Tuning a square neck up a step. Different strings needed?

[David DeLoach]

I'm going to do a recording and need to tune my square neck resonator up a step...

from G-B-D-G-B-D

to A-C#-E-A-C#-E

Would different string gauges be needed? I'll only have it tuned up a step for 1 day.

[Howard Parker]

hmmm...

Why?

In answer to your specific question you_can_try. Depending on your specific choice of string gauges.

Good luck!

h

[David DeLoach]

Why?

I need the open strings in key of A for some open string hammer ons and pull offs.

[Howard Parker]

Capo?

I'm assuming the the hammer-ons/pulls possibilities in G tuning (key of A) sans capo doesn't fit the tune.

[David DeLoach]

Capo?

I'm assuming the the hammer-ons/pulls possibilities in G tuning (key of A) sans capo doesn't fit the tune.

Correct - I need the open strings in A for the hammer ons and pulls offs. trying this in G tuning won't work.

Don't want to use a capo because I'm also going up to the 17th fret for some licks and my resonator tends to loose a bit of tone way up high (would rather avoid using a capo on the 2nd fret and then having to play at the 19th fret).

[Howard Parker]

Well,

You have nothing to lose except strings (assuming a spider bridge). You can't hurt anything by trying, except for maybe a string.

I do recall rarely tuning my hi-D to E and it worked about 60% of the time but, only with a fresh string. I've never tuned the rest of the neck up a full step.

h

[David DeLoach]

Found this on the ResoHangOut forum...

Am I mistaken that using heavier gauge strings (e.g. an 0.18 for the 1st string) would INCREASE the tension on the sting & instrument vs. decreasing the tension??

------------------------------------------------

"Brother Oswald's first Dobro, which he played on many of Acuff's Columbia 78s, was stolen in the late 1940s. A fan brought him a 14-fret spruce-top, which offered two frets more than Oswald liked. "I always got lost on that thing," he recalls, so he swapped with Shot Jackson for his current instrument, one Jackson acquired in an Asheville, North Carolina, pawnshop. Bev King describes it in The Dobroist's Scrapbook as "a round-neck Model 27, serial number 7233, with a lug cone and squared slots in the head." Based on the serial-number dating provided by Mike Cass in Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars, Oswald's Dobro was made in California circa 1935.

Unlike most Dobro players, Oswald uses a round bar he made for himself from stainless steel. Its dimensions are similar to those of the Thermocryonic bars of John Pearse, approximately three inches long and 5/8 inches across. Oswald had a stainless-steel rod cut to his specified length and then smoothed the tip himself on a lathe.

Oswald wears metal National fingerpicks on his right index and middle fingers and a plastic National thumbpick. He uses GHS strings with the following gauges, from first to sixth strings: .018, .018, .022 (unwrapped; "That's the old Hawaiian way," he says), .032, .042, and .042. Oswald uses a tuning referred to in the old Hawaiian method books as "high bass tuning, orchestra, or double A-major tuning," which from the sixth to first string is A C# E A C# E. Oswald believes this open-A tuning gives the Dobro a brighter sound than the G tuning (the same intervals a whole step lower) used by most Dobro players. And there was a purely practical reason for this tuning in the job Oswald held for more than half a century: "Roy sang a lot of things in A," he recalls."

[Mike Neer]

It’s hard to know without string gauges. Sometimes strings can get choked out when they are too taut. I’m guessing if this was a legit dobro set for G tuning that bringing it up to A might be tough. Give it a try, you’ll find out one way or the other.

[K Maul]

What gauges are you using for G? If it’s 16-18-26-36-46-56 I think tuning it up a step just for the session would be ok. Anything heavier could be a problem.

[Marc Muller]

Just use a capo. Up on the 2nd or tune guitar up 1/2 step and put on the 1st if it's an issue. No one will be able to tell any difference so long as you play in tune and in time.

[David DeLoach]

Just use a capo. Up on the 2nd or tune guitar up 1/2 step and put on the 1st if it's an issue. No one will be able to tell any difference so long as you play in tune and in time.

I tried a couple different capos. Maybe its just me, or my instrument (1980 RQ Jone square neck), but with the capo I get some weird overtones.

But I did resolve the issue. I'm modulating from the key of A to the key of G for the resonator solo and then back to the key of A. Doing this actually enhances the tune.

[Mike Neer]

But I did resolve the issue. I'm modulating from the key of A to the key of G for the resonator solo and then back to the key of A. Doing this actually enhances the tune.

This is problem-solving skills. Congratulations!

I do feel like capo is the best answer when you don't have the ability to change the arrangement. Charlie's Slide pro capos are really nice. I also have an old Beard capo that works well and is easy to put on/take off.

[Aaron Clinton]

https://hawaiian-steel-guitar.com/tunings