# Favorite 7 String guitar tuning?



## You

As the title would imply, what is your favorite tuning to use for 7 strings and why? What genre of metal do you use this tuning for? I made this thread in response to another thread that inquired other of their favorite 8 string guitar tuning, and I have yet to see a 7 string version of that thread. 

My favorite tuning for 7 string guitars would be Drop A(AEADGBE) and B Standard fallowing on second(BEADGBE). I have found that I can make a plethora of riffs on Drop A that sounds good to me for Grindcore/Goregrind, Death Metal, and occasionally Beatdown Hardcore. I enjoy B Standard because of the familiarity of chord placements, also sounds good to me for Grindcore/Goregrind.


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## Rachmaninoff

A few years ago, when I still played in a Dream Theater cover band, I just used B standard, BEADGbe. We played not only standard 6 & 7 songs, but we also covered a bunch of songs in other tunings. I played 'em all with the same B standard.


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## Masoo2

Drop A or Drop A with the G tuned to F#

I simply find it easiest to write riffs and songs in that tuning

Good access to high and low notes.

It's also the perfect tuning for pitch shifting IMO. Close enough to get down to Drop F#/F or up to Drop B/Drop C without too much loss of tone or artifacts.


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## You

Masoo2 said:


> Drop A or Drop A with the G tuned to F#
> 
> I simply find it easiest to write riffs and songs in that tuning
> 
> Good access to high and low notes.
> 
> It's also the perfect tuning for pitch shifting IMO. Close enough to get down to Drop F#/F or up to Drop B/Drop C without too much loss of tone or artifacts.



I would rather have a 6 String for Drop B and Drop C and an 8 for F# tuning and so forth, though this is simply my own preference. I concur with your statement of finding it easy to create riffs in Drop A however.


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## Ordacleaphobia

Drop Ab all day. 
Them After the Burial riffs tho. 

Bb standard is fun too. I like my 7s flat for whatever reason.


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## Anquished

B standard. Same reason as you, familiarity.


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## Leviathus

Anquished said:


> B standard. Same reason as you, familiarity.



yup


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## gujukal

Drop G#, i like drop F too but i found it hard to get a good setup in that tuning since i prefer necks with normal scale length.


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## runbirdman

I have everything in standard dropped a half a step. When I was younger we tried to play Man in the Box in standard and could never get it to sound even close to right and since then I have tuned every guitar I own half a step down.


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## You

Anquished said:


> B standard. Same reason as you, familiarity.



Indeed, I have found that I am able to acquire differing chord possibilities with different tuning, drop tunings included.


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## Anquished

You said:


> Indeed, I have found that I am able to acquire differing chord possibilities with different tuning, drop tunings included.



I've experimented with Drop A, Drop Ab and A Standard. However I always seem to gravitate back to B Standard. Personally I find my guitar just doesn't sound "right" lower than B to me. 

But yeah you get some nice chord possibilities.


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## Aymara

You said:


> My favorite tuning for 7 string guitars would be Drop A(AEADGBE) and B Standard fallowing on second(BEADGBE).



Same here


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## Mathemagician

I really want to try Drop-B on a 7, with either the G, or up to F#. Also up half a step to C standard. Currently just use B standard because well, 'mericuh.


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## Reverend Chug

My favorite 7-string tuning is Bb. I like playing Nevermore tunes, and they are almost all in Bb. And I have found that a 10-46, with a 70 is the perfect gauge for this! Nice and tight, no boomy lows, everything is just how I like to to be!


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## Alex Kenivel

Drop A, and BEADF#BE


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## Casper777

Standard B or Drop A for me... like how you can easily play major and minor triads and inverted triads in Drop A tuning!


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## takotakumi

A Standard and Drop A


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## You

Alex Kenivel said:


> Drop A, and BEADF#BE



Any particular reason for using F# in place of G?


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## Thrashmaster

i tune mine up a 1/2 step to C standard and string em' 10 tp 59 Daddarios ( funny im a solif ernie ball guy for everything but my 7's slinkys just dont come in that gauge set) C standard gives me a heavy tone with definition for rythym work and i can still reach as high as a standard tuned guitar on the solo end. since i often tune my sixers to C its sorta like i get more range out of the high end on my sevens. on a side nite there is one notable difference when tuning this way. with the seven strings i have them strung with 4 wound / 3 plain steels and on the sixes i string with 12 to 56 3 wound/3 plain steel. that d string being wound or plain has a profound effect on how the guitar plays and sounds, i find its the determining factor for if absong gets played on a 7 or on a downtuned 6


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## Iamatlas

I like Drop A, A Std and GDADGbe

The GDADGbe is great for open note staccato/hammer on/pull of style riffing, yet still allows huge chord possibilities, and the tonal progression from playing a std drop D style song/riff and then including the low G as emphasis notes/phrases only, and not the root is craaaaaaaaazy heavy.


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## Alex Kenivel

You said:


> Any particular reason for using F# in place of G?



Its called lute tuning. It's like B standard on a 6 string but with an extra higher string


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## Aymara

Alex Kenivel said:


> Its called lute tuning.



It's inspired by a Renaissance tenor lute E tuning:

http://www.lutesociety.org/pages/lute-tuning


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## RuslanK

B Standard


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## Science_Penguin

Drop A seems to be the one I keep coming back to.

For some reason, it makes taking songs that would be played on Drop C or Eb Standard on a six, and adapting them for a seven much easier. Also, when playing clean, it makes barre chords easier to achieve, because you've got a root note and its lower octave on the same fret.


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## jerm

Drop A for the savageness, anything in Drop tuning is awesome. Might try G# for my next album. 

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/horussound_jeremy/2016-07-09-song-6-v9[/SC]


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## You

Science_Penguin said:


> Drop A seems to be the one I keep coming back to.
> 
> For some reason, it makes taking songs that would be played on Drop C or Eb Standard on a six, and adapting them for a seven much easier. Also, when playing clean, it makes barre chords easier to achieve, because you've got a root note and its lower octave on the same fret.



I gravitate to Drop A myself, for as I seem to make a good amount of riffs with the tuning.


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## Zeus1907

Favorite timing is 
A D G C F A D. I've always preferred playing a step down, even on 6 strings. 
G D G C F A D is fun as well. But it seems a little too easy to write in. 
I was in a band that we played in Drop C (6 string) and one day I wrote a song in D standard and my second guitarist was completely confused by it. He literally could only play in Drop C or Drop D tuning. After that I've avoided any kind of drop tuning. 

But..... By default I feel as though I have to say standard. BEADGBE. My top two favorite bands are Carcass and Sepultura. Which play in Standard, and in B tuning. I can cover those two bands on the same guitar. That's a win for me.


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## MiahDrao

I was loyal to drop A until I dropped the 6th string with it. I've been doing G# C# G# C# F# A# D# lately, and I'm tempted not to go back.


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## Aymara

Zeus1907 said:


> He literally could only play in Drop C or Drop D tuning. After that I've avoided any kind of drop tuning.



Now we have it ... drop tunings are for beginners ... LOL

That reminds me of the day, I first tried Drop D ... I played E standard my whole life


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## Dayn

It's theoretical at this stage as I only have an 8-string, but I'm looking at getting a 7-string to play in open D minor.

That's a normal open D minor tuning, with a high F. I want to be able to play open D minor, but I don't want any strings lower than D. I think it'd get in the way. But, I like to add new things, so why not add a high F? That's a minor third, which plays into open D minor and provides similar new phrasing opportunities while being easily attainable.


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## You

bump 

Let's keep it going.


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## jaydough

I basically stopped playing 7 until I started tuning it FCGCFAD, basically Drop C but with another 5th at the bottom.

If I'm playing down low I want to be able to play really angular lines, so having the bottom strings in fifths lets me think more in terms of triads than as scale shapes.

So instead of playing a scale line like 1-2-3-4-2-3-4-5 you could go 1-3-5-7-3-5-7-9 and outline a 9th chord instead of a whole scale, while also traveling much further within that scale. You get lines that you can actually orchestrate with other parts and that have particular melodic functions right out of the gate so you can focus more on fun stuff like rhythm.

It also has some of the same advantages of Devin Townsend's wonky Open-C tuning where all of the strings being more-or-less consonant means for some easier shapes for a lot of things.

I've been having some problems with string gauges but I guess that's kind of par for the course with metal. Really makes going the whole multiscale route look like heaven.


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## Caleb Browning

Drop G (GDGCFAd) is really fun, and super low. It's what Knocked Loose uses for all their songs.


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## TheWarAgainstTime

For me, it's a tie between drop G# or drop F with the 6th string also dropped down to A#


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## Anquished

Wow has it really been three years!? Time flies..

Funny that my main tuning is now A standard with B being my secondary tuning.


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## lewis

Drop G# OPEN

G# D# G# C# G# C# G#


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## lurè

Standard, Bb, drop G


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## akinari

I'm boring when it comes to 7 string tunings, so I use standard B/drop A/ADADGAD, Bb, A and F. I also have a 34" 7 string that's in A0. Gonna cop a 28" scale for DGCFA#DG or DADGCEA soon.


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## gunch

G# C# F# C# F# A# D# - Ion Dissonance 7 tuning

E E A D F# B E - Boreworm Tuning (Octave E put on lute tuning)

I want to take Gambale tuning and put a Low A on it


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## MrWulf

Drop A, Drop A#, Bb Standard, B Standard.


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## PatientMental76

akinari said:


> I'm boring when it comes to 7 string tunings, so I use standard B/drop A/ADADGAD, Bb, A and F. I also have a 34" 7 string that's in A0. Gonna cop a 28" scale for DGCFA#DG or DADGCEA soon.



34 & 28 scale what guitars are they?


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## akinari

PatientMental76 said:


> 34 & 28 scale what guitars are they?


I'm probably going to get an Agile for the 28" scale 7, as the 30" 6 string I have from them is quite nice. The 34" scale 7 was converted from an Ibanez GSR 5 string bass. The original bridge was swapped out for an Ibanez Gibraltar I. I'm still in the process of getting this one just right, but maybe I'll make a thread about it once it's perfect.


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## FILTHnFEAR

Drop B - B F# B E A C#F#

Drop A#


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## 308sc

1/2 step down on everything from standard.


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## cGoEcYk

I tune oddly... been using this exclusively in recent years. Wanted something strange to get me out of typical chord shapes.

F# B F# B E G C


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