12 string E9 Pedal Steel Guitar

[Countrypicker]

Hi
Could any member please explain to me the advantages or disadvantages of using a 12 string E9 psg in place of the standard 10 string version. This occurred to me when reading the copendant of the 12 string steel that Les Wright advertised on the forum.
Thank you.

[Jif]

Hi Ray. The Mullen was set up to a Universal tuning although some set up a 12 string as extended E9. The concept of the Universal is that it combines to a large extent the tunings of a dual neck pedal steel, i.e. E9 and C6, into one single tuning. On the Universal engaging the Eb lever puts the overall tuning into a B6 tuning which is a semi-tone down from the C6 tuning on a double neck, so basically C6 is available on the first fret of a Universal.

They generally incorporate 4 of the 5 - C6 pedal changes, I'm no expert on C6th but I believe that the 5th C6th pedal can be achieved using a lever. On the Uni the 9th string (D) is omitted and the 12th string is a B an octave below the B you normally have as the 10th string on an E9 guitar, so you can get down a full octave lower. I guess this is why you might use it as an extended E9 to give you an extra low octave.

Anything you can play on an 10 string E9, you can play on a Universal or Extended E9. You can get the missing D string using either a knee lever or on a pedal. Missing the D string means you can effectively strum over the first 10 strings and get an in tune chord.

[Countrypicker]

Hi Geoff
Thank you for the explanation I had not realised that it was to give you a universal E9/C6 facility.

[Jif]

Hi Ray,

You're welcome. There's so many variations on pedal steel tunings and co-pedents it takes a while to get to grips with them.