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Jazz guys have been using 7’s for decades. Hell, what are you going to do if you want to play a Cello piece and suddenly you’re confronted with a low ‘C’? If you’re on a 7, it’s on the first fret of the 7th string, just so you know. Classical pieces were written for a variety of instruments that included a bigger spectrum of notes. Otherwise he might’ve written it in tablature. It might surprise you to hear this, but Bach didn’t write Invention no. It’s because the broader range is conducive to classical voicings. There’s a reason why classically influenced progressive players like Chris Broderick of Megadeth wield a wider axe. And The Tone King didn’t put it there just to make a point. Go to the Wiki page for 7 string guitars and the first thing you’ll see is a 7 string classical guitar.
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In spite of what everyone else might be telling you, 7 strings are used in a wide variety of genres. 7-string guitars are all sophisticated and stuff: Do the same thing with an F#5 by throwing a C# in the bass, and the resulting boom emanating from your axe can cure a case of E.D. Or, take any barre chord rooting off the sixth string and slap a 5th in the bass by stretching your first finger just a bit further. Try stacking fifths off of the B on the fifth string second fret and throwing a moving bass line off of the low E and B strings. Add a 7th string, on the other hand, and you got more places you can go.įor those of us who know our chords, that amounts to more voicings. If you tune your 6 down to ‘B’, all you’re doing is moving the range of the instrument, not increasing it. 7 strings are going to give you more options for voicing chords than 6 will. There’s no rocket science behind this one. I don’t know about all that scientific mumbo-jumbo, but there’s no doubt that there’s a difference in tone.
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Others claim that the way that a 7-string resonates differently because it has more wood, surface area, and a broader harmonic resonance. Of course, that’s gonna be about $150 US for a new pair of ‘specialized’ pickups, son. Some suspect that this is because of the pickups, and many pickup manufacturers are banking on that by releasing pickups for down-tuned guitars. There is a difference! Generally, 7-strings are cleaner and more articulate where 6-stringers are muddier.
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Take a listen to bands that tune to ‘B’ on a 6-string and compare that to someone playing on a 7-string guitar. We had this conversation earlier today in TTK’s Tone Lounge. In short, it’s going to cost you a bundle to get your 6 to do what a 7 can do right out of the box. Unless, you’re a really good guitar tech, chances are that you’ll have to pay someone else to do all of the work. Then you’ll have to adjust the truss rod and the intonation on top of all of that. And guess what, if you want to go back to standard tuning, and thinner strings, you’ll have to buy all new saddles, gears, and a new nut. You might even have to drill out a bigger hole in your fifth and sixth-string tuning gear. See when you go that thick, you have to file the nut and saddle slots to accommodate the thicker strings. 12-54’s at least! And therein lies the rub. Sure, you can take your favorite Les Paul 6-string and permanently tune it to ‘B’ or ‘Drop B’ tuning, but unless you really want to turn a perfectly good guitar into firewood, you’ll have to do some adjustments.įirst, unless you prefer playing on what feels like a rubber band, you have to move to a higher string gauge. With a little bit of practice, a seven-string can open up new horizons to your playing, and you’ll sound damn good doing it. And they shouldn’t.Īnd before anyone goes on a tirade about how there are too many bands doing the whole ‘down-tuned thing,’ keep in mind that there’s a reason that they’re tuning that low – because it sounds good. Well, hate to break it to you, but they’re not going anywhere. Intimidated by an axe that moves beyond the borders of their six-string safety net, many players look at a seven-string as something of an anomaly, and if they close their eyes tight enough, 7-strings will eventually just go away.