Don Helms with Hank Williams tuning

[Joe Burke]

I play in a Hank Williams tribute band, and try and play all the main Don Helms parts like he would. So far I’m playing them all in C6 (hi - low G E C A G E C A), because I’m fairly comfortable with this tuning. But am considering putting Helms’ E13 on the second neck (dual stringmaster). This would help with songs like Hey Good Looking.

Does anyone have experience having one neck on C6 and the other on Helms’ E13?

Also, to keep my grips the same, maybe I would loose his low A, and add a high B, to keep my grips on the same strings.

I have the Don Helms/DeWitt Scott book that lists Helms’ tuning as:

1 G#
2 E
3 C#
4 B
5 G#
6 E
7 C#
8 A

Also, I couldn’t find the photo of Don Helms’ hand written tunings that has been posted here so often. Can someone post it again please.

Thanks!

[K Maul]

That is the correct tuning to get the really high notes that Don got. The story was that Fred Rose asked him to tune up that high, so that Hank’s records would be distinctive and heard through the noisy bar on a jukebox, and everybody would know it was Hank Williams. Not an artistic decision as much as it was a marketing decision.

[Paul Strojan]

I have done it and I think to sound like Hank you really need the higher register that Don Helms used. I don't like the idea of basically repeating the same tuning on two necks. So what I did was have C6 on one neck and an E13 (G#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D) that way I could also fake primitive pedal playing with bar slants. I get the issues with wanting to keep grips exactly the same but a big part of learning to play the steel is to adapt to different tunings.

[Gavin Dunn]

That low A is really nice to have. You can grab the 4 chord triad in the same position as the 1 chord. I’ve just put this tuning on a guitar and found that A to be one of the best aspects of it.

[Glenn Wilde]

I have done it and I think to sound like Hank you really need the higher register that Don Helms used. I don't like the idea of basically repeating the same tuning on two necks. So what I did was have C6 on one neck and an E13 (G#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D) that way I could also fake primitive pedal playing with bar slants. I get the issues with wanting to keep grips exactly the same but a big part of learning to play the steel is to adapt to different tunings.

And with that setup all the Jerry Byrd licks are right there.

[Allan Revich]

That is the correct tuning to get the really high notes that Don got. The story was that Fred Rose asked him to tune up that high, so that Hank’s records would be distinctive and heard through the noisy bar on a jukebox, and everybody would know it was Hank Williams. Not an artistic decision as much as it was a marketing decision.

An interesting tuning for sure. Once that low A is added the tuning chord becomes Amajor9. I wonder how Helms conceptualized it?
E6 + AM7? A + E + C#m7?

[Joe Burke]

I have done it and I think to sound like Hank you really need the higher register that Don Helms used. I don't like the idea of basically repeating the same tuning on two necks. So what I did was have C6 on one neck and an E13 (G#, E, C#, B, G#, F#, E, D) that way I could also fake primitive pedal playing with bar slants. I get the issues with wanting to keep grips exactly the same but a big part of learning to play the steel is to adapt to different tunings.

Excellent point! And for this reason I’ve left my other neck on E13. But the big Hank gig is in 2 weeks and I still may change the tuning for the show.

[Erv Niehaus]

I never heard of that high G# on the 1st string until I saw Don Helm's tuning.
That is SO Hank Williams.
Erv

[Tom Cooper]

I was in a band like this for a while. Still use an extended E13/9 tuning. Used a single neck S10 and did everything on that. The Jerry Byrd stuff was occasionally a challenge, on Im so lonesome I could cry had to really be careful with slant to get it. A D8 is ideal, I just got tired of dragging it around, went to S10. Get most of the range there, but sometimes have to stretch a bit. Most of hits are in Dons tuning fortunately. Great stuff.

[Tom Cooper]

I need to try that A in bass thing.

[Scott Houston]

That A in the Helms tuning is fun. It creates the same intervals as the low F in some C6 tunings. Nice way to grab the full IV chord as well as a lush M7 and M9 without hardly moving.

[David Renson]

Try this very versatile tuning Low to High E9/13 B E F# A B C# E G# It gives you a C# minor on the top 3 strings an E triad on top, an A triad right below it. An F# minor right below that, another A right below that and a really nice B sus chord that shows up in alot of songs using the low B with the A triad. Replacing the middle G# with an A made all the difference. You also have a pentatonic minor run perfectly lined up from the F# up the the E for soloing or strum/arpeggio/sweep. The low B and E for a 2 note E power chord and the low B F# B for a B power chord. This is an amazing tuning that no one knows about. I use this tuning but I use it a whole step down A D E G A B D F# The 10 string version which is what I gig with is L-H D A B D E G A B D F#