[Mind Riot]

I was just wondering something. Seeing as how the trend in recent years has been going away from seven string guitars and more toward detuned sixes or baritones, does everyone here feel strongly that they need a seven string?

For what you do on guitar, do you NEED a seven string, or could you accomplish the same things on a baritone six or a regular detuned six?

Given that this is a seven string web site I imagine that most of us here will say that we use the extended range of the seven string to the full. I just thought I'd ask, since nobody has been responding to my threads of late.


Myself, I do use the full range of all seven strings, for both lead playing and chord work. I would definitely miss the high E if I was just playing a down tuned six.

HOWEVER, I do have to say something. Even though I have my dream seven and I love it to death, there was a time a little while back where I was considering actually getting TWO sixes, a down tuned one (preferably with an extended scale length) and a normal six. This was mainly due to my curiosity about different pickups and wanting to try them out. There's a decent selection of seven string pickups out there but not nearly as many as there are for sixes. So I was thinking it would be fun to try out different pickups over time to see how they reacted to lower tunings.

As fun as that sounded, it would have been a constant expense and my more practical side won out. It's much cheaper and easier to just have one bitchin' seven string that can do it all.

Plus, let's just face it guys, seven strings are freakin' cool. Cooler than sixes, in my opinion. Regular guitars feel like toys to me now.



So anywho, do we all use the full range of the seven string? Or could what we do be done just as easily on a detuned six? Be honest...

[Vince]

I have to have a 7 to pull off the music I play. The extended range is fantastic. Since I got a 7 about 4 or 5 years ago, the main thing my 6-string guitars do is collect dust.

I play every day, sometimes 2-3 hours a day, and the first guitar I always go to is my Ibanez 7. Every time....even over the 6-string guitar I built myself.

[Digital Black]

I don't even touch my 6's anymore-that's why I'm selling them off. It's nice to be able to keep standard tuning and still be able to transcrbie songs in lower tunings.
For example. I can put in Train of Though, play As I am-even though it's played on a six string tuned two steps down --
( Transcribing 6 string drop tunings and making them work on a 7 is one of my favorite things to do. It's always possible as long as it's no lower than the B, you just have to move quicker sometimes)
--and still be able to trasitition into This dying soul perfectly.
I like six string standard tuning and really had a hard time dealing with playing along with my favorite bands who use something else. I tried keeping a buch of 6's around. When I got the 7 it just seemed more natural to me both on a comfort and music composition level.
Not only this, but I discovered that normal chords can be made to sound so much fuller by using that extra string.
I wish I would have tried 7's sooner!

[WayneCustom7]

Well as much as I love my 7 (soon to be 7's) I still respect and play my 6's...and I don't think I will ever let them go...reason being is my approach to guitar playing is probably different than most of yours...I for one play for myself, having nothing to prove but to unwind, express myself and let the music flow through my, sometimes detached from my body, fingertips! Although I also enjoy screwing with my 7, I also try and take it more seriously, learning scales, chords and writing different tunes with it...I love the extended range of my 7, and I also love the wider neck...it's sort of like an excercise, cause when I pick up a 6 after playing the 7, I seem to move more effortlessly. I don't want to judge but, I think ridding oneself of a six, in favour of playing the seven exclusively,may be a bit premature...there are days I crave the tonal destruction of my seven, while other days I seek a more subtle tone, found in my sixes. As guitar players we are fortunate to play one of the most versatile instruments around, and now we have the ability to EXTEND this versatility. If i can sum up my feelings for a 7 string, I would say that it is really two guitars in one. Why buy a baritone and a regular tuned guitar when a seven is both those guitars in one!...people who have this huge misconception about the obstacles involved in playing a 7, haven't really tried playing one, cause when I played a 7 for the first time, I felt right at home...

[Dylan7620]

ive come into needeing my 7 more and more. i bet i could most of my riffing on a six but its not as cool . all in all though ive come more into using different chordings and leads that really lets the range speak for itself. either way you technicly only get 4 more notes either up or down with a standard tuned 7 but the ability to go from a rumbling low b to a screeching high e all the way up to the 24th fret is wicked cool. but now its alot more to do with comfort... my guitar just feels right to me... i love a good les paul or strat as much as the next guy but i just plain love my RG7.

[Shannon]

Within the last 2 years, I've gone back and forth between 6s and 7s. Before that, I only played 7s. Although I loved the feel of my baritone 6s, I recently moved back to 7s. My music is just easier to play on a 7.

I can do all of my music on a 6, but there's a lot more radical position changes I have to do in order to get all the chords & arpeggios. On the 7, I don't have to make all these radical leaps. I just simply move the chords to the next higher set of strings. For example, instead of playing a 6-note chord in the 12th fret position on a 6, I move it to the 7th fret on the next higher 6 strings of a 7-string guitar. This equals full sounding chords & arpeggios with a lot less hand travel. Jumping from an open chord to a 12+ fret chord (or higher) sucks. The less the hand has to travel, the better.

[Toshiro]

I dunno, I play my 6 string guitars about 80% of the time, and the 7 about 20%. I'm probably in the minority, but I think E-Eb-D can sound meaner than B or Bb.. I'm planning on going out and buying a set of 8's and a single 52, and tune the 7 string UP to D or Db. I think it would be more to my taste.

The lack of binding on my 7, while having it on both my 6's has an effect I bet.. Shoulda got a newer UV, but it was too expensive...

[rx]

i only have a seven string to play fear factory and meshuggah tunes, that's it. if I don't know those bands, i would've never thought of it.

[No Soul]

up until maybe 2 years ago, Id say I definitely could have gotten away with a detuned or baritone, but it eventually hit me thats it not just the fact that you get a few extra low notes. Theres so much more to experiment with.

As far as its use, my 7 is just a novelty, being that I sing and do not play guitar in my band (I tried to convince em to go for 7s, but they get scared). Whenever I write something I really like on my 7, sadly a lot of time it just cant be translated correctly to a 6, so it gets put on the back burner A LOT.

[No Soul]

Originally Posted by revsharp777

I can do all of my music on a 6, but there's a lot more radical position changes I have to do in order to get all the chords & arpeggios. On the 7, I don't have to make all these radical leaps. I just simply move the chords to the next higher set of strings.

thats what I meant, its just really late and I didnt feel like explaining