Great discoveries when blundering (woodshedding?) about FACEGA—>AC#EG#BC#

[Mark Evans]

I was doing some searches for C6 variants, with less tension(lower?) and I came across a thread (from a ways back) https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... lit=FACEGA

So I tuned a lap to FACEGA and it sounded dang cool… but pretty flabby/loose strings. Today I twisted those strings up a few steps until I got a tension I liked…

AC#EG#BC#

Whoa. Blues-a-matic!
Lots of ripping bluesy single string licks, str8 bar stuff, easy peasy.
I really dig tweaking tunings … and understand how there are just dozens and dozens. (Maybe HUNNERTS!)

What would ya call this tuning?

[Mark Perrodin]

E6/11 ???
maybe?

[Twayn Williams]

It's AM9.

A - root
C# - M3rd
E - P5th
G# -M7th
B - M9th
C# - M3rd

OTOH, if you really meant G and NOT G#, then it's A9 (dominant) which would seem more likely as you described it as "bluesy". But of course, you can play blues on anything really...

[Alan Davidson]

Check out the reply I just posted to https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=413900.
I talk about the 7 string version of this tuning in G. This is the only tuning I use. It has a lot of very
cool qualities. I don't think of it as an open chord, though, when trying to name it. I just think of it
as alternating major and minor thirds or alternating major and minor triads. So, to me, it's more
like a type of D diatonic tuning.

[Mark Evans]

It is a G#, but I twisted it down to G and, yes, even a more bluesy vibe.

It's AM9.

A - root
C# - M3rd
E - P5th
G# -M7th
B - M9th
C# - M3rd

OTOH, if you really meant G and NOT G#, then it's A9 (dominant) which would seem more likely as you described it as "bluesy". But of course, you can play blues on anything really...

[Allan Revich]

I was doing some searches for C6 variants, with less tension(lower?) and I came across a thread (from a ways back) https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... lit=FACEGA

So I tuned a lap to FACEGA and it sounded dang cool… but pretty flabby/loose strings. Today I twisted those strings up a few steps until I got a tension I liked…

AC#EG#BC#

Whoa. Blues-a-matic!
Lots of ripping bluesy single string licks, str8 bar stuff, easy peasy.
I really dig tweaking tunings … and understand how there are just dozens and dozens. (Maybe HUNNERTS!)

What would ya call this tuning?

I’d call it C#m7/A since it’s a C#m7 chord with an added A in the bass.

EDIT: Gotta go with a name already mentioned here that is less clunky than C#m7/A. That being AM9 (A major 9)

[Joseph Lazo]

Probably gonna sound like a dumb question, but what is the low string and what is the high string for your tuning?

I'm used to guitar guy convention, where the first note in a sequence is the lowest string. But I've come across it being just the opposite here.

Similarly, if you're putting the notes in a vertical column, is the top-most note the lowest string or the highest string?

And, Mark, could you tell me what gauge strings you were using and what scale length lap steel for that tuning?

[Mark Evans]

Not a dumb question. I get it wrong all the time, and I’m not terribly dumb

I *believe* i’ have a set of SIT E7s on that lap.
.38 .34 .30 .22 .18 .15
This is on a Rick Ace. Similar set on Gibson EH (both 22.5” scale or so)
Long scale Oahu has a heavier gauge set, tuned in a G variant.

Someone will confirm… I believe in a column, it’s high to low
Otherwise as noted?

Probably gonna sound like a dumb question, but what is the low string and what is the high string for your tuning?

I'm used to guitar guy convention, where the first note in a sequence is the lowest string. But I've come across it being just the opposite here.

Similarly, if you're putting the notes in a vertical column, is the top-most note the lowest string or the highest string?

And, Mark, could you tell me what gauge strings you were using and what scale length lap steel for that tuning?

[Allan Revich]

Pretty common issue here. Stems from the fact that pedal steel convention is always High to Low, and Spanish guitar is always low to high.

If you go back to the early days of the SGF you’ll see that lap steel followed the pedal steel convention. Nowadays though, the lap steel convention is low to high, unless stacked vertically.

One hint that I find helpful; if the tuning reads like root position chords from left to right it’s going to be low to high. If it reads like root position chords from right to left, then it’s probably high to low.

Like many here, I wish people would be consistent and go with Low to High.

[Steven Wilson]

Nothing to add, but I appreciate the discussion! Another good example of the value of SGF!