Some steel guitarists are non-conformists – they like to use tunings derived from their own understanding of music. I myself have developed an 8-string D6th, 10-string D6th, F Diatonic 10-string, 12-string and more. Here are some examples from other players, some famous, some not:
- Ed Bierly’s 12-string D13th
- Raybob Bowman’s 12-string A6/D9
- Billy Jones’ 12-string A6th
- Doug Jernigan* and Gary Adams 12-string “Avenger”
- Sneaky Pete Kleinow’s* 8-string B6th
- Dennis Montgomery’s 8-string “Stacked 7ths”
- Ed Packard’s 14-string “13 Series”
- Herb Remington’s* 10-string A6th
- Alvino Rey’s* big band E6th
- Sacred Steel E7th (8 to 14 strings)
- Roy Thomson’s 10-string E Diatonic
- Speedy West’s* double 10 (F#9 and E9)
- David Wright’s 12-string Bb6th
* member of the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame
I have an S12 that I am told belonged to Bud Carter…odd setup…4 pedals and 5 levers…nothing resembling anything seen here or anything close to extended E9. Most operations of the pedals and levers drop, few raises at all. Don’t even have a clue what the tuning should be…any help would be appreciated. I may just convert it to E9 extended and forget it. Just curious about what it could be…thanks.
Bud used to play a Bb6 tuning.