12 String Pedal Steel Guitar Copedent

[Melody Freeman]

For a 12 string pedal steel guitar having 7 pedals, why do some copedents have an E on the fourth string for the 6th pedal when the fourth string open is an E? Some copedents have an F listed there.

[Dennis Detweiler]

When holding the Eb lever to lower the 4th and 8th strings it puts the U-12 tuning into B6th. The 6th floor pedal lowers the 8th string from Eb down to D and raises the 4th string from Eb back up to E. Same chord formation as with the 7th floor pedal on the standard C6th tuning. I only have a double raise and double lower changer on my older U-12 MSA guitars. So, my 6th pedal just lowers the 8th string down to D and I have to release my Eb kneelever to bring my 4th string from Eb back up to E. Same end results on mine.

[Andrew Frost]

I think some people set up that pedal to drop 8 to -D and raise 4 to +E when in B6 mode with Es lowered ( like C6 pedal 6 ) but when in regular E tuning w Es not lowered that pedal will still raise 4 by a half, resulting in the f note. This would have its uses, as it extends the range of the diminished pedals upward by one string when pedal 5&6 are down.

[Bobby D. Jones]

Jeff Newman's 12 Universal tuning,
With Strings 4-8 lowered to D# and 2 string lowered to C#, For B6.
The 6th pedal, Raises 4th string back to E, And lowers the 8th string to D.

[Melody Freeman]

Thank you so much Dennis, Andrew, and Bobby. What I’m still not understanding is why on the copedent there is a pedal (6th pedal) that produces the same octave of an E as the open E string 4 is. Should it be an F, instead of an E like some of the copedents for the E9/B6 12 string? Some of the copedents do have an F for the 6th pedal 4th string. So I had been wondering if there was a misprint with the E and F?

[Daniel Morris]

Melody, if you don't lower your 4th string E to Eb (for B6 mode), and you press the typical pedal 6, you will then have an open F.

[Dennis Detweiler]

Basically, the 6th pedal makes the b7th E chord with 4th string E being the root. Add the 5th pedal to get the F notes. The two pedals combine for a diminish chord. I guess, you could flat the 1st string F# to F along with the 4th and 8 strings on the 6th pedal if you wanted another F note on top? The standard U-12 E9/B6 tries to stay true to the C6th standard 10 string neck copedent. Players used to refer to the 6th pedal as the split pedal because the 4th string is moving up and 8th string is moving down or counterpoint. Same movement on the 10 string C6 neck. Some Universal players alter the tuning to suit their taste.

[Andrew Frost]

What I’m still not understanding is why on the copedent there is a pedal (6th pedal) that produces the same octave of an E as the open E string 4 is.

Melody, It raises the string back to E from D# and you can do this while you hold the E lever. Look at the way C6 copedent charts lay out. Study what each pedal does. Pedal 6 usually raises the top maj3 a semitone, (E-F) and drops the lower maj 3rd of the tuning (E -Eb) like Dennis described. This results in a dominant 4 chord (F9) in relation to the open tuning. You could think of it like a sus4 in the upper register and minor3 in the bottom. Same thing happens with B6, in a universal context, but when the Es aren't lowered, that 4th string will raise to F. Some have it set up to only affect a raise if/when Es are lowered.

[Bobby D. Jones]

The E9th/B6th tuning is considered by many to be 1 big tuning. And in some songs play part of song E9th and part B6th.
Jeff Newman's teaching considers it 1 big tuning.

Some people, Consider E9th a single tuning and B6th as single tuning. Mainly people who play a lot of Western Swing/Jazz music. Holding the D knee lever in on song after song, Can cause physical problems with the players leg.

So some builders and mechanics, When building or setting up Universal E9th/B6th guitars, Install a D Knee Lever Lock. When the lock is engaged, The guitar is locked in B6th mode. The 6th pedal has to have the raise to return the D# to E in the tuning, When playing in B6th tuning.

[Melody Freeman]

Thank you all! I get it now!