|
|
©2000 by Ely Music/Pub |
 |
Tech Tips... Questions Answered(Reprinted from the Winter '99 HSGA Quarterly) Member "Mike" asks about Alan's tunings.From Alan: "On my recording "Golden Treasures of Hawai`i", I use a C6th tuning (top: E C A G E C Bb C: bottom) for "Sophisticated Hula". Now if you want to emulate my "licks", my advise would be to play the section(s) you want to copy over and over again until you have them down. Playback is easy to do with a CD compared with Lps and reel to reel tapes that I learned from, years ago. About the tuning for the 6-string, omit the bottom 2 strings of the above tuning." "The string gauges following are a guide for the string thicknesses you can obtain: (top to bottom) E -.015; C - .018; A - .020 or .022; G - .022 or .024P (plain, not wound); E - .030; C - .036; Bb - .040; C - .060. These guages work for other tunings as well, such as the B11th (E-C#-A-F#-D#-B-F#-B), E13th/C#m7th (E-C#-G#-F#-E-D-B-E), and Fmaj7 (E-C-A-F-D-C-A-F). If for some reason you would like to tune your steel guitar with high tunings such as the E7th (G#-E-B-G#-E-D-B-E) or high C6th (G-E-C-A-G-E-C-Bb), use a .012 or .011 for the high string." "Good luck with your steel guitar!" Mrs. Sturgeon asks about mildew on guitars and amps.She has an old, basement-stored 1936 Gibson Hawaiian Electric Steel guitar, case and amp inherited from her father, & he played it until 1994. She treasures it, and wants to pass it to her grandchildren. She did not want to use bleach. From John Tipka: "It will be necessary to use bleach to kill the mildew, if it is still present. Do this: take all the strings off the guitar. Wipe the surfaces of the case, amplifier and guitar with a rag that is mildly wet (that is - you can still wring some water from it) with plain water, to get rid of the superficial mildew. Then, probably while wearing rubber gloves, we (mildly) a rag with pure bleach and rapidly and completely wipe the same surfaces again, immediately followed by a wiping rinse with a rag mildly wet with pain water." "Then, wash all with a soapy water solution (a liquid dishwashing soap), rinse and dry. You shouldn't have to worry about the electronics (the magnetic pickup under the strings and volume and tone controls) on the guitar if water isn't wring into them. DO NOT IMMERSE the guitar in the water. That should take care of the mildew on all wipeable surfaces. Allow the surfaces to dry, then polish the guitar with a furniture polish acceptable for lacquered surfaces." "The outside of the case is durable and will respond to cleaning whether it is hard shell or cloth covered. The inside of the case should be brushed and vacuumed and then treated with powdered carpet freshener, which should probably stay in the case for an hour or so and then be vacuumed up. Place a scented sachet inside the case and close it. DO NOT put the guitar back into the case, until the case smells favorable, and the sachet is removed, as the sachet may damage the guitar's finish if left in the case with the guitar." "No extra special care is needed for cleaning the amplifier except for possibly removing the chassis from inside the case to reach mildew inside and under the chassis. The same technique is used for cleaning all of the pieces. I have cleaned up old guitars in the past and have found the methods above to be thorough and acceptable, and do not cause any damage." 
HSGA * HAWAIIAN
STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION Homepage URL: www.hsga.org (hsga@lava.net) Last updated: 07/23/02 by Gerald Ross (gbross@umich.edu) |