The E9 neck of the steel guitar has a range that starts with an open string B that is 2 B's below middle C. SGN Products (Formally the Steel Guitar Network) SGN Products - Pedal steel guitar standard replacement tuning nuts. But, even with these limitations players such as Herb Remington, Jerry Byrd, Joaquin, and Leon McAuliffe push onward and made fantastic music with what they had to work with.The late 1930's and early 1940's the light bulb went on and pedals were added to the electric lap steel.


Gibsons system of pedals seemed to work very well for the Electroharp.One of the first electric steels to actually have pedals was designed by Paul Bigsby most notably known today for his vibrato tail piece used on many electric guitars even to this day.Even with the addition of floor pedals steel players of that day still needed more versatility. Alvino Ray is credited to having pedals added to the electric lap steel. Multiple necks, adding extra strings, various tunings, and bar slanting. Example; the You may want to make minor tweaks according to your ear but the chart will get you very very close to an awesome sound.Translated from Hz to cents for modern tuners (1 Hz = 4 cents)A B C 4 5 6 and 7 are floor pedals. and the pitch of the 2nd string is lower than the 4th string. The open strings are tuned with the tuning Here is the "standard" tuning and pedal assignment for the C6 neck: So this tuning is called the E9 tuning.

Note that the pitch of the 1st string is lower than the 3rd string, It is played on the 10th string with no pedals or bar and is found here in musical notation: Size 1 1/2" long (3/16" hex). Soon legs were added and the instrument was called a console steel. Names such as Buddy Emmons, Jimmy Day, Paul Franklin, Lloyd Green, Jeff Newman, John Hughey, Weldon Myrick, are some of the prominent names but there are others as well.Well, we covered a lot of ground but hey, what about tuning? They were not designed with complex harmony in mind. The Steel Guitar Tuning Dilemma. D E F and X are knee levers.Hummingbird Music has been serving the community for over 30 years. The largest database for alternative guitar tunings on the internet. It is found here on the musical staff:

People such as Charlie Christian Boggs, Noel Boggs, Leo Fender, Leon McAuliffe, and Santo were all involved in the progress of the electric lap steel with multiple necks.Even with the strides made by adding an extra neck or two to the lap steel, the musicians were still limited and they knew it. Tuning the Pedal Steel Guitar; The pedal steel guitar is a very unique instrument. … It has actually evolved over the years dating back to the early 1930's with the electric lap steel.
The tuning of the open strings more or less makes up the notes of the E9 chord (An E9 chord is spelled E G# B D# F#).

With the need to have some versatility in playing songs in different keys and scales, the addition of an extra neck tuned to a specific tuning seemed to be the logical answer at that time. Either by innovations or by breakthroughs in how they played the instrument. Yes, lets get into that right now.If you are new to the pedal steel or if you are a guitar player wanting to learn the pedal steel this bit of information about tuning will be priceless. Today non-pedal and pedal steel guitarists of all skill levels share their knowledge with many other players every day. The E9 neck of the steel guitar has a range that starts with an open string B that is 2 B's below middle C. There is a somewhat standard "open" tuning. This displaces the material and creates a stronger and tighter fit. (An E9 chord is spelled E G# B D# F#). "Open" means that no pedals or levers are engaged and no bar is used. the specifics of the songs and exercises contained herein are different. It is primarily used to get that old-fashioned Hawaiian or western swing sound. It is noted that in 1952 Zane Beck who played for Hank Williams, Jim Reeves and many other notables, was credited to adding knee levers to a console steel.Bud Isaacs is credited to adding a pedal to his console steel and was the first to record a song and change the pitch of two strings while holding a chord and thus the crying pedal steel guitar sound we hear today was born.In the 1950's Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day were credited with more innovations. So this tuning is called the E9 tuning. The Internet has changed all that. Most modern pedal steel guitars use all-pull changers and so this lesson will assume you have to tune the open strings first. The general information is pretty much the same, but given the difference in tuning, There are many variations on the tuning of this neck. The pedal steel guitar is a very unique instrument. Older steel guitars, as well as some student models, required tuning some of the pedals and knee levers first and then the open strings. Players tried everything to be able to play on the songs they loved. The Gibson Corporation in 1940 created the Electraharp which allowed the musician to change the pitch of certain strings without the use of a bar by using floor pedals. Some professional model pedal steel guitars have another neck on them closer to the player. But at fret 25, the pitch is A that is 3 octaves above middle C.