# Who Remembers How They Found Out About SSO?



## BlackMastodon (Mar 2, 2022)

This popped up from the depths of my memories the other day and I'm curious to hear other peoples' tales. 

Story time, kids; gather 'round.

I was in my first year of University. Second semester during the winter of 2010 and I was starting to go stir crazy. That was a rough one because in electrical engineering we were required to take 6 courses in our first year already, one extra one compared to all other engineering students: an intro to electrical engineering or something, and full time studies was 4+ courses, so the course load was brutal. 

I remember one night while procrastinating, I was looking up various mods for my electric guitar: My trusty Washburn WG587 I'd had since I was 12. For a $200 guitar in 2003 that thing was amazing, even if the pickups were incredibly "meh." I don't remember what I wanted to do to it, but on like, page 15 of a Google Image search for "Washburn WG587 modifications" or something along those lines, I came across one that jumped out. 

It was this fugly-ass hack job that only an angsty high schooler could've done (apologies if the owner is still hanging around here) where they sanded the top to bare wood and took a sharpie to it to draw a huge anarchy symbol near the arm rest, along with some bullshit anti-government/anti-conformist slogans, and maybe did a couple other things. It gave me a good laugh, which cheered me up. Unfortunately I'm sure the pictures have been lost to time and Photobucket changing their sharing permissions or the SSO server changes.

But when I clicked on the picture to find a higher res photo and hopefully a story behind it, I was taken to a thread in SSO's Luthiery & Modifications sub-forum that talked about what the owner had done to that guitar to make it less fugly. I went down the rabbit hole of finding peoples' build threads and modifications and instantly loved the build stories, spending hours of free time reading. I'll always remember makostethan's (maybe that was his name?) build stories where he used the bare minimum of tools to make guitars and it looked like he was trying to give Rick Toone a run for his money, for better or worse. 

I lurked around in the luthiery section for a few months, then when my exams were finished and I had the summer off, I took the plunge and joined the forum and tried my hand at my own builds. Eventually I started visiting the Off Topic sub-forum and then a few other ones, but the awesome work and trove of information I found in the Luthiery sub-forum has been one of the best things I've ever found. 

It's been a while since I've made any sawdust for guitar-related purposes, or even picked up a guitar for that matter, but as I get closer to having a halfway decent workshop in my garage, I'm aiming to change that this year. And of course I'll be starting a thread to document my projects.

So, how'd y'all find the best forum and community on the Internet?


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## thebeesknees22 (Mar 2, 2022)

oh mmmm... I had been looking at a skervesen, and 7 strings in general for like a while, and then this site randomly popped up once when I was googling for reviews and whatnot on them. 

...I think. I can't remember now. It was just from a random googlin' though and it was the first google link so I clicked on it. lol

Sorry... my story is boring.  

Glad I found this place though! It's helped a ton


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## High Plains Drifter (Mar 2, 2022)

Man I can't even recall what kind of evil led me into the world of sevens but I remember that I was intrigued by them so I googled "seven string... something something" and up popped some other forum discussion about how SSO was comprised of stuck up, know it all, cork-sniffing so-and-so's. And I was immediately like "Oooh... I gotta check out this forum". And so I lurked here for a while but saw so many bad ass guitars and really informative threads in the process that I just had to join.


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## jaxadam (Mar 2, 2022)

@Popsyche told me to join at Jemfest back in ‘06. I was too busy letting @AngelVivaldi play my Ibanez, @Ibanez Rules wanted to race me in the Cayenne Turbo, and @Leon and me were probably slamming beers.


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 2, 2022)

Someone on the old Ibanez board noticed I had a bunch of Universes and recommended I check the place out.

I hated it and never posted again. Obviously.


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## jaxadam (Mar 2, 2022)

BlackMastodon said:


> I was in my first year of University. Second semester during the winter of 2010 and I was starting to go stir crazy. That was a rough one because in electrical engineering we were required to take 6 courses in our first year already, one extra one compared to all other engineering students: an intro to electrical engineering or something, and full time studies was 4+ courses, so the course load was brutal.



You know how I managed to graduate from engineering school with high marks? By not taking more than 4 classes!


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## Seabeast2000 (Mar 2, 2022)

Jemsite, which was kind of odd, because there was a moderator there that seemed to hate RG's and Ibanez shredders. Read enough "SSO' references there that I popped in here. Now I watch dashcam compilation videos and have a small mountain of gear.
Thanks SSO!!!


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## KnightBrolaire (Mar 2, 2022)

I was a lurker on jemsite just ogling builds, and stumbled on sso. After that I was a lurker on here for a few years off and on. I really got into the luthiery subsection and decided to quit lurking.


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## tedtan (Mar 2, 2022)

I was searching for how to record metal in a home studio and found the Andy Sneap subforum over on Ultimate Metal, which was actually pretty cool back in the day, and this place. Learned a lot from both sites, lurked for a while before signing up, and I’m still here.


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## Emperoff (Mar 2, 2022)




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## BlackMastodon (Mar 2, 2022)

jaxadam said:


> You know how I managed to graduate from engineering school with high marks? By not taking more than 4 classes!


C's get degrees bay-beeeeee! I rode that bell curve to a solid B- average and said "fuck school, I wanna make money" after I got my bachelor's. Paid off so far, and no one gives a fuck or checks on my GPA during interviews.


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## kmanick (Mar 2, 2022)

Someone I worked with back in 2006 turned me on to Nevermore's "Enemies of Reality" and I did a search on them and a few links
popped up taking me here. . I saw all the guitar and gear porn and info and well ................. that was that


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## Electric Wizard (Mar 3, 2022)

KnightBrolaire said:


> I was a lurker on jemsite just ogling builds, and stumbled on sso. After that I was a lurker on here for a few years off and on. I really got into the luthiery subsection and decided to quit lurking.


Same, came to ogle build threads. As a broke college student with GAS, building seemed to be the obvious affordable solution and SSO is like the only place where 99% of builds aren't slab body teles. Never got around to actually building anything though.


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## Nlelith (Mar 3, 2022)

I wanted to buy my first guitar, and was interested in a 7-string. Finding reviews/opinions on forums is my go-to method of choosing brands for any kind of big purchase. So I started lurking here.

Ended up ordering a Carvin (before Kiesel rebranding).


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## mastapimp (Mar 3, 2022)

Stumbled upon the forum from another forum back in '05 or '06 (maybe harmony central?). Was just getting into 7's, listening to a lot of dream theater. Got busy with work after college and didn't check out SSO for several years. I finally made a new account once I put in a pre-order for a Jackson Broderick 7 around the time they were announced. Was instantly harassed about the details of said order by Alain.


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## Thesius (Mar 3, 2022)

I was looking where to purchase the guitar Tyr uses and came across SSO. What happened to Bjarnastein? Haven't really heard anything about those guitars in like a decade. Was GASing for one hard at one point.


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## ElRay (Mar 3, 2022)

It's amazing how some things stick in your brain:

Was about to become a dad for the 2nd time.
Mom & 2-year-old were sleeping.
Thought I should re-re-(maybe one more re- in there)-start playing because the oldest was starting to take an interest in musical instruments
Was digging around for an easier/more straight-forward way to start
Saw two web sites on All M3rds Tunings
Both said that you'd need a 7-string guitar to cover the same ranges as a 6-string in standard tuning
Thought, "Do they even make 7-string guitars?"
Hit AltaVista* Google and found this site
Almost got banned for getting into an argument with Noodles over EMG solely using their bass pick-up cases to lock Guitarists into EMG pick-ups.

*I had to double check the last bit. Yahoo bought & killed AltaVista before the oldest was born.


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## Axiom451 (Mar 3, 2022)

During the djent hype 2010-2014 i was mostly lurking because I was constantly looking for ERGs and new bands and alot I found was on here so yea eventually made an account


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## Gmork (Mar 3, 2022)

Not sure what originally turned me on to 8 strings, probably just cuz i like weird stuff and saw one at my local guitar shop. 
but like 8 years or so ago i went from ibanez 6s and completely skipped 7s to my first 8 and started looking up 8 string guitar stuff leading me here where i found folks talking about all the brutal gear i love, seeing really cool guitars, pedals and amps, and was really impressed with the insane amount of knowledge the forums and its members held! Also i was infinitely entertained by all the hilarious inside jokes and genuinely friendly atmosphere! 

Ive learned SO much and like to think over the past 7/8 years ive passed some knowledge to others! 
I love this place!


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## Hollowway (Mar 3, 2022)

Man, I don’t even remember. I got a Gary Kramer Delta Wing 7 string (the 36 fret one) that Gary had at his NAMM debut for them. I was super into it being a 7, so I think I probably googled and got her. That was back in ‘08. Now I’m super curious what my first post was, lol. Probably no way to “sort first to last” on that, though.


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## narad (Mar 3, 2022)

_I got kicked off of TGP for using racial slurs in my jokes and I saw there were a bunch of libtards here so I joined to post solely in the OT section._

(Okay, well, not me so much but that's at least like 10 people a year)

I think I actually found out about it randomly stumbling upon NGD or GotM threads. In 2008 there was this burst of boutique and ERG guys putting in orders, starting first from a place of actually wanting ERGs (like Drinkwater) and quickly then to just cool custom metal guitars .strandberg / daemoness / vik. Just tons of startup builders, no one had a build history of more than like 10 guitars, 50+ wait lists, renderings, and sketches of what they were planning to do. That was a cool time. Kind of like a kickstarter in redefining what guitar should be, but with absolutely no safety whatsoever. I wasted so much money, but it was cool seeing everyone's custom orders when the idea was pretty much brand new (for this demographic anyway).


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## possumkiller (Mar 3, 2022)

Picture it...
The year was 2004 and I was a 21 year old skinny little army dickweed fresh back from Iraq looking online for an RG7620 to replace the one I had lost. When I was a teen and hardcore into Emperor, my hatred of 7 string Ibanez guitars due to their popularity because of the nu metal bands I hated turned into lust in 2001 after I paused the extremely low quality video of Empty and counted the tuners on Ihsahn's headstock. I spent every penny I had and was earning to save up the $599 to buy the NOS RG7620 from my local music store that had been collecting dust since 1998. I loved this guitar. Finally I could learn the songs from Prometheus! I began writing my own songs using seven strings. Then my crazy, manipulative, gas-lighting, compulsive lying, 16yo gf told me she was pregnant right before I turned 18. As soon as I turned 18 her mom began threatening me. So I sold my Ibanez, we got married, and I joined the army.


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## bostjan (Mar 3, 2022)

I lurked here a while (few months) because I loved seven string guitars and had interest in getting an eight. I wanted Parker to make a seven string Fly. I posted on the Parker forums a lot, but eventually they told me that they would never ever make a seven string. So I finally created an account to ask what the closest thing was to a Parker Fly but with seven strings.


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## HoneyNut (Mar 3, 2022)

through Jemsite. And soon enough SSO links started popping up. I think around 04. I used to visit Cyberfret and Shredaholic as well (they still exist). They had lots of shredders with lots of resources on technique and skills. Read tons of Randy, Technomancer, Max's posts here, realized a good following here. I found Bulb through Soundcloud right before Obzen was released - Zyglrox was increadible when I heard it - was the best thing. I didn't know he had such a following here. SSO's great. 

That said, some of the members here are underrated.


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## WarMachine (Mar 3, 2022)

Did a Google search about different settings and presets for the Digitech GSP lol. Found some good info and joined shortly after.


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## Randy (Mar 3, 2022)

I used to post on Project Guitar and was primarily interested in JEMs and Universes. I met a guy on there ( @skinhead ) that referenced this place and how there was a lot of that stuff here, and I believe also drew my attention to Mike Sherman. I actually lurked for like a year before I started posting.


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## Alberto7 (Mar 3, 2022)

I had actually stumbled upon SSO quite a few times on Google searches for idk exactly what. I never had a 7 string, but i was always super curious about them. I think I might have been a few searches related to Nevermore and Jeff Loomis that drew me here the first few times. I had read a few things on here for probably a couple of years before I joined.

Then a friend of mine told me about Animals As Leaders some time before the release of their first album. So looking for them lead me to SSO a lot more often than before.

Then I started stumbling upon NGD and build threads of guitars that absolutely fucking blew my mind. The idea of a custom or boutique guitar wasn't something I'd ever thought about much, and like @narad said above, there were quite a few guys that had orders with a bunch of smaller luthiers. Nobody had much of a history with custom builds, and the possibilities were unimaginable. The availability of options in production guitars was very different back then. Fancy woods I'd never heard of before? 8 strings? 10 STRINGS?! Fanned frets? Oni's E-scale and its curvy frets?! WhaAAAAaaaaAAaAaAttt?!?!

So I started lurking obsessively for a while. It didn't take me long to find Bulb and all of his pre-Periphery stuff, and I was obsessed with it. I remember a recording of his called "Excalibur". It was all just so cool and unique sounding back then (... and yet so ubiquitous nowadays, to the point of monotony... *sigh*)

And then I stumbled upon Michael Hebo's (cataclysmichael back then) cover of Icarus Lives! with his Carvin DC727 in the spiderman finish, and that was it for me. I sent him a few messages on YouTube asking him about the guitar, and that's when I pulled the trigger on my own DC727, which I still have today.

Shortly before receiving the guitar, I made my account on SSO. I think I had actually held off on joining SSO before because I didn't have a 7 string yet. I was so excited talking to everyone back then and being part of the forum. Good times.


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## wheresthefbomb (Mar 3, 2022)

@Xaios brought me here. I'm a PureVolume refugee. I have seen some shit, let me tell you. (started my fair share, too)


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## narad (Mar 3, 2022)

bostjan said:


> I lurked here a while (few months) because I loved seven string guitars and had interest in getting an eight. I wanted Parker to make a seven string Fly. I posted on the Parker forums a lot, but eventually they told me that they would never ever make a seven string. So I finally created an account to ask what the closest thing was to a Parker Fly but with seven strings.



Didn't they eventually do it? I remember the 7-string maxxflys for sure, but I could have sworn there was a 7-string proper fly? Am I making that up?


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## Alberto7 (Mar 3, 2022)

narad said:


> Didn't they eventually do it? I remember the 7-string maxxflys for sure, but I could have sworn there was a 7-string proper fly? Am I making that up?


I don't know if it was ever in production, but I know The Axe Palace had a custom one at some point.


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## narad (Mar 3, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> I don't know if it was ever in production, but I know The Axe Palace had a custom one at some point.




Ah, it was green in my mind. But yea, all the 7s were basically custom orders. Even though they had a model number, I think there might be no more than 10 or so of the maxxflys even.


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## Xaios (Mar 3, 2022)

wheresthefbomb said:


> @Xaios brought me here. I'm a PureVolume refugee.


I basically left PureVolume for SSO as soon as I found it. Not that I don't have some fond memories of PV, there's still a few people I keep in contact with. However, the truth is that PV was a toxic cesspool a lot of the time, honestly. It had twice the number of moderators (including myself) as SSO and we still couldn't keep things nearly as clean and civil as this place is.

IIRC it also had a problem of underage girls sending their nude pics around because they wanted to fit in and be cool. Not really a great environment.

How did I find SSO? It's been so long that it's hard to recall; I think I was just looking for generic resources for 7 string guitars. I bought my first 7 string, an RG1527 (which I still have) about 6 months before registering here, and I was listening to a lot of Nevermore and Dream Theater at the time, so it seemed like a perfect fit.


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## Alberto7 (Mar 3, 2022)

narad said:


> Ah, it was green in my mind. But yea, all the 7s were basically custom orders. Even though they had a model number, I think there might be no more than 10 or so of the maxxflys even.


Man those Maxxfly sevens... Oof. I lusted after them hard, particularly a tangerine one that popped up at one point. Gorgeous thing.

I only ever played one Parker Fly, way back when. It was such an effortless guitar, even to 17-year old me who couldn't tell an overdrive from a distortion pedal.


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## eaeolian (Mar 3, 2022)

I was looking for info on a Washburn Sonic 7 I was buying. Nearly got perma'd for arguing with Shannon about Mesa Recto tones and modelers in week 1. Somehow I ended up a mod.


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## Lax (Mar 3, 2022)

I used to lurk every guitar related forum I could find and enjoyed the metal side of this one.
Plus I wonder if I didn't find the chatroom first, since I really needed to talk live


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## cwhitey2 (Mar 3, 2022)

I was bored at work and googled "guitar forums". I have stuck with this one cause it has the least amount of shit heads and the most knowledgeable people in it


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## budda (Mar 3, 2022)

Im sure it was from putting “7-string guitar” into google, or someone from here was on guitarist.net and posted a link (that forum is long dead now).


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## BenjaminW (Mar 3, 2022)

I wanted to find a guitar forum since I've always been a fan of forums, and I remember SSO being like at the top of some list of forums that were good guitar forums.

Thank God I didn't make it to TGP.


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## Demiurge (Mar 3, 2022)

I think it was from jemsite and eventually I made the move. Very nice & helpful people there, but I'm more of a metal than shred guy. Plus, the faction acting like they were secret Ibanez endorsees, aggrieved and proclaiming intent to "leave" the brand whenever a new model came out only in black was getting tedious.


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## bostjan (Mar 3, 2022)

narad said:


> Didn't they eventually do it? I remember the 7-string maxxflys for sure, but I could have sworn there was a 7-string proper fly? Am I making that up?


Yes. The Maxxfly7 came about many years after I gave up on it.

Initially, I contacted Parker about it, and they didn't even respond to me. I joined the forum to see what was up, and there were several other people there asking the same thing. After maybe a year, Parker responded and said that it would be physically impossible for them to build a fretboard wide enough to accommodate seven strings and economically impossible for them to modify their process to make the jigs to widen their fretboards. There were a bunch of people also wanting baritones who were told the same thing, save for "length" instead of "girth." At the same time, though, Parker was making fretboards for Emerald in Ireland, who was, in fact, making seven string guitars, and was willing to do baritones with custom scale lengths with the Parker boards. Parker was also making the Nylon string version of the Fly at the time, which had a fretboard that would have worked (but maybe not 100% ideally). I went on a quest to find something similar. At the time, there were "Switch" guitars that were basically the "Great Value" version of Aristides, but before Aristides and that was about it. I came here, and shortly after, talked with Dan at Oni Guitars, and that's how I got my carbon fiber 8 string (a couple years later). It's still my favourite guitar ever - lighter than any Parker, eight string, multiscale, all the bells and whistles I ever wanted.

Meanwhile, I guess the rest of the seven string group at the Parker forum got their way and the Fly Mojo seven string and MaxxFly seven strings were made. I still have my old mid-90's Parkers, and they still play fantastically, and I'd love to have a seven string Fly, but after chasing that white whale throughout my 20's, getting something so much better in the process, and then breaking my arm during the darkest time in my country's history for affordable health care and losing literally every penny I had saved, I've sort of moved on to the point where I can live without a seven string Fly.


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## DoctorStoner (Mar 3, 2022)

It's a grey area, I either wanted to post about my Loomis, follow Bulb, or ask Zimbloth which BKP's my Loomis needed.


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## ElRay (Mar 3, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> ... That was back in ‘08. Now I’m super curious what my first post was, lol. Probably no way to “sort first to last” on that, though.


NO. 

I did that. You have to got to your posts in your profile, click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, click on "more posts", click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, ... until you reach the end.


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## Leviathus (Mar 3, 2022)

@Lasik124 put me on back in the day.


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## r33per (Mar 3, 2022)

ElRay said:


> NO.
> 
> I did that. You have to got to your posts in your profile, click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, click on "more posts", click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, ... until you reach the end.


So I did just that and it all came back to me!

I had a JP7 a few years ago and it just wasn't doing it for me. Joined, posted something in the 'VS' thread and pretty much kept visiting and occasionally posting.


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## Hollowway (Mar 4, 2022)

ElRay said:


> NO.
> 
> I did that. You have to got to your posts in your profile, click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, click on "more posts", click on page 10, scroll to the bottom, ... until you reach the end.


Yeah, I have nearly 16,000 posts. NFW I’m smashing that “more posts” button that many times.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Mar 4, 2022)

Was hunting for Ibanez 7 strings and this site showed up often. Ended up buying one whilst in Tokyo and had this site semi saved on the communal internet Google search at every hotel I stayed in. Even after buying the seven, I didn't sign up until I had enough of 3-4 months of lurking.


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## CanserDYI (Mar 4, 2022)

I was an ultimate guitar forumite back in the early to late 2000s and really started hating it, lurked around here and decided I was just done with forums. Around covid time I had more time on a PC and started using TGP, got banned because boomers and tweed don't like me calling out their sexism/homophobia, so slapped over here because I remembered the name.

Glad I didn't continue the forums around the time I found this place, I'd be out a lot of money hahaha with all the upcoming luthiers and early run stuff, luckily I learned from others mistakes with it, and frankly sadly, will probably never trust a small builder because of it.


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## eaeolian (Mar 4, 2022)

bostjan said:


> I came here, and shortly after, talked with Dan at Oni Guitars, and that's how I got my carbon fiber 8 string (a couple years later). It's still my favourite guitar ever - lighter than any Parker, eight string, multiscale, all the bells and whistles I ever wanted.



I've only ever played one Oni, but man, was it awesome. The man knows how to build an instrument.


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## Hollowway (Mar 4, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> I was an ultimate guitar forumite back in the early to late 2000s and really started hating it, lurked around here and decided I was just done with forums. Around covid time I had more time on a PC and started using TGP, got banned because boomers and tweed don't like me calling out their sexism/homophobia, so slapped over here because I remembered the name.
> 
> Glad I didn't continue the forums around the time I found this place, I'd be out a lot of money hahaha with all the upcoming luthiers and early run stuff, luckily I learned from others mistakes with it, and frankly sadly, will probably never trust a small builder because of it.


I'm glad you did join here. You're an active contributor, and I like your stuff.


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## Furtive Glance (Mar 4, 2022)

February 2010 after lurking the JP forums, drinking the Kool-Aid on the EBMM forum, and shit-posting on the Mike Portnoy forums for a few years. Probably found this place from some cross-posted thread links on one, if not all, of those places! 

Best forum I've ever been on. Really should become a contributor...


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## Humbuck (Mar 4, 2022)

I made my bones in my local scene over a bunch of years with a Les Paul and old Marshalls basically. A good gig opportunity came up, and I needed to bone up on what modern, live, high gain dudes were running. That search lead me here.


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## beerandbeards (Mar 5, 2022)

Around age 27 I switched from a dedicated bassist to learning guitar. I played 6 and 7 string bass so naturally looking at info on Universes I think I stumbled upon this forum.


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## p0ke (Mar 5, 2022)

I genuinely don't have a clue how I ended up here! I joined in 2007, which is when I bought my first (and still only) 7-string. My best guess is that I googled what bridge pickup to get for my RG1527 and found my answer here, then joined.

Back then I was 100% sure I'd never play a 6-string again, but here I am 15 years later mostly playing 6-strings.


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## Alberto7 (Mar 5, 2022)

p0ke said:


> I genuinely don't have a clue how I ended up here! I joined in 2007, which is when I bought my first (and still only) 7-string. My best guess is that I googled what bridge pickup to get for my RG1527 and found my answer here, then joined.
> 
> Back then I was 100% sure I'd never play a 6-string again, but here I am 15 years later mostly playing 6-strings.


Same thing happened when I got my Carvin 7. I spent like 1-2 years playing it almost exclusively. Then I noticed my brain just worked better when I had a 6 on me. I got my first 8 string last September and, honestly, my poor Carvin 7 is so neglected now. I play either a 6 or an 8. Feels like I don't need a 7 anymore. Shame, because my Carvin really is a great guitar, and I can't bear the thought of selling it.


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## noj (Mar 6, 2022)

bostjan said:


> I lurked here a while (few months) because I loved seven string guitars and had interest in getting an eight. I wanted Parker to make a seven string Fly. I posted on the Parker forums a lot, but eventually they told me that they would never ever make a seven string. So I finally created an account to ask what the closest thing was to a Parker Fly but with seven strings.


I think there is only around 10 Parker Fly 7's? Some people say less and some say more but i think theres 10 accounted for.


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## noj (Mar 6, 2022)

I can't remember how or why i joined haha, ive only just managed to get into my account recently as i forgot what the info was and also the email i used for it. Currently sitting eating pizza going through random threads at half 5 in the morning XD


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## Manurack (Mar 6, 2022)

I remember it was 2011, I searched Google about 7 string guitar upgrades and refinishes. My man Skeels was one of the first members I met on this forum. He was very insightful and positive.

Speaking of Skeels, has anyone heard from him lately? Oh and @Xaios and I used to have a dick measuring contest about who was the contender of living in the great Canadian north - he won living in Whitehorse, Yukon and I lived in Kugluktuk, Nunavut because I moved to British Columbia LOL


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## Xaios (Mar 6, 2022)

Manurack said:


> Oh and @Xaios and I used to have a dick measuring contest about who was the contender of living in the great Canadian north


We did? I never really thought of it like that. 

Besides, @wheresthefbomb is the current winner of "furthest north in the western hemisphere", as he's in Fairbanks.


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## Manurack (Mar 6, 2022)

Xaios said:


> We did? I never really thought of it like that.
> 
> Besides, @wheresthefbomb is the current winner of "furthest north in the western hemisphere", as he's in Fairbanks.



"I am now the sole SSO member of the Canadian north!" is what you said, or something along those lines in 2011


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## p0ke (Mar 6, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> Same thing happened when I got my Carvin 7. I spent like 1-2 years playing it almost exclusively. Then I noticed my brain just worked better when I had a 6 on me. I got my first 8 string last September and, honestly, my poor Carvin 7 is so neglected now. I play either a 6 or an 8. Feels like I don't need a 7 anymore. Shame, because my Carvin really is a great guitar, and I can't bear the thought of selling it.


I play my 7 for very specific things, but I haven't really gravitated towards that sort of thing recently. It's just another tool in my toolbox, really.


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## wheresthefbomb (Mar 6, 2022)

Xaios said:


> We did? I never really thought of it like that.
> 
> Besides, @wheresthefbomb is the current winner of "furthest north in the western hemisphere", as he's in Fairbanks.



I'm like SSO's hat.


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## pondman (Mar 6, 2022)

I came on here by chance and placed an add in the classifieds looking for a trem. I got a swift hit with the ban hammer  It was done with great relish and aggression. I thought fuck you baby.
I think it was Aeolian . 
I came back by accident for some reason a year later.


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## Riffer (Mar 10, 2022)

I had just started a new job (which I'm still at) and joined a band with some fellow employees and they played 7 strings. I was playing the drummers Ibanez Universe for a while but needed my own so I think during my search for my first 7 string I ended up on SSO. Joined in March 2009 and started to post and browse for gear. I can't remember if the 7 string I got (an Ibanez S7320 which I still have) was from here or if I got it from craigslist. Either way, I stuck around and have bought/sold a few things and chimed in on threads since then. Good times.


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## Drew (Mar 10, 2022)

Jeez.... probably '04, Jemsite? Their seven string forum ended up spinning out two forums, extendedrangeguitar.org, I think it was, and sevenstring.org, and former mod Donnie had me on as a co-admin at ERG since I was writing 7- and 8-string lessons for the site to facilitate posting them there. I forget how, exactly, but we ended up eventually just merging the two sites, largely because we were all into basically the same shit anyway and all got along well.

By this point, I'm pretty sure we have members who have been alive for shorter than I've been a member here.


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## Alberto7 (Mar 10, 2022)

Drew said:


> Jeez.... probably '04, Jemsite? Their seven string forum ended up spinning out two forums, extendedrangeguitar.org, I think it was, and sevenstring.org, and former mod Donnie had me on as a co-admin at ERG since I was writing 7- and 8-string lessons for the site to facilitate posting them there. I forget how, exactly, but we ended up eventually just merging the two sites, largely because we were all into basically the same shit anyway and all got along well.
> 
> By this point, I'm pretty sure we have members who have been alive for shorter than I've been a member here.


Ye old hag 
I feel like I joined late in life, comparatively speaking. I was already 19 or 20. I never knew how forums worked until I started googling guitar shit and kept finding cool stuff in here. I never even really googled much about guitars back in the day. Just browsed zzounds, samash, or guitar center's websites every now and then. I had ZERO clue for the longest time about anything that went on in the guitar world outside of people just playing their guitars.

... then you people turned me into the monster I am today.


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## Drew (Mar 10, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> Ye old hag
> I feel like I joined late in life, comparatively speaking. I was already 19 or 20. I never knew how forums worked until I started googling guitar shit and kept finding cool stuff in here. I never even really googled much about guitars back in the day. Just browsed zzounds, samash, or guitar center's websites every now and then. I had ZERO clue for the longest time about anything that went on in the guitar world outside of people just playing their guitars.
> 
> ... then you people turned me into the monster I am today.


I was a couple years older, a few years out of college. And I have the better part of a decade on your signup date.


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## bostjan (Mar 10, 2022)

Drew said:


> Jeez.... probably '04, Jemsite? Their seven string forum ended up spinning out two forums, extendedrangeguitar.org, I think it was, and sevenstring.org, and former mod Donnie had me on as a co-admin at ERG since I was writing 7- and 8-string lessons for the site to facilitate posting them there. I forget how, exactly, but we ended up eventually just merging the two sites, largely because we were all into basically the same shit anyway and all got along well.
> 
> By this point, I'm pretty sure we have members who have been alive for shorter than I've been a member here.


Found it - http://web.archive.org/web/20040623073721/http://www.extendedrangeguitar.com/

First two posts that come up are from you and Shannon.


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## Edika (Mar 10, 2022)

It's been almost 12 years since I joined! I had gotten a Carvin 7 string and was looking for a 7 string V. I was looking at Agile but the import duty and tax plus the no return policy for international orders kept me away. I found Emperion and was going to order when they did the run.

I think I was looking for more info about Emperion and saw people from here get in on the run so I joined. That was a fun time lol. I mean if I want to find info on guitars and 7 strings especially this is the place to be! Plus all the great people I get to interact here with!


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## Alberto7 (Mar 10, 2022)

Drew said:


> I was a couple years older, a few years out of college. And I have the better part of a decade on your signup date.


6 years in the ERG world back then was an eternity. Things seemed to evolve fast back then, with regards to 7 and 8 string guitars, customs, etc. Nowadays it's sorta stalled a little, and there's a lot more variety.


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## Alberto7 (Mar 10, 2022)

Edika said:


> It's been almost 12 years since I joined! I had gotten a Carvin 7 string and was looking for a 7 string V. I was looking at Agile but the import duty and tax plus the no return policy for international orders kept me away. I found Emperion and was going to order when they did the run.
> 
> I think I was looking for more info about Emperion and saw people from here get in on the run so I joined. That was a fun time lol. I mean if I want to find info on guitars and 7 strings especially this is the place to be! Plus all the great people I get to interact here with!


I have this vague memory of Emperion guitars. Weren't they either really bad or scamming people out of their money? And we made fun of them incessantly for a while. I forget exactly. Kinda wanna go google it up later on. Relive the laughs


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## StevenC (Mar 10, 2022)

I think I found this forum while looking for pics of Chris Broderick's LACSs, and then eventually joined to post about Strandbergs.

FYI, if you want to find your first post without scrolling back, you can use the search function to search your own posts around the time you started posting.


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## bostjan (Mar 10, 2022)

StevenC said:


> I think I found this forum while looking for pics of Chris Broderick's LACSs, and then eventually joined to post about Strandbergs.
> 
> FYI, if you want to find your first post without scrolling back, you can use the search function to search your own posts around the time you started posting.


Wow, that was a trip back in time. My third post here, I had predicted production multiscale eight strings in the distant future. Now that we are in the distant future, I guess I was right. Man, young me was so much smarter than old me, WTF happened?

I also came across an old post where everyone was lamenting the dissolution of the power tab online archive. I bet most younger players haven't even ever touched powertab. ...and now I'm sad again, about losing that nifty resource.

Should I start a "Feeling Nostalgic for the mid-2000's" thread? That's about how I feel at the moment. Oh well, it'll pass. Maybe I'll go post about the end of the world in the Ukraine thread or how we narrowly missed the end of the world in the covid thread or the Trump thread...


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## Edika (Mar 10, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> I have this vague memory of Emperion guitars. Weren't they either really bad or scamming people out of their money? And we made fun of them incessantly for a while. I forget exactly. Kinda wanna go google it up later on. Relive the laughs


They went in over their heads and ended up making a huge order. They were supposedly using a Korean factory but turned out they used a Chinese factory. The V's turned out larger than expected due to a sizing error on their CNC and tried to pass it off as a "feature". In the end they came with horrible QC issues. I don't think there was one example that was half decent. And of course they could not refund everyone so a lot of people got stuck with junk guitars. Only good thing is that they weren't expensive. 

Mine had mostly cosmetic issues, nothing functional, aside from badly repaired cracks in the fretboard. They didn't install the BK pickups I had paid for and just send it with the Chinese stock crap pickups. I sent it back the next day lol. I was one of the lucky ones and managed to get my money back.


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## Drew (Mar 10, 2022)

Alberto7 said:


> 6 years in the ERG world back then was an eternity. Things seemed to evolve fast back then, with regards to 7 and 8 string guitars, customs, etc. Nowadays it's sorta stalled a little, and there's a lot more variety.


I'd say it's "stalled" a little in that these days the seven string world is no longer THAT different thanb the six. 

When I got my first 7620, the seven string guitar options out there were basically an Ibanez Universe of 7620, or maybe a Conklin. I think Jackson made a Dinky 7 briefly too, and of course did some custom builds (as did Anderson, but they only ever made a handful before they stopped for a decade or so). But, they were pretty much all HH or HSH basswood superstrats with rosewood fretboards. If you wanted anything else, well...

These days, you can buy production superstrat sevens in most widely available tonewoods, PRS or Gibson style sevens, Strat-style sevens, some weird and esoteric funky shit, with ebony or maple fretboard options as well as rosewood. There's a ton of good aftermarket pickup options aside from the Blaze, Air Norton, and Tone Zone seven string pickups we had to choose between back in the day. Plenty of good semi-custom options, too, and whikle you have less diversity in specs you do have production 8 and 9 string options out there now. 

And, nearly 20 years down the road, I can't tell you how long it's been sinve I've had to explain to someone that just because I play a seven string doesn't mean I play nu-metal.


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## Steinmetzify (Mar 10, 2022)

Started buying/selling nicer stuff; when I started playing guitar I was a huge Dime fan and was all over the Dean forums. Buddy of mine from there hipped me to this place and a forum where people cruelly had money, rest is history.


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## LordCashew (Mar 14, 2022)

Man, I found this place in '07 because I was researching the Agile Interceptor Pro 27. I was a classical guitar major in community college who somehow always ended up getting offered a bunch of bass gigs. I really wanted to learn to shred but never had much time to work on it on top of school, work and my (easy) paying bass gigs.

My signal chain back then was (trigger warning) a black Schecter Avenger 7 with a light brown rosewood fretboard and big fake pearl diamond inlays into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe via a Digitech Metal Master. I basically only played Fear Factory on it. I wanted an "upgrade" and my interest in Agile led me here, where I lurked for around a year before ever posting. I think I only registered so I could see attachments since there were some ERG builds on here that blew my mind at the time.

Nowadays I mostly play dad guitars and my old Fender amp gets a lot more use than my seven strings. I mostly read OT and P&CE because of the unusually calm and thoughtful discussion, especially after my Facebook feed went off a cliff a couple years ago...




bostjan said:


> I also came across an old post where everyone was lamenting the dissolution of the power tab online archive. I bet most younger players haven't even ever touched powertab. ...and now I'm sad again, about losing that nifty resource.



I was super pissed about that. There were some reasonably accurate tabs up there, unlike every other free tab site I've ever been to. I still have a bunch of .PTB files on an old hard drive somewhere.


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## soliloquy (Mar 16, 2022)

after being a part of the following forums:
Agile guitar forum (all three of them)
Harmony Central
Dean Guitar Forum 
Gears n Pages
My Les Paul 

and several others, and noticing that those forums would eventually go dead, or people just stopped commenting (my les paul being an exception), i eventually joined a forum that had a high population, and high post counts, with quality posts. Sevenstring.org was pretty much the only one that kept sticking out over the others. And thus i joined here.


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## ElRay (Mar 18, 2022)

soliloquy said:


> Agile guitar forum (all three of them)


I was drooling over the Agile Interceptor in the "Violin Varnish" Red about the time I joined here. I was on one of the Agile Forums too, until is was taken-over by "worship" guitarists and they started banning people for using any "cuss words" more severe than "damn" (which some non-mods still complained about). I think the last time I was over there was some brouhaha when a "War on Christmas" Veteran got corrected about Christions Co-oping the entire DEC/Jan Holiday season.


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 18, 2022)

ElRay said:


> I was drooling over the Agile Interceptor in the "Violin Varnish" Red about the time I joined here. I was on one of the Agile Forums too, until is was taken-over by "worship" guitarists and they started banning people for using any "cuss words" more severe than "damn" (which some non-mods still complained about). I think the last time I was over there was some brouhaha when a "War on Christmas" Veteran got corrected about Christions Co-oping the entire DEC/Jan Holiday season.


Goddamn.


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## ElRay (Mar 21, 2022)

BlackMastodon said:


> Goddamn.


Which one?


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## Decapitated (Mar 22, 2022)

I came here from the Club3G forums. Chris created this site if I am not mistaken which he eventually sold. He directed me here.


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## eaeolian (Mar 22, 2022)

Drew said:


> When I got my first 7620, the seven string guitar options out there were basically an Ibanez Universe of 7620, or maybe a Conklin. I think Jackson made a Dinky 7 briefly too, and of course did some custom builds (as did Anderson, but they only ever made a handful before they stopped for a decade or so). But, they were pretty much all HH or HSH basswood superstrats with rosewood fretboards. If you wanted anything else, well...



The Jacksons were alder, but, otherwise, yeah.  I remember hating the Takeguchi 7 string trem so much because there was no option to change the block to top mount it that I got a TOM on my CS Jackson 7. Then, of course, right before I got the guitar, the OFR-7 appeared. Bastards.


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## eaeolian (Mar 22, 2022)

Decapitated said:


> I came here from the Club3G forums. Chris created this site if I am not mistaken which he eventually sold. He directed me here.



And bought a Beemer with the proceeds.


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## eaeolian (Mar 22, 2022)

LordIronSpatula said:


> I was super pissed about that. There were some reasonably accurate tabs up there, unlike every other free tab site I've ever been to. I still have a bunch of .PTB files on an old hard drive somewhere.



Yeah, losing that sucked. Now everything about the land of tabs sucks.


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## CovertSovietBear (Mar 22, 2022)

Keith Merrow YouTube circa 2011-2012?


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## Breakdown (Mar 23, 2022)

Was really into nevermore and rusty cooley at the time googled sevenstrings in middle school and well here I am lol


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## ElRay (Mar 23, 2022)

Drew said:


> By this point, I'm pretty sure we have members who have been alive for shorter than I've been a member here.


QFT


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## ElRay (Mar 23, 2022)

ElRay said:


> ... taken-over by "worship" guitarists ...


Nothing negative here, but this is the case with Apple's MainStage. I literally can count on one hand the number of videos I've found about using MainStage that were NOT by Church Musicians. Interestingly, they've all be christian, no "Temple Guitarists", no "Mosque Guitarists", no "Candi/Wat/Hof/Mandi/Jinja/Synagog/Gurdwara/Shoji/Dauguan/Dadgah Guitatists"


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## tedtan (Mar 23, 2022)

Contemporary Christian music is basically ripping off 80s era U2/The Edge dotted eight delay rhythm, adding in some shimmer reverb pads, and singing “I love you, Jesus, you complete me” type lyrics over the top (I had the unfortunate opportunity to hear this first hand at a restaurant over the course of a recent business lunch).

Those other religions are above doing that. Hell, they probably prohibit doing that.


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