Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

[75lespaul]

The Agile Interceptor pro 727 plays really nice, but that 7th string screws me up when I try to play the standard six. Not so much that I'm hitting the low string by mistake, but when chording and soloing, I always seem to be on the wrong strings, ha ha. I gotta say, the Cepheus pickups are pretty "generic" for power chords, low tunings, metal stuff, but when using the guitar for something more classic metal/rock and soloing, to me they're kind of lifeless. I really like the way that 7th string opens up my "inner heavy". If I can get competent with this guitar, I can see a pickup swap without a doubt. If I played just metal chords, they'd be fine, but I tend to use much more of the neck than that.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

You just have to keep playing it. Anything you can do on the high B and E you can do on the low B an E, think of it that way.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

The Agile Interceptor pro 727 plays really nice, but that 7th string screws me up when I try to play the standard six. Not so much that I'm hitting the low string by mistake, but when chording and soloing, I always seem to be on the wrong strings, ha ha. I gotta say, the Cepheus pickups are pretty "generic" for power chords, low tunings, metal stuff, but when using the guitar for something more classic metal/rock and soloing, to me they're kind of lifeless. I really like the way that 7th string opens up my "inner heavy". If I can get competent with this guitar, I can see a pickup swap without a doubt. If I played just metal chords, they'd be fine, but I tend to use much more of the neck than that.

For chords I still have problems with my UV70p, but not in soloing. When soloing on the 6-string I always catch myself looking for this low 7th string. Now in order to play correct chords on both the 6-string and the 7-string you should think of your chords from the 1st string upwards not the other way around, and I am afraid, at least for me, I will never play as naturally those chords I had been playing for 30 years with 6-strings, as easily with the 7-string. It will always be an extra effort.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

The problem is not the change to an extra string. It is the over-reliance on habits and "muscle memory".

 

[Wormhelmet]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

Oh man, I'm scared of extra strings, but wish I had one to mess around with. I use a 56 low E and sometimes tune in low C (rarely) but I like the stuff I hear with 7 strings. My amp will certainly handle modern metal with 7 or 8 strings, I just don't think I can handle it or write stuff to go with it. Good luck on getting used to it. I'm still struggling with my 6 strings after three decades of playing.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

I like 4 and 5string basses but i don't dig 7string guitars at all. I just tune 6strings lower. I don't play anything above the 12th fret anyway...

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

7-string is definitely a different beast. I, too, find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time when soloing. I'm used to the edge of the bridge hitting a certain position on my palm/thumb, but the inside of my fingers hitting the edge of the board on a certain string, and that's where I get lost. I end up picking on one string and fretting on the next one down :lol:

I guess I need to find some 7-string Metal to learn, because I can't really think of anything to use the Low B for that isn't cliché. I guess I could train myself to sub the fretted 7th string 5th fret E for the open 6th E.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

When, after 13 years of not playing a note, I started playing guitar again, I did so on s 7 string. It was a cherry flame Schecter C+7 I bought off a buddy of mine. I figured, the 7th string was different, and I liked that, and wanted the challenge, not just to play again, but to play again on more. It was a wise investment.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

It has tAken me too a long time. I play infrequently these days so it's even worse. I'm talking about years instead of months.

 

[sosomething]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

I played 7-string guitars almost exclusively from about 1999 - 2003. Yeah, that timeline is not a coincidence. Those were dark times.

It's been over 10 years since I've owned one or really played one, and the last time I tried, it felt really weird.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

I had trouble soloing until I started playing the low B a few positions up -- like the E-flat or above -- and integrating it into scale patterns across the neck. I found that I was doing more interesting stuff than if I just found the familiar patterns on the treble strings.

 

[chewpac]

Re: Getting used to the 7-string. Not as easy as I thought

I had a couple of 7s pass through the stable that I just couldn't bond with, and they messed with my 6 string playing a little bit, so I get that.

however, the carvin 7 I have now I absolutely love, and it could be the neck shape being more comfortable, or maybe i'm just more into it now, but that guitar does not present any real difficulties that I had previously experienced.