Has anyone around here got, or own, or played, or experimented with a 7 string acoustic?
A very good friend plays big ol' 7 string jazz arch top guitars.
It's a lovely thing to hear somebody play one of these guitars with a big fat low A or B below the E or 6 th string. HUGE bass movement through chord patterns.
He somehow managed to talk me into buying a very special 7 string acoustic, which, every time i play- i regret, merely because I am somewhat stymied by finding my way around the darn thing.
They seem to be gaining some ground as i notice I Ibanez and another Asian company are now making and marketing 7 string acoustics....
I'm not smart enough to play one but I had a client who played one of the early flat top seven strings mostly he use the low A for walking bass lines.
Seven? I'm still working on six strings!it will take me a long
Time to get to where I want to be,sheesh
David
You guys must not've seen the recent post here with the EIGHT string acoustic... :wacko:
This is my Loef 7 string
https://i.postimg.cc/3w8QSDp6/82-CF64-AD-4623-4-B39-93-A1-FFFBA70-B119-D.jpg
My problem with a 7 string is in the basic way a guitar is tuned.
In standard tuning, each string is 5 semi-tones off from the next string, except the B string which is 4.
So, a 7 string give you the range of a baritone on the lower 6 strings B to b, but you can't just move chord shapes up a string, because your G string really should be F#.
So I'd rather have 2 guitars, one tuned E-e and one B-b than try to span the range using 7 strings.
good point indeed, except,
those things the strings are wrapped around are so easy to move and alter! no one said the string had to be one particular note.
especially the bass string- ya could be a B, could be an A as well. even a C.
standard tuning on the other 6, but change to 7th to what ever you want, for what ever song requirements you might like to explore.
NOW that is just ME being a "rebel with-out a clue" and refusing to get boxed in to that particular string being tuned to a specific pitch.
yup it's more work.
yup it's a mind set.
I have been told Sudoco is good for old guys ( like me) to exercise the brain.
I am going to challenge my personal musicality, to mentally make sense of the 7th string tuning, what key I'm in and how to make it work for me.
I will probably fail, like I do trying to learn those jazz chords with my short folk picking fingers.
Quote from: headsup on June 17, 2019, 10:17:35 PM
good point indeed, except,
those things the strings are wrapped around are so easy to move and alter! no one said the string had to be one particular note.
Yeah, I kind of want to try a 7 string tuned ADADGAD. (DADGAD with an extra low A)
OK, a couple ver cool observations about the seven string guitar.
As most know, the fatter the string, the less you need to turn it to change it's pitch.
I use drop D and double drop D a good deal, and I can almost tune the bass E to D just by knowing how far to move the tuner button.
On the 7 string, the very low string ( B, A or even C) is about a .64, so it doesn't take much to change it's pitch- very little in fact.
So if it's a low B, playing in E is very cool, as is playing in G, (you get the low D on the D chord.) etc.
if playing in the key of A, well, drop the low string down a tone to a very low A- huge bass stuff to experiment with.
similarly, tuning that string up to a C is great for C, G F etc....
you get the idea...
the other six string are simply played as you would play anyways- one must be careful NOT to look, as you might think the low string is actually your E or 6th.
once you get the hang of it, it's pretty neat really...
I have not played a 7 string, but one guitar on my 'someday list' is Taylor's 8 string Baritone. It's such a unique instrument to play and the two strings that are octave doubled add just a right amount of sparkle. It's very hard to describe how quickly you get used to playing the extra strings.
I know there is alot of bagging on Taylor here. The one time I got to meet Jean L. was in Oxnard on a Saturday. I was that crazy guy that knocked on the front door and none other than Jean himself answered and gave me what he called the 'nickel' tour. It was over an hour.
Unprovoked, on the tour, when we went by the CNC machine where they cut necks, he said "Bob Taylor showed me how to get this thing setup and running."
That 8 string baritone is an innovative thing to bring to the market. If you ever get the chance to play one, keep the credit cards at bay. It's one of those things that just says 'take me home'.
https://youtu.be/u9KSiyjsfLY
I played one at Gruhn in Nashville and I could not put it down. I did leave my wallet in the car on purpose. I left with picks!
I've only played electrics - but a 7 has been one of the instruments that is definitely on the "wanted list" ever since I heard this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPUquMUl__8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPUquMUl__8)
Apparently the "classical" versions are fairly common in Brazil.
well, my verdict may have been a tad hasty.
the 7 string takes some getting used to, for sure, then going back to the 6 gets weird.
not sure if I'm young enough to meet the back and forth challenge.....
Quote from: headsup on August 28, 2019, 11:24:07 PM
well, my verdict may have been a tad hasty.
the 7 string takes some getting used to, for sure, then going back to the 6 gets weird.
not sure if I'm young enough to meet the back and forth challenge.....
I found that even with the switch to baritone - I was basically trying to do all the same things on a 27" fretboard that I would do on a "normal" guiitar - and it wasn't very inspiring (I suspect it sounded pretty lame too)
But then I thought maybe if I switched focus and thought of it more as another "stringed instrument" instead of aother "guitar" - which was the approach I had to take to start making headway on mandolin.
I didn't really start to enjoy baritone until I used tunings and pickings I didn't use on guitar - one day I hope to try a seven string
personally, I'm LOVING the baritone, once I got used to the fifth principle , finding my way around it was pretty easy.
the voicing (especially on a larrivee baritone) is quite exceptional.
For lovers of brilliant guitar playing, here's Lenny Brea), working his magic on a 7 string, with Buddy Emmons also being stupidly brilliant...
by some fluke, this link i the ENTIRE LP!
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkPvwbA5Svo
Quote from: headsup on October 22, 2019, 10:04:45 PM
For lovers of brilliant guitar playing, here's Lenny Brea), working his magic on a 7 string, with Buddy Emmons also being stupidly brilliant...
by some fluke, this link i the ENTIRE LP!
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkPvwbA5Svo
Breau, that is. :smile:
I just watched "Echos in the Canyon" on Netflix produced by Jakob Dylan.
There is a great segment on Roger McGuinn playing his custom 7/string Martin. Worth watching for any guitar player and a trip down memory lane.
Quote from: teh on October 26, 2019, 07:26:42 PM
I just watched "Echos in the Canyon" on Netflix produced by Jakob Dylan.
There is a great segment on Roger McGuinn playing his custom 7/string Martin. Worth watching for any guitar player and a trip down memory lane.
Yes, some great footage, and that 7 string of Rogers is very cool.
Pity it was more of a JaKob wank than anything, and I wasn't impressed with Michelle Phillips speaking of Denny that way (bias, we were NS music and acting pals).
the stuff between Steve stills and crosby was hilarious, thanks for that.
oh and Niel Young? TV clip ? luckily he redeemed himself at the end.....
Quote from: headsup on November 22, 2019, 09:47:34 PM
Pity it was more of a JaKob wank than anything
Similar feelings about how Jack White wound up in "It Might Get Loud" - I suspect they "invested" or they knew the producers?
yep, and how they didn't know the right chords to "The Weight" was a little upsetting... :?
Quote from: DaveyO on June 17, 2019, 12:20:47 PM
Seven? I'm still working on six strings!it will take me a long
Time to get to where I want to be,sheesh
David
:roll
Thought of this thread this evening as my wife and I enjoyed another concert by Acoustic Eidolon. Joe Scott plays a couple different double neck acoustic guitar, both necks sporting 7 strings. Lower neck has 5 string banjo tuning with two extra strings. Upper neck is standard 6 string with a lower bass string added.
https://www.acousticeidolon.com/instruments/double-neck-guitjo/
Quote from: AZLiberty on June 17, 2019, 09:51:15 PM
My problem with a 7 string is in the basic way a guitar is tuned.
In standard tuning, each string is 5 semi-tones off from the next string, except the B string which is 4.
So, a 7 string give you the range of a baritone on the lower 6 strings B to b, but you can't just move chord shapes up a string, because your G string really should be F#.
So I'd rather have 2 guitars, one tuned E-e and one B-b than try to span the range using 7 strings.
I mentioned this on my baritone re visit last night...
on the 7, simply tuning the G down a semi tone to an F# gives you a 7 string baritone, then the possibilities REALLY open up....
so much so, that I am now considering selling my BT.