Guitar Gear Forum

i`ve just bought an old Schecter 7 string. i`ve had a look around at youtube and read a few posts at sevenstring.org.
any of you guys know any cool places to get ideas on seven string tunings, techniques etc. ive found Tosin Abashi so far

http://www.gootar.com/folder/guitar7.html

http://www.musicopedia.com/scales/7-guitar.php

Here's a couple places to start

thank you!

You're welcome. Enjoy the seven string.

congrats and welcome to a whole new world!

the first thing that i did when i got my 7 was spend the first week or so jamming with my favorite 6 string songs and pretending that the low b wasn't even there. it really helped me get used to having that string there and helped break some old habits. YMMV

A D G C F A D.

A 7 string adds a ton of versatility and new chord voicings. It's like having a downtuned guitar with the intonation and clarity of standard tuning.


If you like drop D or C then you might ry tuning the low string down to A. It's like having a drop A guitar and a standard tuned guitar at the same time. You can play it like one, the other, or both at once. One thing you can do is take chords that are on the A or E strings and make giant bar-chords out of them like this that sound huge:

E--
B--
G--7
D--7
A--5
E--5
A--5

You could look at that like a power chord in Drop A with additional 5th's and octaves added on top OR like a regular A string power chord with additional 5th and octave on the bottom. That's a very basic example but the cool thing about 7 string is that you can play it like a downtuned guitar, a standard tuned guitar or both at once. The important thing is not to just treat it like a downtuned guitar all the time.


I think a good fat string on the bottom is essential for getting good note definition out of the low string. And if you're going to tune the low string down, IMO, sadly, the low string in the 7 string sets usually just aren't fat enough to really ring out nicely and musically. You might have to custom order to get where you want to be. Have fun

wat wrote:I think a good fat string on the bottom is essential for getting good note definition out of the low string. And if you're going to tune the low string down, IMO, sadly, the low string in the 7 string sets usually just aren't fat enough to really ring out nicely and musically. You might have to custom order to get where you want to be. Have fun

Troof. I use a 060 in standard B, and I'd like it to be a little tighter. Maybe a 064?

ke2 wrote:

wat wrote:I think a good fat string on the bottom is essential for getting good note definition out of the low string. And if you're going to tune the low string down, IMO, sadly, the low string in the 7 string sets usually just aren't fat enough to really ring out nicely and musically. You might have to custom order to get where you want to be. Have fun

Troof. I use a 060 in standard B, and I'd like it to be a little tighter. Maybe a 064?

Probably, I play in drop A and like a .68

wat wrote:

ke2 wrote:

wat wrote:I think a good fat string on the bottom is essential for getting good note definition out of the low string. And if you're going to tune the low string down, IMO, sadly, the low string in the 7 string sets usually just aren't fat enough to really ring out nicely and musically. You might have to custom order to get where you want to be. Have fun

Troof. I use a 060 in standard B, and I'd like it to be a little tighter. Maybe a 064?

Probably, I play in drop A and like a .68

I read somewhere that Jeff Loomis tunes to Bb and uses a 070
That's a thick string!

Nice! which model 7 did you buy? I have an old Schecter Gryphon 7 and it is good. I use Dunlop's 10-60 Heavy Core set. Good tension for B and drop A.

Love the coil tap on the tone pot it has too; lets me get some sweet cleans and light overdriven sounds.

Wookieslayer wrote:Nice! which model 7 did you buy? I have an old Schecter Gryphon 7 and it is good. I use Dunlop's 10-60 Heavy Core set. Good tension for B and drop A.

Love the coil tap on the tone pot it has too; lets me get some sweet cleans and light overdriven sounds.

Dunlop finally made a 7 string set? Kickass!! I use the Heavy Core 11s on my guitar that's tuned to D standard.

Before there were 7-string sets around, I experimented a fair bit to try find the right low B string. I ended up settling on a 59, as it seemed to the best balance of feel and sound to go with my 10-46 sets. A 60 was maybe just slightly better in feel, but sound-wise it didn't fit as well. Now of course I can conveniently buy 10-59 D'Addario sets and as it turns out, going by their tension figures, it is a good fit. A 60 or maybe even a bit bigger would still match, but for me (at least on my first 7, the UV) the tiny jump to a 60 was a big sound change I didn't like. And once I settled on the 59, it just became as natural feeling to me as the 6 strings above it. And having played with 'em for probably nearly 10 years

This is of course with the 7th tuned to a low B, and with a standard 25.5" scale. If you're dealing with anything other than that... don't ask me.

And yeah, I dunno if he still uses a 70, but at least back when Loomis first went to 7s he said he was using a 70 gauge bass string for his Bb. Dunno what he's using for the rest of 'em, but either he likes heavier gauge strings in general, or he just likes having an oddly high tension 7th compared to the rest... but if that's to go with a set of 10s, that's not a balanced set.

Was the feel/texture of a 60 similar to a 59? I've wondered if a 60 bass string was used instead of making a guitar string of the same thickness.

i currently use a 56 for Bb. i think a bit bigger may be the way to go.

PunchedDrunk... wrote:Was the feel/texture of a 60 similar to a 59? I've wondered if a 60 bass string was used instead of making a guitar string of the same thickness.

Well, it felt like a guitar string if that's what you're asking. The tiny jump up from the 59 did give a noticeable increase in tension, but the sound also fattened up a bit in a way that I didn't particularly like. Fattened in a muddy kind of way. The 60s I used to buy individually were packaged as guitar strings, not bass strings.

I use 060 D'addarios, I buy 0095-sets, and add the 060.
It gives me the right tension on a 26,5" scale guitar.

Wookieslayer wrote:Nice! which model 7 did you buy? .

Schecter C7 from 2006 with an EMG 7

the schecter has been modded, its nice maple top is now flat black, the neck pick up has been removed and the hole filled, expertly i might add. the guy i bought it off is a builder as well as a guitarist. the scale length is 26.5 so everything is nice and tight. i like it alot.
i`m ususlly a snob when it comes to guitars, if a guitar has any value it must be an american thing made before 1982 or a Japanese thing costing twice what the other countries charge. but this thing has tone, its well made and is nice to play
so yea