What tuning did Duane Allman use for slide?

[tugboat]

I found my old slide and want to noodle around on some slide tunes with my Acoustic. I have a limited collection of slide stuff, but I know I have several Allman Brothers songs with Duane Allman on slide. What tuning did he use?

I actually think I have some Muddy Waters too. Didn't he use slide a lot? If so, what tuning(s) did he use?

What about country steel guitars? What's a good generic tuning for that? I realize I won't be able to get the pedal bends, but I'll just deal with it.

[NeoFauve]

I thnk Duane used mostly open E tuning, and some standard.

http://www.musicplayer.com/lounge/lessons/allman.htm


A good resource for a ton of lap steel tunings is Brad's Page of Steel.
http://www.well.com/user/wellvis/steel.html

Lots of stuff there. Some of which you can adapt to slide too.

[tugboat]

Cool! Thanks! I noodled around with the slide earlier today and I might end up adding some sorta guitar set up for slide on my G.A.S. list. I think a Les Paul Junior or Special might make a killer guitar for slide. Or I could buy an MIM Tele and install a B-Bender. That might be really friggin cool.

[sliding-tom]

Duane Allman played in open E for most of his career - but he started out in standard tuning, which influenced his open tuning playing a lot.
Muddy Waters used open G in his early days and later learned to play in standard because he didn't want to retune his guiatr all the time and also didn't want to carry an extra. A Junior or Special or anything with P 90s will make a killer slide guitar ( P 90s are my favourite pickups for slide.)
Country and related stuff sounds good in open G.
You might want to check this site: http://www.mphase.com/lounge.htm
Also, check my post in a recent thread about Derek truck's slide technique. There might be some more useful information for you.

[tugboat]

Thanks Tom! I remember seeing somewhere that the slide on "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger was a Les Paul Junior.

I've never tried P90s for slide, but for some reason I'm thinking that the P90 would be a killer pickup for slide. A nice fat telecaster pickup might be good for slide too, but the P90 idea for slide just sounds like it would be perfect.

Maybe a Warmoth tele, mahogany body, mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard, 24 3/4" scale neck, 2 P90s, and a B-Bender. Hmm....

So many guitars, so little money...

[cooltone]

I remember seeing somewhere that the slide on "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger was a Les Paul Junior.

that solo gives me chills..hate the song, but man..BTW the player is Rick Vito.

[sliding-tom]

that solo gives me chills..hate the song, but man..BTW the player is Rick Vito.

Killer slide player!

[Guitar_Mc]

For me blues is open D or E, country is open G or A.

Why?

[Guitar_Mc]

If you want to think of it as pent scales, open D and E the blues pent minor, open G and A is country pent major.

Thanks.

[sliding-tom]

Open G or A (Sebastapol) allows you to play more of the country type stuff.

Just a minor correction: open G is called "Spanish".
And as for that tuning not being "bluesy" - how about Robert Johnson, Son House, Hambone Willie Newbern (Rollin' and Tumblin'), early Muddy Waters, for example?

[sliding-tom]

Absolutely agree on opinion and personal taste etc. Ry Cooder once said of these tunings that open D is the more modal sound whereas open G is the major sound because the major 3rd is right there on the second string. Still have to disagree about the names of the tunings: open D is "Vestapol" or "Sebastopol", because its name comes from a tune by that name that had to be played in that tuning. Open G is called "Spanish" because it comes from a tune named "Spanish Fandango" that was played in open G. I have never ever heard of open G being called "Sebastapol"

[Kap'n]

I have.

I've also seen it spelled Sevastapol and a few other variants. Pull off the sixth string, and you get Keith Richards tuning.

[tugboat]

Try 'em and see. One really lends itself to the blues, one really lends itself to country and country/blues.

With open D or E (Vestapol) you get an extra double stop, ala Dust My Broom, along with being able to play the more bluesy type stuff. Open G or A (Sebastapol) allows you to play more of the country type stuff. But it's all a matter of taste. I like open D and E because of the extra double stop, and rarely play in G or A.

If you want to think of it as pent scales, open D and E the blues pent minor, open G and A is country pent major.

What's a double stop? And I'm assuming that the minor pentatonic scales are more bluesy scales and the major pentatonic scales are more countryish scales? What are the regular 'ol major scales used for mostly?

I need to start practicing on some scales.

[mmcquain]

What's a double stop? And I'm assuming that the minor pentatonic scales are more bluesy scales and the major pentatonic scales are more countryish scales? What are the regular 'ol major scales used for mostly? I need to start practicing on some scales.

In a very basic form, you've got it right: Minor Pentatonic = Bluesy and Major Pentatonic = Countryish

However, you can work in licks from both scales into most any style (blues, country, rock, etc). It will really depend on what chord you're playing over top of at that moment as far as if it "sounds right".

As for double-stops, that is simply playing 2 notes together (usually on adjacent strings). Lots of blues and rock (and country sometimes) will use this technique, which provides a fuller sound than traditional single note playing. Chuck Berry used it all the time (e.g., think about the intro to Johnny B. Goode played in the key of A - you'll play the E and A notes simultaneously at the 5th fret on the B and E strings).

[Keystring]

In a very basic form, you've got it right: Minor Pentatonic = Bluesy and Major Pentatonic = Countryish

However, you can work in licks from both scales into most any style (blues, country, rock, etc). It will really depend on what chord you're playing over top of at that moment as far as if it "sounds right".

Yep. Listen to 'Tush' by ZZTOP and you will hear the slide alternating between Major and Minor modes.