baritone or 7 string?

[Grindspine]

A friend and I are strongly considering getting some 7 strings. We both checked out some Ibanez 7s at Sweetwater Sound this last weekend. He is sold on buying one this weekend.

I, on the other hand, just started a new job and am hesitating on dropping the $ for a 7 string this month. But, if he gets the 7, I would like to be able to also play low tunings.

I have a BC Rich Virgin with a 25.5" length and slightly higher action than my other guitars, which are all 24.75".

With that guitar having longer length and higher action, is it a good candidate for some heavy strings (13-56?) and tuning to B? I realize 25.5" length isn't baritone to most, but considering that I am used to shorter scale lengths at E...

So, what are the forum thoughts on the choice between converting a guitar to a baritone vs holding off and saving for a seven string?

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

Well, do you want the increased range? Go for the 7.
If not, the BC Rich will do fine in B standard

 

[FrankyBoy]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

Well, do you want the increased range? Go for the 7.
If not, the BC Rich will do fine in B standard

+ 1

I use to play a lot in Drop B with a Schecter Hellraiser Tempest with a 24.75 scale lenght and it was just fine. It had 11-54's on and even tho it was just a bit on the loose side, it was perfect enough for me and I don't think I would go with heavier strings on a 25.5 scale guitar. 12-56's at top for me.

The "Djent" fashion is taking over the world so everyone is downtuning, awesome.

 

[Grindspine]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

I might go with getting the 7 string in a few weeks after the income from my new job catches up to my wallet.

Turning the Virgin to a "kinda baritone" might stick though. I could pretty much use the 7 as a backup for my NT Warlock at Eb or for the Virgin at Bb then.

 

[Grindspine]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

I was figuring on 13-56 since I currently use 10-56 in E or Eb tunings. That way the EADGB would still be 46 36 26 17 and 13.

 

[xxxplorer]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

Have you thought about just doing Drop B? Just drop the low E down to B and you basically have the extended range of a 7 string. Only string missing is the E string now, but riffing is still good as you just move up the 'B' String. Of course you can't get the chords, but it's a cool way to do it that isn't used as much.

You can just swap the Low E string out for a thicker one to see how you like the Low B on that guitar too before going all out.

I actually like down tuned 24.75 scale guitars. They have a cool sound. Longer scales are perhaps 'better' but I love the Swampyness I get.

 

[Grindspine]

Re: baritone or 7 string?

I hadn't considered just dropping the low E to B. I tend to avoid dropped D since it changes chording, so figured if I was going to go that low, I'd go the full string set.

Lowest I've gone on my 24.75" guitars is C, and that is pretty loose.

Local guitar shops I just checked only have as thick as 12-54 steel strings, so I might try those for this experiment.