2nd string whole tone lower

[henry]

My 2nd string only goes down a semitone and I get jealous when I hear people talking about changes that involve a full tone lower.

1. How much do people use this change?
2. How does it work as far as still being able to use the semitone lower. I've heard there are half way stops to help get the semitone drop accurately but do they work well or is it as difficult as doing a half pedal on the A pedal?

Cheers,

Henry

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Henry,
I use the second string lower a lot.
Actually when I think of it,the second string is a pretty good sounding string and I probably use it more than I realise.
regarding the half stop,You can feel it as You use the lever although You do have to be "light " on Your knees !
The whole tone lower is very useful for counterpoint moves which happen when You hit two strings and by using the lever and pedal of the fifth string You get one note moving up and one note moving down.
Billy

[Ken Byng]

I use my 2nd string lower a full tone a lot - far more than lowering it a semi-tone. It sounds great as a unison string with a pedalled 5th string. I use it in runs and licks a lot.

[James Crowbear]

i use the 2nd string whole tone lower as well - but not as much as the half tone lower which i find is sollicited a whole lot more
as Ken mentions the unison thing w: pedal 5 along w: a few other ditties such as:
in B : fret 3 - strings 1 & 2 = B7 (notes A F#) add the half step lower (to F) to which you lower another half step (to E)

do note that the unison thing is also obtained w: string 1 being raised a whole tone in conjunktion w: string 3
as well as string 4 being raised a whole tone w: pedal C in conjunktion w: string 1

concerning the precision of the half stop, on my Zum it's pretty good BUT the ONLY real half stop that i have found to be spot on w: absolutely no apprehension is the Swiss made Wiesner & Schild
they cannot be beat

[Zebedee]

Henry,
If I remember correctly your steel is a pull-release Marlen.

It's fairly easy to set up a full tone drop on the second string (as long as you don't have a raise on it), and for the half stop the ninth string can be lowered a semitone on the same knee lever.
Just set the start of the ninth string drop at the point where the second string has dropped a semitone.

[henry]

thanks for all the info everyone.
Richard you remember correctly, it's a Marlen. So i'd need to get a new bellcrank? Is this something I'd have to have made?

[Will C]

The chances are you already have one, Henry - mine did/does. I bet you there's a second, unused, bellcrank on the cross-shaft operated by the RKR lever. I had to make up a couple of swivels for it on my little lathe, but that's not a big problem. LMK if I can help with that part. Happy tinkering!

Will Cowell
Huntingdon, Cambs