[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by drshock

I would NEVER tune up a seven string. It pretty much defeats the purpose.

What purpose? you dont need a 7 string to tune to B or A, or lower. You can do it just fine on a 6. Tuning low isnt the point.

Buying a guitar with a 28"-30"in Scale and tuning to regular guitar E standard, now THATS defeating the purpose. those kinds of guitars are designed to be tuned fuckin' low.

[distressed_romeo]

Agree with MK and OzzyC. The extra string's for extended range, not necessarily just going lower. The kind of tunings being discussed here would give you more notes in both directions...

[Naren]

Originally Posted by drshock

I would NEVER tune up a seven string. It pretty much defeats the purpose.

What the fuck? That makes no sense. You can tune down to F on a sixstring if you want. If you just want to tune insanely low, buy a baritone six string. There is no need to have a sevenstring if you don't want extended range. If you just want low notes, buy a baritone.

The "purpose" of a seven string is extended range. That has been the purpose from the beginning. When Steve Vai was working on the sevenstring, he didn't say "hm, I want to tune super fucking low." He actually tried originally tuning it to EADGBEA, but the high A string kept breaking, so he tried it with a low B and that seemed to work well (Steve Vai almost always plays in standard). There was another 7-string developed in the 80s that DID have a high string. I forget whose guitar it was, though.

Maybe it defeats YOUR purpose. Damn... confused youngsters...

[Metal Ken]

You know what im gonna do right now? I'm gonna call around some music stores and see who'se got the lightest guage strings in stock. Someone's gonna tune to D standard with a high G.

[drshock]

Originally Posted by OzzyC

How is that?

The purpose of a 7 is to increase range. There are only two ways you would do this; lowering the pitch, and raising the pitch. In this case, we raise the pitch of the lowest string, and adjust the others to match. It still has a range 4octaves and a major 3rd, just like a standard tuned 7.

If it was about range I would just keep it in B then tune up the high b to a perfect fourth. Anyway, you\'re only getting two more high notes that you will hardly ever use when drop c works perfect on a six string. So if drop c was going to be my main tuning, then there is no way I\'d put up with the limited selection of sevens strings when I can get a six string for cheaper that comes better stock.

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

What purpose? you dont need a 7 string to tune to B or A, or lower. You can do it just fine on a 6. Tuning low isnt the point.

Buying a guitar with a 28\"-30\"in Scale and tuning to regular guitar E standard, now THATS defeating the purpose. those kinds of guitars are designed to be tuned fuckin\' low.

Yeah, but with a six string tuned to A you have to put all the work in adjusting the action, intonation, and replacing pickups so you dont get mud.

[OzzyC]

Originally Posted by drshock

If it was about range I would just keep it in B then tune up the high b to a perfect fourth. Anyway, you\'re only getting two more high notes that you will hardly ever use when drop c works perfect on a six string. So if drop c was going to be my main tuning, then there is no way I\'d put up with the limited selection of sevens strings when I can get a six string for cheaper that comes better stock.

And no one ever said that you had to use a 7 for it if you didn't want to, what we offered is merely a suggestion. YOU might not feel the need for those notes, but SOMEONE might.

And also, there might be a slightly limited amount of options, but there's also a better ratio of crap guitars to good ones when it comes to 7s.

Yeah, but with a six string tuned to A you have to put all the work in adjusting the action, intonation, and replacing pickups so you dont get mud.

Again, we didn't say you have to. IT just a choice you can make; just like anything else in this thread.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by Naren

What the fuck? That makes no sense. You can tune down to F on a sixstring if you want. If you just want to tune insanely low, buy a baritone six string. There is no need to have a sevenstring if you don't want extended range. If you just want low notes, buy a baritone.

The "purpose" of a seven string is extended range. That has been the purpose from the beginning. When Steve Vai was working on the sevenstring, he didn't say "hm, I want to tune super fucking low." He actually tried originally tuning it to EADGBEA, but the high A string kept breaking, so he tried it with a low B and that seemed to work well (Steve Vai almost always plays in standard). There was another 7-string developed in the 80s that DID have a high string. I forget whose guitar it was, though.

Maybe it defeats YOUR purpose. Damn... confused youngsters...

It was Alex Gregory's, and was made by Fender (it's that super-expensive seven-string strat at one of the London music stores), and the guy was a class-A douchebag...it's his fault that those five-string Schecters aren't in production anymore.

George Lynch had one with a high A (and a sliding pickup), but that was never a production model, and I don't think he ever recorded with it.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by drshock

If it was about range I would just keep it in B then tune up the high b to a perfect fourth. Anyway, you\'re only getting two more high notes that you will hardly ever use when drop c works perfect on a six string. So if drop c was going to be my main tuning, then there is no way I\'d put up with the limited selection of sevens strings when I can get a six string for cheaper that comes better stock.



Yeah, but with a six string tuned to A you have to put all the work in adjusting the action, intonation, and replacing pickups so you dont get mud.

It's not just extreme range either; there's fingering options to consider. You'd have more notes under your fingers at any one time on a seven than a six.

[distressed_romeo]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

You know what im gonna do right now? I'm gonna call around some music stores and see who'se got the lightest guage strings in stock. Someone's gonna tune to D standard with a high G.

Badass! I was going to tune my Les Paul to D today, just because I haven't played in D standard/Drop C on the electric in ages...

[BigMuff]

Tune the last six strings up instead of the first six down.

Works for me.