# Do bands really play in drop E on 7s?



## jonespwns (May 4, 2013)

I went and tried out for a band... they apparently play in drop G and E. I didn't even know people went as low as drop e.. When I heard it i felt like the guy was using a seven string bass lol. I looked up bands on google and saw none.. What do you guys think? Do you think Drop E is too low?


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## desolation696 (May 4, 2013)

My band tunes to Drop E on 7's but trying to get 8 strings sometime in the future. I actually find it unique because I really like B standard and Drop A it kind of fits. Cheers.


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## jonespwns (May 4, 2013)

Just how I feel about it is that I don't hear much melody in it lol. I guess i'm use to hearing melody and stuff. I was just screwing around doing sweeps and stuff. to me it just felt like it was lacking. if you actually play in drop e and have tips that could somehow solve this then i'll gladly listen


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## Basti (May 4, 2013)

It's kinda ridonculous


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## rjnix_0329 (May 4, 2013)

It definitely feels like an 8 string tuning to me, but people should tune however makes them happy...I don't think I would fit in with a band who tuned their 7s to drop E. I stand firmly in the camp that believes low notes do not equal heaviness. 

If standard doesn't feel heavy enough, I play my standard B tuned 7 and have no desire to play lower than B


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## jonespwns (May 4, 2013)

rjnix_0329 said:


> It definitely feels like an 8 string tuning to me, but people should tune however makes them happy...I don't think I would fit in with a band who tuned their 7s to drop E. I stand firmly in the camp that believes low notes do not equal heaviness.
> 
> If standard doesn't feel heavy enough, I play my standard B tuned 7 and have no desire to play lower than B



I agree that low notes don't equal heavy. They just said they wanted to be different so they play in Drop E lol. I prefer Drop A.. but I will probably just accept the invite to be in the be the band so i can get used to playing shows and whatnot.


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## xDarkCrisisx (May 4, 2013)

Some 8 string songs from Whitechapel are in Drop E but on an 8...


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## crg123 (May 4, 2013)

If the scale length is appropriate then I don't see what the issue would be. Maybe the band doesn't have a use for a higher string that would be included on an 8. Was the band just all chugging riffs? I think its more of an understanding that they just don't need that upper range.


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## mike90t09 (May 4, 2013)

That's just too low for a 7 in my opinion (just get an 8 string). A D G C F A D might be as low as I go, I don't usually play in drop tuning anymore lol


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## Rick (May 4, 2013)

I've never heard of a band playing drop E on a 7.


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## Dayn (May 4, 2013)

My main tuning is drop E on both my guitar and my bass. It sounds great.

I don't see what the number of strings has to do with anything. Too low for a seven-string, but good for an eight-string? Umm. What? Nothing of any substance changed...


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## CrownofWorms (May 4, 2013)

I could only name two bands that tune to drop E. Animals as Leaders and Vildjharta (on 7 strings).

The only band that tunes to drop G now has to be Born of Osiris


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## Xenos0176 (May 4, 2013)

Infant Annihilator and Black Tongue both use a 7 string tuned to drop E or drop D (like the octave, not regular drop D). This is due to them having the same guitarist and they are HEAVY. I'd have to agree they aren't common, it's definitely more of an 8 string thing, like my 8 is tuned to Eb


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## Alex C (May 4, 2013)

I think Meshuggah recorded the album _Nothing_ before their custom 8-strings were built, so they played 7-strings mostly tuned down to F. 

I don't believe they used a "drop" tuning (with a 5th between lowest and next string) though.


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## CTID (May 5, 2013)

Beware the Neverending's new music is in Drop E and one of their guitarists uses a 7, and the other a 6.


Beware The Neverending - "Iron Giants" 2013 Single - YouTube


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## LeAdEr (May 5, 2013)

If you have the right scale lenght you can play this on a 6 string. (For me E is tooo low, but that´s your choice). If you have a 6 or 7 string with a scale lenght of 30" why not? It makes way more sense than a 8 string with a scale lenght of 25,5" like some 8 strings 

If you want to tune tone wth a "normal" 7 string with 25,5" i think it makes no sense


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## TIMEwaveXERO (May 5, 2013)

Isnt there that band/guy who uses Skervesens..or at least one of his 8 string (swan) skervies in Eb ? Modern Day Babylon


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## Chuck (May 5, 2013)

^ yep although he tunes to F or F# not Eb


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 5, 2013)

Reflections used to tune to drop F on sevens, only a half step away. One of them used a Dean Rusty Cooley seven string, pretty sure those are 25.5".

I tune my 8 to drop E but I'd feel like I'd be missing a string up top on a 7 personally. All depends on your playing style of course.


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## Rick (May 5, 2013)

xDarkCrisisx said:


> Some 8 string songs from Whitechapel are in Drop E but on an 8...



Which ones? I thought they went down to drop G on one or two songs.



CrownofWorms said:


> The only band that tunes to drop G now has to be Born of Osiris



Rose Funeral does as well.


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## Sephael (May 5, 2013)

jonespwns said:


> they wanted to be different



stupidest reason to do anything, especially in music. Being different because you like the sound or using a tuning because it gives you the flexibility you want or it makes a song you wrote easier all very acceptable reasons to use a tuning, but just to be different is lame.


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## Basti (May 5, 2013)

After a certain tuning they kinda sound the same as each other anyway


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## Kharem (May 5, 2013)

Seems no different to tuning a 6 down past B or A which isn't a big deal, maybe they want the low end of an 8 but don't need the extra high string. You could tune a 6 with a long scale down to E if you wanted to.


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## Rap Hat (May 6, 2013)

The band Bongripper uses 6 strings (24.75" scale too!) tuned to drop F (half-step away from drop E). It's not something I see on 7s much, most people do it on 6s or 8s, but that's down to personal preference and 7s will work just fine for it.


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## Bigfan (May 6, 2013)

I play in drop G on sixes, among other things


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## Konfyouzd (May 6, 2013)

They're just strings... Pluck em...


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## IbanezShreds (May 6, 2013)

I played in drop E on an Agile Septor Elite 727 and it worked for time time being. It was pretty loose but the baritone scale helped. I used the EB 8 string set and didn't use the .10. For anything below drop G though an 8 is the way to go


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## kevdes93 (May 6, 2013)

my interceptor is tuned to drop F with a .74 and it plays wonderfully


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## isispelican (May 6, 2013)

why not, if you use the right string gauges it wont damage the instrument and its up to you to make it sound good


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## DarkWolfXV (May 6, 2013)

You can play drop E even on 6 string guitar, not many bands are doing it on 7 string, and little to none on 6 string (drop tunings most often used by -core bands which 99% of time play sevenstrings). Most people do it on 8 string because they usually have longer scale which allows thinner strings to reach lower tunings (I prefer thicker strings and shorter scales and shit) You tune your guitar to whatever you want provided you got the right string to do the job. Nothing is too low.


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## Winspear (May 6, 2013)

DarkWolfXV said:


> You can play drop E even on 6 string guitar, not many bands are doing it on 7 string, and little to none on 6 string (drop tunings most often used by -core bands which 99% of time play sevenstrings). Most people do it on 8 string because they usually have longer scale which allows thinner strings to reach lower tunings (I prefer thicker strings and shorter scales and shit) You tune your guitar to whatever you want provided you got the right string to do the job. Nothing is too low.



Exactly 
I prefer thinner string longer scale for tone though.

Actually bass-E on 6 string is more common than 7 string I expect, what with Fender Bass VI's and Schecter Hellcat VIs etc. Though I expect most people are using them as basses rather than guitars, even though they sound much more like guitars.


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## breadtruck (May 11, 2013)

Rick said:


> Which ones? I thought they went down to drop G on one or two songs.



The only one i know off the top of my head is Single File to Dehumanization. I'm sure they use that tuning for a few other songs too though.

To the OP, "too low" is subjective. There are some old-school guitar guys who will tell you that anything below D is too low, then there are people on here who would go down to C# on a 9 string or something and have no issue with it. There are a few bands I've heard of who have used a drop E tuning live and in the studio, so it can definately work, it just depends on how your band deal with it. If the other guitarist just slackens his strings and makes no other effort to EQ the amp, or compensate for the low tension, then he probably doesn't know what the hell he is doing and you should give him some pointers . Or suggest another tuning that you are both familiar with.


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## serch777 (Nov 5, 2013)

LeAdEr said:


> If you have the right scale lenght you can play this on a 6 string. (For me E is tooo low, but that´s your choice). If you have a 6 or 7 string with a scale lenght of 30" why not? It makes way more sense than a 8 string with a scale lenght of 25,5" like some 8 strings
> 
> If you want to tune tone wth a "normal" 7 string with 25,5" i think it makes no sense



Totally agree with you man. Some persons tend to think that the lower you go, the more strings you need, when in fact if you just wanna go lower and lower, you need to get a larger scale. If I wanted to play in F# for example, I'd get a 27" 7-string instead of an 8 string. Only if I was looking for a big range that would give me both the low F and the high E, then I'd get the 8 string. 

Those 8 strings with a 25.5" scale must sound like Doritos farts.


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## Sephael (Nov 5, 2013)

.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Nov 5, 2013)

jonespwns said:


> I didn't even know people went as low as drop e..



New After the Burial is on 8's tuned down a half step but the lowest string on a C#...yes, _that_ C#


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## Edoris (Nov 5, 2013)

These guys play drop A with a low E on 7 strings and do it quite well i might add haha


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## coffinwisdom (Nov 5, 2013)

There are slight tonal differences between a 6 string tuned to E and an 8 string tuned to E even if they're the same scale. 8 strings have a lot more mass in the body, neck, and bridge. All of which helps for low tunings.

Drop E is more common with 8 strings because 7 of the strings are already setup for you with regards to the nut, the intonation, string gauges, etc. It would take more effort to set up a 7 for E. People are lazy.

With 7s I really like the idea of having a 6 string drop tuning with the 7th string being a 4th below the drop. For example - EAEADF#B or GCGCFAD


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## iron blast (Nov 5, 2013)

My Deathcore project played drop EADADGB on 25.5" scale 7's before we switched to 8's. We just used Ernie Ball 8-string sets with a 74 guage low string minus the high E string. It worked great. Many here will try to tell you its too flubby they are normally just band wagon buddies that haven't really tried it generally and /or have really heavy handed attack. Heavier gauges will work better for them if need be but you lose some comfort on the high strings the longer the scale is.


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## Rick (Nov 6, 2013)

Edoris said:


> These guys play drop A with a low E on 7 strings and do it quite well i might add haha




That's some good shit.


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## codycarter (Nov 6, 2013)

I tried out for a band in drop e and d once, ridiculous low. I had the same feelings, no room for melody. Not to judge the band, but I'm guessing they just chugga chugga. In which case, tune the bottom 3 strings to drop e, and the top 4 an octive higher


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## White Liquorice (Nov 7, 2013)

Only if you're a bass player, that wants to make it look like he's a guitarist.


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## davidgotmilk (Nov 7, 2013)

Infant Annihilator plays seven strings in I believe drop E. It's pretty heavy. Attack Attacks "new" band Nativ, plays in Drop F or F# I think.


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## monkeysuncle (Nov 9, 2013)

bongripper, thou, and warhorse seem to make it work I suppose (they all tune close to this tuning, not specifically drop E). but they're not that heavy ..


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