7 String Guitars ?
Discussion
I've never seen one but I'm guessing that one of the strings is 'doubled up' in the same way that a 12 string works. I've played a Vox Teardrop 9 string which felt slightly odd and owned a Vox Teardrop 12 string which felt very natural, despite my short fat fingers (I should never have sold it).
coppernorks said:
I notice in a few bands, Korn, Babymetal, Slipknot, the guitarists sometimes play 7 string axes.
Anyone played one, what's the advantage ?
FWIW I'm primarily a drummer, I do dabble in guitar but its not my main love by any stretch. However, I'm in some quite heavy bands where our guitar players use 7 strings, certainly for parts of our set where the song is in a much lower tuning than normal. The way a 7 string (and 8 string) guitars are often explained to luddites like me, is its basically a regular guitar which just has an additional bottom string on it (or 2 bottom strings for an 8). Whereas a normal guitar you might expect to have something like a 46 or 48 gauge on the bottom string, on the 7's our guitar players use they have 54's or 56's. Having those thicker strings means when you drop tune the guitar, you can get some obscene lows like this:Anyone played one, what's the advantage ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNN8QRuiX1I&ab...
Cheers
A 7 string is definitely a useful concept, although they are almost exclusively designed for and marketed at metal players, so it's a bit of a niche.
You can get by detuning a six string. However, this results in the strings becoming loose. This makes it awkward to play, including buzz when played hard, excessive bending, and intonation problems. It's also a hassle changing between tunings regularly. You can't really get a six string to behave below C#, unless it has thicker than normal strings. On the other hand, a 7-string is like a normal six string but with an extra bass string tuned to B, and all strings are at the proper tension.
I would definitely own a 7-string one day if I can find one with versatile enough pickups.
You can get by detuning a six string. However, this results in the strings becoming loose. This makes it awkward to play, including buzz when played hard, excessive bending, and intonation problems. It's also a hassle changing between tunings regularly. You can't really get a six string to behave below C#, unless it has thicker than normal strings. On the other hand, a 7-string is like a normal six string but with an extra bass string tuned to B, and all strings are at the proper tension.
I would definitely own a 7-string one day if I can find one with versatile enough pickups.
Isaac Delahaye from Epica plays a seven string Gibson Les Paul.
http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars...
http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars...
Well timed, I'm picking up a Schecter Omen Extreme 7 tomorrow!
My first 7, had a shot of it in the store on Saturday. It's pretty cool, I mainly do lower end chuggy/rythm stuff so it's quite nice for that. Trivium use it a lot and it's nice for basically being tuned low but not losing out anything up high.
In reality, it makes cool chuggy noises.
My first 7, had a shot of it in the store on Saturday. It's pretty cool, I mainly do lower end chuggy/rythm stuff so it's quite nice for that. Trivium use it a lot and it's nice for basically being tuned low but not losing out anything up high.
In reality, it makes cool chuggy noises.
here's my take on it.... i have a stephen carpenter ESP 8 string and it's practically useless unless you are predominantly a single note low register rhythm player.. you just cannot get any coherent sound trying to bunch chords together... which doesn't work for me as i like to find weird and wonderful full string off kilter chords...
i play a "normal" gibson les paul standard as my main 6 string electric. instead of EADGBE is detune to DADGBE then from there detune everything another half step so my permanent tuning is C# Ab C# F# Bb Eb
so..... i bought a schecter demon 7 and spent a few months in "standard" tuning..BEADGBE no good for me as it didn't sit well with my tuning on my 6 stringers... so i down tuned everything half a step to Bb Eb Ab C# F# Eb.... still no good, everything was to cock (it was essential for me as the solo instrumentalist in this band to be able to write for both guitars seemlessly)
of course the "drop D" shape was useless as if you did it on the lowest string you lost all clarity and had a load of loose string fret buzz etc..
the moment of clarity came when i realised if i bunched the strings in the same pitch spread as a 6 string from low to high and essentially had an extra high note rather than having a standard six string pitch spread on the high 6 with an added low note you could blend 6 and 7 string guitar pieces together without frying your brain (just like adding a "dropped D" shaped six string tuning to a standard tuning with no fuss...
so (for my primary electrics) i now have a 6 string les paul tuned C# Ab C# F# Bb Eb
and a schecter 7 string tuned in the "standard" shape (from low to high with essentially an "extra" high string B Eb Ab C# F Bb Ab
so to get your head round it in simple terms an open C# chord on the 6 string is the the same as a barre chord on the third fret lowest strings on the schecter....
and finally to fully answer the OP... yes, if you know what you are doing with it it's a very useful tool to employ...i find myself using a lot of chord/open string runs which is a way i just don't play on a 6 string... on the les paul i tend to play in a far more choked and intricate manner... i find both guitars complement each other wonderfully......
now.... i have a 5 string bass too.... to simplify (or complicate depending on your point of view) i tune the high 4 strings the same as the les paul with the low string the same as the schecter low... in essence, an exact hybrid of both tunings... sounds complicated but it's a perfect blend of the two for a bass and allows me to write basslines with both guitar tracks in mind seemlessly.
i play a "normal" gibson les paul standard as my main 6 string electric. instead of EADGBE is detune to DADGBE then from there detune everything another half step so my permanent tuning is C# Ab C# F# Bb Eb
so..... i bought a schecter demon 7 and spent a few months in "standard" tuning..BEADGBE no good for me as it didn't sit well with my tuning on my 6 stringers... so i down tuned everything half a step to Bb Eb Ab C# F# Eb.... still no good, everything was to cock (it was essential for me as the solo instrumentalist in this band to be able to write for both guitars seemlessly)
of course the "drop D" shape was useless as if you did it on the lowest string you lost all clarity and had a load of loose string fret buzz etc..
the moment of clarity came when i realised if i bunched the strings in the same pitch spread as a 6 string from low to high and essentially had an extra high note rather than having a standard six string pitch spread on the high 6 with an added low note you could blend 6 and 7 string guitar pieces together without frying your brain (just like adding a "dropped D" shaped six string tuning to a standard tuning with no fuss...
so (for my primary electrics) i now have a 6 string les paul tuned C# Ab C# F# Bb Eb
and a schecter 7 string tuned in the "standard" shape (from low to high with essentially an "extra" high string B Eb Ab C# F Bb Ab
so to get your head round it in simple terms an open C# chord on the 6 string is the the same as a barre chord on the third fret lowest strings on the schecter....
and finally to fully answer the OP... yes, if you know what you are doing with it it's a very useful tool to employ...i find myself using a lot of chord/open string runs which is a way i just don't play on a 6 string... on the les paul i tend to play in a far more choked and intricate manner... i find both guitars complement each other wonderfully......
now.... i have a 5 string bass too.... to simplify (or complicate depending on your point of view) i tune the high 4 strings the same as the les paul with the low string the same as the schecter low... in essence, an exact hybrid of both tunings... sounds complicated but it's a perfect blend of the two for a bass and allows me to write basslines with both guitar tracks in mind seemlessly.
Edited by tuscaneer on Tuesday 18th May 13:21
The extra depth can be useful for self-accompaniment. Or the extra string gives you more places to go when playing further up the neck.
Once you get to 8ers I think fanned frets are more than worthwhile, so you can have a vaguely sensible bottom string gauge without the top strings being plinky.
Mostly they do seem to be used for more chugga-chugga, but that's not their limit. I have two; a 7-string JM-style I made myself (with a tremolo and Sustainiac), and a fixed bridge Caparison I got in a trade.
Godin do a nylon 7er for classical players wanting an extended range.
Once you get to 8ers I think fanned frets are more than worthwhile, so you can have a vaguely sensible bottom string gauge without the top strings being plinky.
Mostly they do seem to be used for more chugga-chugga, but that's not their limit. I have two; a 7-string JM-style I made myself (with a tremolo and Sustainiac), and a fixed bridge Caparison I got in a trade.
Godin do a nylon 7er for classical players wanting an extended range.
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