Ralph Mooney's tuning?

[Tommy Auldridge]

Can someone tell me how Ralph Mooney tuned the back neck on his steel? Thanks, Tommy.....

[Donny Hinson]

Tommy, are you talking about his (pedaled) E tuning, or the G-Dobro tuning which he seldom used?
The 8-string tunings, or the later 10-string tunings?

[Tommy Auldridge]

Donny: It looks like he has an E tuning on the back neck.?? Is the Dobro tuning on the front neck? Thanks, Tommy.....

[Donny Hinson]

Generally yes, but I read here at one time that there was a period when he had them reversed.
At any rate, probably 98% of everything he ever did was on a rather odd version of E9th. But Mooney's style, mindset, and touch governed his sound far more than the tuning(s) he used. The fact is that Moon was a stylist, and probably well over 90% of anything he ever did was dirt-simple stuff that can be played on a basic E9th setup. It wasn't the guitar, or the tuning, it was how he approached it, and played it. The same could be said of Curly Chalker. Though he had a very unique (and complex) C6th tuning and setup, the vast majority of what he did can be played on today's standard C6th setup.

[scott murray]

I've heard that Ralph kept identical tunings on both necks, at least on stage with Waylon. if he happened to break a string, he could just hop on the other neck and barely miss a beat

[Mike Polansky]

Ethan Shaw did a great video on Moon's tuning a while back:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2U1Wb7fR-A&t=17s