My Tunings and Tuner Settings

I get a fair amount of questions regarding my tunings and set-up so I thought I'd lay it all out here. I've used this configuration for years on my 1956 Triple-neck Fender Stringmaster.

John Ely promo shot

The basic tunings are pretty straightforward. My C6th is actually a C13th, the one used by many Hawaiians today. I got it from listening to Barney Isaacs, who got it from Jules Ah See. I'm not sure if anyone used it before Jules did. My B11th is a slight variation on the Jules B11th. I moved up some of the low strings to get lusher strums at the expense of that deep bass strum sound Jules got. My E13th is from Leon McAuliffe. I discovered that you can get a lot of big guitar chords by adding a third finger pick and using unusual grips with the right hand. Here are my most common settings:

For more on why I tune some strings flat go to my page on tuning up.

PITCHGAUGETUNER SETTINGS
C13th (top)Cents440 Scale
E.014-6.0438.5
C.017+4.0441
A.020-6.0438.5
G.024w+6.0441.4
E.030w-6.0438.5
C.036w+4.0441
Bb.042w-6.0438.5
C.060w+4.0441
A6th (middle)Cents440 Scale
E.014+6.0441.5
C#.017-6.0438.5
A.021+4.0441
F#.026w-6.0438.5
E.030w+6.0441.5
C#.036w-6.0438.5
A.042w+4.0441
F#.060w-6.0438.5
E13th (bottom)Cents440 Scale
E.014+4.0441
C#.017-6.0438.5
B.018+4.0441
G#.024w-6.0438.5
F#.026w+4.0441
D.034w+4.0441
G#.046w-6.0438.5
E.056w+4.0441