4th pedal E9 options?

[Jeff Metz Jr.]

So I know that this topic has been discussed previously on the forum however, I can’t seem to find a good option with this pedal in the true 4th position. Standard Emmons setup with ABC4.
This guitar had the 4th pedal removed and I want to put it back on but I’m not sure what a common change is for the 4th pedal.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Jeff

[Jim Pitman]

There are many ways to get a minor cord, but I'm still a fan of getting a minor at the root fret, that is, flat the thirds. Lower your G# to G.

[Fred Treece]

Franklin change at P4.
1/2 step lower on B’s at P0, optional split with Pedal A.

All 3 options (including Jim’s suggestion) are viable stand alone changes for melodic and harmonic purposes, as well as in combination with levers or another pedal or both.

[David W.D. McCormick]

Seems to me you should position pedals where you can benefit from pushing two pedals together. Putting a G lower on pedal 4 (in an emmons set-up) might get you something in combination with the C pedal, but I can't think of anything. By contrast, if you put the G-lower at P0, at the 3rd fret you could get G minor and, in combination with the A pedal, C# diminished or A7 without the root. Both those chords resolve to D which is only two frets up with AB pedal, or two frets down with A+F lever.

Paul Franklin has a video where he says the 0 position is ideal for the Franklin pedal because it interacts a lot with the AB pedals. But in the same video he says that via muscle memory you can do anything. He is obviously a master but if he can make the Franklin change sound great at P4, maybe us mortals can do it too with enough practice. Also, if you have your e-lowers on LKR I think it would be easier to get the 7 chord via the franklin pedal+e-lower if you have the franklin pedal at P4. Otherwise it's a long way to angle your leg.

[Fred Treece]

Franklin change at 4 doesn’t play well with my C pedal. I use it with levers, though. I like it at 4 specifically because it’s at the end of the pedal bar and there is no guessing about what my foot is going to do out there.

I have an S12 5+5. All the other pedals cooperate with their neighbors. Had to compromise somewhere.

[Bill McCloskey]

When I had the franklin pedal in the 4th position I never used it. Now I have it at the 1st position and use it all the time. Works well with the A pedal.

[Fred Treece]

When I had the franklin pedal in the 4th position I never used it. Now I have it at the 1st position and use it all the time. Works well with the A pedal.

Do you use it simultaneously with A, Bill?

It’s a bit of a dance, but I use it consecutively with A or AB with str 4 or 8 ringing. I think Bruce Bouton did a fill on Hwy 40 Blues that way.

[Bill McCloskey]

Do you use it simultaneously with A, Bill?

Well, all the time but not on purpose. . I sometimes forget it isn't the AB pedal. But I do engage the franklin, release and engage the A pedal and AB pedal a lot.

[Ian Rae]

To me it seems odd to decide to have a fourth pedal and then decide what to do with it, putting the cart before the horse.
Surely wait until you discover a musical need, then hook it up accordingly?

[Fred Treece]

Ian -
I get what you are trying to say. It’s a valid point.

My knee jerk response is that every pedal and every lever was at one time a hopeless mystery to me. But after dinkin’ around with them one by one and then in various combinations over the course of weeks or years, the musical purpose became self evident, and the physical movement became more natural.

A new change presents the same mysteries, obstacles, opportunities, discoveries, and victories.

[Jeff Metz Jr.]

Ian Rae, I get that. I’m used to having the Franklin pedal on pedal zero. However, with having this new guitar already set up with pedal 4 not in use, I am looking for popular opinions. I certainly have plenty of ideas of what I could put on it. I don’t NEED a 4th pedal but the tinkerer in me wants to put a cool change on.

[Chris Brooks]

I'm with Jim, David--and, er, Paul.

Flat the G#s, preferably with a 0 pedal. Then A pedal (raising the Bs) is right next to it.

Yeah, ya gotta move A, B, C, over one notch, that's a minus . . . .but going with the G# to G change on your currently available 4th pedal, you could use both feet down when you needed to: D + A pedals.

[Ian Rae]

Understood, Jeff! I'm a tinkerer too.
I have an extra pedal on my uni that I thought I would need but which I hope to find a better use for

[Chris Templeton]

I briefly had a major 3rd bend on an unwound 5th or 6th string. I probably slackened it a half or whole step to minimize the string breaking and that also gives a shorter throw. A cool sound, but probably not appropriate to keep a pedal or lever.

[Fred Treece]

I briefly had a major 3rd bend on an unwound 5th or 6th string.

With a Franklin pedal, you can cheat your way to that major 3rd raise on string 5 (or 10) by lowering it a whole step, releasing back to open, and raising it a whole step with pedal A. Kind of a cool gimmicky rubber band effect with string 4 or 8 ringing along with it.

[Chris Templeton]

A 5 went up to a b7 as well.

[Dave Grafe]

I do B>A on strings 5+10, if I want to go full Franklin I add the G#>F# on RKL. Mostly I use it to add an extra step down on the bottom string,