7 Strings anyone?

JJLipton · Post by **JJLipton** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:21 am

Does anyone here have, or have ever wanted to try out a 7 string? I've been pretty interested in one lately.

Something like this?

Will · Post by **Will** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 2:02 am

I would LOVE a 7-string, but one that isn't METAL and has a nice V or baseball-bat neck. A 7-string archtop would be awesome.

SpaceFace · Post by **SpaceFace** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:06 am

Never liked 7 strings until recently when I tried a friends washburn. Its pretty cool to have that low string and it wasnt too low to be rendered unusable (at least in my opinion; however I dont know how people manage 8 strings). The only thing I dont like about them is having to look at the guitar a bit differently but its probably not too bad of a transition. But all in all its pretty cool especially if you dont use it for the metalz (it added an extra heft to the blues and jazz shit which was cool).

[youtube][/youtube]

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:21 am

yes, especially now that novak is thinking of making 7 string JM pickups

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:30 am

Novak is making seven pole jazzmaster pickups, not seven string. Like there early prototype jm pickups. I suppose they will work for a seven string if the spacing is right

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:55 am

i had a 7 string Ibanez universal for a while in the 90's we never really got along, as i would tune it E-A-D-G-B-E-A as opposed to the B-E-A-D-G-B-E
and then korn put out follow the leader, and someone offered be about a grand more then i paid for it, so i got rid of it.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:38 am

Always though about getting this

But when it comes down to it, that is too much money to spend on something I might like.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:00 am

I had a seven string Ibanez RG for about a year. I loved it. Great fun.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 12:59 pm

Will wrote:I would LOVE a 7-string, but one that isn't METAL and has a nice V or baseball-bat neck. A 7-string archtop would be awesome.

The Les Paul 7-stringer I have is not too bad for what it does, especially considering how I found it NOS in a Seoul shop for a hair over $200 and doesn't look half-bad. The pickups are stupidly overwound, but with a little fiddling around it's become an absolute essential for me when I have to produce K-pop singles over here.

One of the latest projects I did this past July was for MGame's promotional release of the Argo MMORPG, and one of the songs had a big-name pop-rock singer fill in, and thus the mix needed to be kinda meaty and stuff. The LP 7-string did just fine, but unfortunately my friend who mixed it had some difficulty finding the right place to have it sit between the bass guitar and the distorted main guitar(the Televersary Cindicaster). It is certainly audible in the mix, but not nearly in the role that I had wanted, and probably (as silly as it sounds) would have had better luck if a Hoobastank fan/engineer had done the duty. That being said, I still layer pretty much every pop/rock track I do with the thing(tuned A-E-A-D-G-B-E), just for the thickness and strength of the lower end. All-in-all, I've had really poor luck trying to match it with amps and playing it live, but the coupling it with the Tonelab in the studio has been my "secret sauce" when producing pop tunes.

Here's the aforementioned song I wrote/arranged that featured the LP 7-string in the chorus and string instrumental, albeit rather quiet in the mix:

[youtube][/youtube]

JJLipton · Post by **JJLipton** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:36 pm

ultratwin wrote:
Will wrote:I would LOVE a 7-string, but one that isn't METAL and has a nice V or baseball-bat neck. A 7-string archtop would be awesome.
Here's the aforementioned song I wrote/arranged that featured the LP 7-string in the chorus and string instrumental, albeit rather quiet in the mix:

[youtube][/youtube]

Awesome! i miss korea. I've never seen a 7 string les paul before...

vincel · Post by **vincel** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:53 pm

Perhaps somewhat unfashionably, I really rather fancy the Martin D-7 Roger McGuinn.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 1:53 pm

JJLipton wrote:
ultratwin wrote:
Will wrote:I would LOVE a 7-string, but one that isn't METAL and has a nice V or baseball-bat neck. A 7-string archtop would be awesome.
Here's the aforementioned song I wrote/arranged that featured the LP 7-string in the chorus and string instrumental, albeit rather quiet in the mix:

[youtube][/youtube]
Awesome! i miss korea. I've never seen a 7 string les paul before...

http://cgi.ebay.com/7-SEVEN-STRING-LES- ... 255dfe7d35

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 2:20 pm

Nice find, finboy! I'd jump at that if I needed another one.

The Epi 7-string LP necks are decently sized without being overbearing, feeling like a wider-nut version of my CIJ Jazzmster, but still not quite as fat as a '62 Strat. The good news is that they're significantly chambered, with mine weighing in at about 7.5lbs and feeling really good on the shoulders. Gonna have to do a sloppy demo tonight, come to think of it.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 3:57 pm

Ta-da.

Excuse the mess, I can ne'er do anything right in one take. Note the different tunings of the 7th string.

[youtube][/youtube]

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 4:25 pm

ultratwin wrote:
► Show Spoiler
Ta-da.

Excuse the mess, I can ne'er do anything right in one take. Note the different tunings of the 7th string.

[youtube][/youtube]

daaamn, that tuning with all the c's and g's sounds great, what string gauges are you using for that?

Dannymec · Post by **Dannymec** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:01 pm

Has Fender ever produced a 7 string guitar? I can't think of any offhand.

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:11 pm

finboy wrote:
ultratwin wrote:
► Show Spoiler
Ta-da.

Excuse the mess, I can ne'er do anything right in one take. Note the different tunings of the 7th string.

[youtube][/youtube]

daaamn, that tuning with all the c's and g's sounds great, what string gauges are you using for that?

It's a set of Ernie Ball Beefy Slinkys (11-54), playing with the 4th string open most of the time, which I learned from watching Aen. Turns out that Aen Standard can be pure magic at times!

The LP is strung up with an NOS set of Zack Wildes(11-70s?) which I think GHS still makes, tho the artist endorsement package is no longer available. Tuning down to A can be a tad flabby with a heavy hand, but otherwise does quite well.

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:04 pm

Dannymec wrote:Has Fender ever produced a 7 string guitar? I can't think of any offhand.

Squier had a 7 string. I also have seen Fender Custom shop seven strings.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:12 pm

Aye, it was a Showmaster wasn't? or a Stagemaster?

jcyphe · Post by **jcyphe** » Mon Oct 11, 2010 6:18 pm

BacchusPaul wrote:Aye, it was a Showmaster wasn't? or a Stagemaster?

Stagemaster

and here is some info on the Fender Strat with 7 strings. They were prototypes for some shredder who I've never heard of.

http://www.strat-central.com/c1.htm