Just Intonation of the E9th Pedal Steel
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Part of the harmonic beauty of the pedal steel sound can be attributed to
the tuning system used by most steel guitarists. The technical term
for our system of "tuning the beats out" is Just Intonation.
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Just Intonation theorists usually express tuning systems in terms of
ratios from a fundamental frequency. The following chart shows the
tuning ratios of a typical Nashville E9th pedal steel.
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Many steel guitarists add compensators on the first or second pedal
to lower the F# strings from 9/4 and 9/8 (the large major second) to 20/9
and 10/9 (the small major second). This pulls those strings in tune with
the "A" tonality of the pedals down position.
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More information about Just Intonation is available online at
Just Intonation Network web site,
http://www.dnai.com/~jinetwk.
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