 C#
 C#
 C#
 C#
A .022 A
 A
 A A
 A
 A B
 A
 B
 B
 B
 A
F# .026 F#
 F#
 G G
 G
 G G#
 F#
 G
 G#
 G#
 F#
E .030 E
 E
 E E
 E
 E E
 D#
 E
 E
 E
 D
C# .034 C#
 C#
 C C#
 C
 C C#
 B
 C#
 C#
 D
 C#
A .042 A#
 A
 A A
 A
 Bb B
 A
 A
 A
 B
 B
F# .056 F#
 G
 G G
 F
 G G#
 F#
 E
 E
 E
 Bb - .052



Front Neck:
E13 E6/AM7 hi C6 C13
G# .012 G# G
 G
E .015 E E
 E
C# .018 C# C
 C
B .022 B A
 A
G# .024 G# G
 G
E .030 E E
 E
D .036 C# C
 C
B .042 A A
 Bb




4th Neck of Quad:
JB Diatonic (with added low C)
E .015
C .018
B .020
A .022
G .024
F .028
E .030
C .036



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Retuning from A6 to C6/A7 and C6
  






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Retuning from C6 to E13



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.

Front Neck - F#13
the one Herbie gave Speedy back when music was 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

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

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 .015 D
 D
 D
B .018 B
 A
 A
G .024 G
 F#
 G
D .034 D
 D
 D
G .046 G
 A
 A
D .060 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 . . . . . . . . .


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

Basic Dobro Tuning aka high bass G



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
 

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.
 
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)

 BIG STEEL