Tunings and Pickups

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Weissenborn Players

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This group is dedicated to the Weissenborn players around the world.

179 Members, Created 2/15/2011 -

Administrators: Grizz (owner)

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From x on 3/5/2011 7:55:47 PM

Hey, folks-

I'm interested in hearing about everyone's favorite instrument tunings, and Weissenborn-centric pickups.

I use (what I think of as 'standard') low G, but prefer the hi C6 (lo to hi EGACeg). The high tuning doesn't "speak" as well as the G tuning, but it makes for a very sparkly melody instrument. Not to mention the advantage of covering a broader range of chords.

For pickups, I've been using Fishman passive humbucking pickups shimmed up to get a little closer to the strings- I like the sound, but they are a bit too quiet to match some of my other instruments.

How about you?

6 Comments
	rhubarb says: 3/5/2011 2:38:03 PM I like the low G. I only hope that I can use it on my baritone Weiss.
RobA says: 3/5/2011 3:36:20 PM I'm kind of married to D tuning. I love it and at the same time I find it kind of limiting because I wind up playing everything in the key of D! Yet there's something both haunting and equally beautiful about the sounds you can get out of that tuning. I find that the 1-5-1-3-5-1 intervals offer awesome possibilities - including travis-style arrangements, scary power chord voicings and it's easy to play licks and melodies in 2 octaves in 1st position! I also like to use the low D string as a bass drone to keep some rhythm going for bluesy phrasing. It's amazing how much low end you can get out of such a small instrument in D tuning! I've had a Sunrise pickup in my Weissenborn for over 20 years now. I get more compliments on the sound of that guitar in live performances than anything else I own. I've never had good luck trying to play live with just a microphone with my Weissenborn. Does not cut well through a mic; at all. IMO Jim Kaufman's Sunrise pickup set the standard for soundhole pickups a long time ago. There's something about that pickup which works especially well for Weissenborn guitars.
	Grizz says: 3/5/2011 4:52:49 PM Remember I am a real novice here. I like open D. But I have Steve Dawsons blues DVD I am working with and he uses a variation of C, C-G-C-G-C-D. So I have my Oahu tuned to that for now. Now Steinar said if I change the D in this tuning to an E, you have power chord potential and the third of the chord on the first string. Ed, uses C-G-C-E-G-C which I haven't tried yet. I like the many variations of C. I have a Baggs M-1 (passive) in both the Wessie and Oahu running through a Baggs Venue DI. I can voice these to suit what I want to hear. I absolutely love the sound I get with them. I wouldn't change a thing. When this was all finalized it was exactly what I heard in my head. Sweet sounds from heaven. Amen to that.
x says: 3/5/2011 5:37:48 PM So, both the Baggs & the Sunrise have adjustable pole pieces- do you both find you have a reasonable amount of output compared to, say, your standard spanish-style acoustic or something with a purpose-designed pickup? Through a PA? A guitar amp? I had a B-Band AST in my Gold Tone at first, and though it had plenty of (read: too much) output, I didn't like the sound of it much. Sounds fine in my Martin 12str, though. Adequate anyway. The Fishman I'm using now is smooth and not too bright, which is what I like about it most, especially on my hi-tuned instrument. On tunings- I stayed far away from slide instruments and open tunings in general till I finally played a low G tuning in the context of a folk (okay, folky-rock, but acoustic) ensemble. Somehow I found it friendly and more intuitive than the E or D maj tunings, DADGAD or other modal tunings common on spanish style. Much closer to standard guitar tuning, I guess. That low C tuning sounds interesting, Grizz- do you re-string with a heavier gauge for those? . The C6 I like is really just a variation of the G- but I do wish for a 7 string now and again, to get a nice root down on the bottom! Someday, when the economy... er... my economy perks up a bit... tc
	Grizz says: 3/5/2011 8:28:54 PM I use the John Pearse 3160's and they work fine. 015 018 027w 038w 048w 060w Steve Dawson suggests going a little heavier on your 1st but these are not floppy, not dead and just give me really crisp clear sound. I never touched my pole pieces and to me it sounded fine as is, good output across all the strings. I love the open D tuning, i find as i see others playing that it is a really versatile tuning. I am feeling the same way now about C. Some background. I just started playing Reso about a year ago, Wessie about 8 months ago, and Cigar Box about the same. I have not delved a lot into theory and such. I play for myself and at 63 there are a LOT of things i would like to play and having spread myself so thin between 3 different instruments the theory kind of takes a back seat to learning how to play songs. I played accordion from age 7 to 14 with formal lessons and at 56 I took guitar lessons for a little over 2 years so i am not completely ignorant of theory. I am working hard on playing anything i do well and a dogged about it. Ed Gerhard's "Homage" is what sent me on this sojourn. I have to play that before they spread my ash all over the place. lol
RobA says: 3/6/2011 10:33:27 AM "So, both the Baggs & the Sunrise have adjustable pole pieces- do you both find you have a reasonable amount of output compared to, say, your standard spanish-style acoustic or something with a purpose-designed pickup? Through a PA? A guitar amp?" The Sunrise is a passive pickup with adjustable pole pieces and absolutely requires a good preamp to get enough gain for playing through an amp or P.A. system.
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