IDEAS?

[telboy]

anyone hazard a guess at the tuning on this steel? and is it a pedal or non pedal? cheers terry

[telboy]

oops forgot to add the link...stuuupid boy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OF9P9__ ... re=related

[telboy]

another http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP_Q3tdz ... re=related

[Dave Nutt]

Hi Terry, hows you?
Well Id have a guess at a 6th tuning, not sure which. I'm pretty sure its no pedals .

Interesting at the end of first verse (just before steel comes in) it sounds a bit like Les Paul on guitar,(doubt it is tho) but very much like his early experimentation with multi tracked guitar.

Hows that project of yours coming along?

Dave.

[Dave Nutt]

Terry- A bit about Gene Oquin

Okay Gene is a real lost gem, he recorded for a couple of labels then got a deal with Capitol Records.
He had a habit of cutting wild boogie woogie numbers with steel breaks and hot piano playing, real hillbilly boogie and all West coast.
He was lost for years, I think he died in the 1960's, but had already played with Merrill Moore, Speedy West, Jeanne Black, Billy Strange, worked the Pal and had a group at the Hitching Post with Johnny Davis on guitar, Blackie Taylor on steel, Hank Ross on Bass, Shorty Bacon on lead and vocal and a drummer, around 1960...
I've heard a few of his tracks on various rockabilly compilations, and there was a three volume series called 'Capitol Rockabilly' on the Discy label which plunged into the vaults of Capitol Records rockabilly and hillbilly boogie artists of the 1950's..with lots of tracks, Gene has one track on Volume 2 and about three tracks on Volume 3.

Now i hear his stuff on Capitol has been compiled on one CD..has anyone heard of it or got a label and number for it?

This is all I know..
GENE O’QUINN
Album Title "Boogie Woogie Fever" Date of Release Mar 14, 2000 (approx.)
prod Ken Nelson, 30 songs in Time 70:45 mins.
*Please note that Speedy West and Ralph Mooney are supposed to have done studio work on Gene's sides.


The above was sourced from an old post on the US forum, it also mentions that Merle Travis did work with him.

Dave.

[Basil Henriques]

Capitol Rockabillies Maybe ?

[telboy]

Capitol Rockabillies Maybe ?

IVE GOT BOTH OF THESE ON GOOD OL VINYL, NO GENE O@QUINN ON THERE THOUGH BASIL...AS FOR MY PROJECT, AT THE MO ITS ON A GO SLOW, IVE GOT A FEW BUZZING STRINGS SEEMS TO BE COMING FROM THE ROLLER NUT? SO WILL HAVE TO GET A NEWUN MADE ALSO STILL NOT GOT AROUND TO GETTING THE ELECTRICS WIRED UP[LACK OF SPONDOOLEES] ALSO 10 STRINGS WAS TOO MUCH OF A LEAP OF FAITH SO MAY TAKE IT DOWN TO 8 STRINGS, STILL HAVENT DECIDED ON WHAT TUNING TO TRY EITHER WAS HOPING FOR SOME SUGGESTIONS FROM THE EXPERIENCED GUYS ON HERE BUT NOT MUCH HELP THERE IM AFRAID, MAYBE IF I WAS PLAYING PSG ID GET MORE INTEREST? THANKS FOR THE REPLIES THOUGH FELLAS

[Basil Henriques]

Telboy, the tuning situation is simple.. Either C6th A6th or E13th depending on whether you already see the fretboard like a guitarists or a Reso player..

If you are accomplished on the regular guitar, then the E13th would equate most readily to the positions you already know.. i.e. 3rd fret = Key of G and C. BUT if you're Reso orientated then the A based tuning would make more sense to you as the third fret would equate to the position for the Key of only C. If you wish to become proficient then make your brain work and learn to cope with tunings that encompass all the possible inversions. i.e. E13th (Root on top) A6th (Fifth on top) and C6th (Third on top)

A little help is included here, and remember you DON'T slant by bending your wrist or lifting your elbow, it's purely bar manipulation WITHIN the hand..

Here is my friend Lorene Ruymar who teaches state-side, and her course has been adopted by the Schools in Hawaii.




String Gauges and Pickup Placement.
This is purely MY opinion on gauges and tonality, from what I've found, I believe that if the gauge is too light, the sustain, tonality and relative string balance all suffer detrimentally.

These are my gauges for a 22.5" scale length.
1= E .016 or .017
2= C#.018 or .019
3= B .020
4= G#.022 0r .024 PLAIN
5= E .034 WOUND
6= D .040
7= B .046
8= E .056
They will suit C6/C13, A6/B11, E6/E13 without re stringing.


C6th neck
1= E
2= C
3= A
4= G
5= E
6= C or C#
7= A
8= G

A6th neck
1= E
2= C#
3= A
4= F#
5= E
6= C#
7= A
8= G

E13th
1= E
2= C#
3= B
4= G#
5= E
6= D
7= B
8= E

B11th
1= E
2= C#
3= A
4= F#
5= D#
6= B
7= A
8= B



Heavier gauge strings give a more solid tone and sustain longer with much less variation in pitch when picked hard or gentle (loud and soft.)

The radius of the bridge and nut also directly affect the tone, albeit with the nut just on 'open strings', but the break angle at the bridge is CRUCIAL, the larger the radius the more prone to "Whining" and 'Wolfe" tones.
All of the guitars that we consider having "Classic" tonality have VERY small radius bridges and also without exception have pickups mounted as near to the bridge as possible. The current trend to mount two pickups to obtain greater tone variation is a lame duck in my opinion, whilst having a warmer sound in comparison to the bridge pickup, the "neck pickup" has no advantage as the perceived sustain is much less, AND the warmer sound can be obtained with picking position and tone control/amplifier settings with the added advantage of reduced background noise.

There IS a "Sweet Spot" for the pickup height, too close and the increased magnetic field affects sustain, too far and the possibility of microphonics being heard are increased.
The 'Rule of Thumb' is no closer than the thickness of a new penny and no further than a £1 coin.

As for tonality, the pickup nearest the bridge will always have the longest "Perceived" sustain.

If you can't double your volume by picking harder then you are picking too hard initially, the picking strength SHOULD be able to vary your volume by a VERY noticeable amount, if not, look at it again, back to the woodshed..Dynamics SHOULD be an integral part of your technique, as should be interpretation.

[Basil Henriques]

Terry, The clip "No Parking Here" is C6th and E6 or (13th) I would guess. There is also a volume and tonal variation between the necks..
"You're Too Hot to Handle" is A6th based on the runs, with C6th on the fills behind the vocals.

BTW Whilst the Lorene video is a good starting point, be aware that her FORWARD slants are not executed optimally. Her reverse slant procedure is 100% though.

[telboy]

well that hint worked very well thanks very much for the time n effort basil much appreciated...before taking up steel appx 18 months ago, the only experience i had on a geetar was 3 chords on an accoustic, so basically im starting from scratch... also most of the termonology used by you legends on here and elsewhere just go straight over my head, i have trouble remembering /storing knowledge due to an accident a few years ago so have to have notes pinned up everywhere which is a pain,so i tend to play by ear, i couldnt tell you where any of the notes are, if you said to me play a G, i would know where the G was on an open string but that would be it! to be honest i thought it would be a matter of strummin a few strings and moving the bar up n down NOT, i think ive jumped in all guns blazing trying to play like bob dunn instead of learning the basics then building from there! just out of interest, id like to know how long players took from 1st picking up a steel to the point they felt secure enough to play in public? as you know basil i play a 6 string lap tuned to C6[cegace] what tuning would you recommend as a starting point to play the type of stuff on the quinn tracks ie western swing/hillbilly bop type stuff 8 string cheers again fellas terry