# Question about the guitars Cannibal corpse uses. Neck scale and tuning content.



## Rosal76 (May 2, 2013)

Hey guys, there is something that I, for the life of me, cannot figure out about the guitar neck scales and tunings that Cannibal corpse uses but hope some of you guys will know. As many of you know, many of the songs on proceeding albums after the album, Vile, is recorded in Bb. I do believe some songs are in B (7-string) and some in C#. 

Anyways, all of Pat O'brien's B.C. Rich guitars, excluding the one with the Widow headstock, have baritone neck scales. Also, there is Youtube footage of Pat having to modify the tremelo to one of his guitars to accommodate the low tuning. * The footage is from the "Torture" recording sessions and shows Pat grinding his Floyd Rose tremelo with a portable drill/grinder so that the Floyd Rose saddle can sit further back. Makes sense. Low tunings require the saddle to sit further back, right.

My question is: How is it possible for Rob Barrett, Cannibal's other guitarist, to be able to use a Dean guitar that has a 24 3/4 neck scale, tuned to Bb, and >>>NOT<<< have to move is saddles further back or modify his bridge like on Pat's guitars?????


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## Sepultorture (May 2, 2013)

PROBABLY THICK AND BRIDGE CABLE GUITAR STRINGS

lol

as far as i knew pat uses 25.5 scale length necks
best bet is to shoot Alex a message and see what he says, as he responds the most to inquiries


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## fps (May 2, 2013)

They use normal scale guitars from what I know. You can make a regular scale (24.75/ 25.5) guitar sound utterly crushing and tight in low tunings, people have been doing it forever, baritones might be the in thing right now but you ask how can they do it? Cos it's very doable without worrying about your scale length!!


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## Rosal76 (May 2, 2013)

fps said:


> They use normal scale guitars from what I know.



Pat O'brien doesn't. All of his B.C. Rich guitars, with the exception of the model with the Widow headstock, have baritone neck scales. Pat states this in the "Eviceration plague" bonus DVD.



fps said:


> Cos it's very doable without worrying about your scale length!!



Then why would Pat have to drill/grind his Floyd Rose so that the saddle can sit further back???


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## BIG ND SWEATY (May 2, 2013)

cause his intonation was off and he didnt want to use different strings.


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## asmegin_slayer (May 2, 2013)

The new album does have a lot of tunning in Ab standard. Scourge of Iron is a good example.


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## Rosal76 (May 2, 2013)

BIG ND SWEATY said:


> cause his intonation was off and he didnt want to use different strings.


 
Ahhhh, gotcha.


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## Esp Griffyn (May 2, 2013)

Rosal76 said:


> Pat O'brien doesn't. All of his B.C. Rich guitars, with the exception of the model with the Widow headstock, have baritone neck scales. Pat states this in the "Eviceration plague" bonus DVD.
> 
> 
> 
> Then why would Pat have to drill/grind his Floyd Rose so that the saddle can sit further back???



I think you've got this the wrong way round. He uses 25.5" on all his guitars, even the 7 that he never picks up these days, but he does have a bartone 6 which has 27" or 27.5" scale length. You can identify his longer scale guitar by it's red inlays. He uses on it on the Ab/G# songs like "Evisceration Plague".

As for Rob's guitar, I don't know. I know he has a live guitar for their regular songs, which is a standard Dean Cadi-Kill (standard apperance anyway, likely built for him by the Dean USA custom shop) and for the Ab songs he has a Dean Cadillac in matte grey, which may or may not be an extended scale length. As far as recording goes, Pat handles pretty much all of the guitar recording, by Rob's own admission, because Pat is a tighter player and sounds better on record. Rob does his solos on his own guitars, but I've seen him in the studio playing Pat's Bc Rich guitars, so make of that what you will. On Pat and Rob era CC, pretty much all of the rhythm guitars on the albums are Pat playing, I think.


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## Nile (May 2, 2013)

Correct. He uses 25.5" scale lengths for the Bb tunings and higher.


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## stevo1 (May 2, 2013)

Also, the grinding of the floyd for intonation might be due to the instrument build, As those are customs, they might have messed up the bridge positioning? The only guitar he seems to have a problem with is the one he records with in the videos. Merely speculating however.


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## Rosal76 (May 3, 2013)

Cheers guys for all the replies. 

One more question is you all don't mind answering. 

What is the least thickest strings must I use to tune a guitar to Bb, without drilling/grinding the Floyd Rose, if that guitar has a 24 5/8 neck scale?

Reason I'm asking and in part for this thread is because I'm looking for a 7-string guitar with a 24 5/8 neck scale. Here is the guitar that I'm currently looking at. I just need to make sure that I can tune this guitar to Bb. I am willing to use thicker strings but not sacrifice neck scale. I can learn to use thicker strings but I cannot execute long hammer-on and pull-off articulation streches (5th-10thfret) on guitars that have 25.5 or longer neck scales.

This is the 7-string guitar that I'm looking at.

Mockingbird ST7 Guitars - B.C. Rich


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## ittoa666 (May 3, 2013)

I have no idea ho Pat puts up with such huge strings on a floyd. 

Rob should have no problem since huge strings and a good setup are all you need for a low tuning.


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## fps (May 3, 2013)

Rosal76 said:


> Cheers guys for all the replies.
> 
> One more question is you all don't mind answering.
> 
> ...



Honestly you should be fine tuning to Bb and getting the intonation you're after with a good set-up, it's more about string vibration and whether or not that string will go out of tune when picked or fretted hard. If you're a very hard picker you might find it'll go more out of tune picking on a shorter scale. Then again I'd suggest just modifying your playing slightly to accommodate this. Meshuggah for instance use very light strings, so light most forumites would laugh at you if you suggested using strings that light in the tunings they use (even when they used regular 7 strings on Chaosphere). But they don't pick too hard so it all sounds great. 

I don't know about the Floyd thing, but you can use as light as a 56 and comfortably tune a good 25.5 scale guitar and intonate it in Bb, so with a slightly smaller scale, I don't know, use a 58, 60? If you're saying how thick can you go I wouldn't know about that though.


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## will_shred (May 3, 2013)

Am I the only one who has never found extended scales really useful? Unless you're using an 8 string tuned below F#

Some people find them comfy, yes. Some people like the added tension, i can understand that.

However intonation won't really be a problem if you're using the right strings. If you're guitar won't intonate it's probably because of the nut or bridge or some other flaw. 

I use these guys an example a lot, and I probably sound like a broken record but BONGRIPPER is a perfect example of why scale length is hardly a factor. 

Gibson Les Paul's/SG's tuned to F# and they also use either old Marshalls or Sunn's, or Custom made Black Amps and every note is still perfectly in tune (even when playing power chords) and clear (well as clear as doom metal can get)


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## DarkWolfXV (May 3, 2013)

^ This, i play 24.75" scale guitar in B standard and the intonation is perfect, nevermind that the guitar itself is pretty cheap. I like the deep, carnivorous sound of 24.75", it works great for me, and its easier do do big stretches, and i can do pretty fun stuff thanks to it.


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## xDarkCrisisx (May 3, 2013)

Maybe it's because Pat uses a trem and Rob has a string through?


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## Konfyouzd (May 3, 2013)

I can intonate an A1 on my ARZ307 fairly easily and that's what? 25"?


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## Charvel7string (Dec 12, 2013)

That g# standard


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## ChrisLangstrom (Dec 13, 2013)

I'm more curious on how God Among Insects got F standard to work on a 6 string Jackson.


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## BIG ND SWEATY (Dec 13, 2013)

^that was awesome, i have no idea how iv never heard of them. its all about finding the right strings, you can pretty much do any tuning on any scale as long as you have the appropriate string gauge.


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## Zalbu (Dec 13, 2013)

will_shred said:


> Am I the only one who has never found extended scales really useful? Unless you're using an 8 string tuned below F#
> 
> Some people find them comfy, yes. Some people like the added tension, i can understand that.
> 
> ...


Using really thick strings is going to change your tone compared to using thinner strings. People who like tight tension and a clear, snappy tone is going to have to choose between either or on a normal scale guitar if they tune down ridiculously low.

I'd have to use something like a 74-80 gauge B string for my 25.5 inch 7-string in Drop Ab to get the tightness I prefer, but my guitar can't even take strings that thick so I'm using a 68. Longer scale length fixes that problem and still gives me the option to use thinner strings with the same tightness so I can get the tone I prefer.


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## aBagel (Sep 27, 2019)

Sepultorture said:


> PROBABLY THICK AND BRIDGE CABLE GUITAR STRINGS
> 
> lol
> 
> ...





Sepultorture said:


> PROBABLY THICK AND BRIDGE CABLE GUITAR STRINGS
> 
> lol
> 
> ...



Is Alex Webster on this forum?


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## manu80 (Sep 27, 2019)

you can tune low and add a digitech droptune on top of it too...


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