Impact of using a 7-string for the fist time?

[AlexL]

I am tossing around the idea of getting a JP signature guitar, and I am curious to hear from those of you who played 6 string guitars all your life (like I have), and then made the jump to a 7-string.

In addition to guitar, I have played 5 string bass as well for the past few years, so the concept of a low "B", from a mental, physical, and theory standpoint, is not a problem for me on the bass. I actually don't even use a 4 string bass anymore, since it is easier stylistically for me to play songs only requiring 4 strings on the 5. It keeps me from having to have two right-hand and two left-hand playing techniques stored in my brain.

So, my question is - how hard of a leap is it to go from 6 string to 7 on a guitar? And those of you who play 7 string guitars, do you use those guitars to play songs that only require 6 strings?

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to include a little background.


Thanks,

- E.

 

[jeffrey]

I have exclusively played 7-string guitars now for about 5 years. I firsted picked up an Ibanez like most people curious about 7's.

The transition wasn't that hard for me at all. It only took a few hours and I was comfortable. It took longer to go back and forth between 6's and 7's than anything probably.

Physically it is a bit more challenging, you are reaching over a lot farther than you think to hit that low B. It did wear on my hand a bit at first, took a bit of strengthening to really get strong on it. But it was well worth it.

You can easily playing songs you'd normally only play on a 6 string on a 7 string. It takes a little more finesse and technique as you have to avoid hitting a string (the low B) but I play songs that leave out the low B daily.

The biggest challenge for many is actually working the string in scalarly and musically rather than just chugging on it like a big downtuned guitar, if you can work past that you should be golden.

 

[Jimothy JP7]

+1

I don't really remember what was going through my head when I first picked up a 7 string, but I know I was still into Korn back then, so lets move on...

Your fret hand may cramp a bit at first, mine did. Make sure you stretch out your hands and warm up everytime you play, especially when switching to a wider neck, as you may injure yourself, and thats no fun for anyone.

As Jeff said, switching back and forth is a pain at first as well. My hand cramps sometimes when switching from 6 to 7, but switching from 7 to 6 doesn't really effect me.

I don't think I'm quite as good as Jeff is, so I still switch back and forth for 6 string songs and 7 string songs, for instance I'll bust out the 6 for "Overture 1928" of Scenes from a Memory, and then switch back to my 7 for "The Glass Prison", so there's some proof that you can pull it off, as long as you take the time to get used to it first.

 

[Voo]

honestly I had alot of reservations about making the jump to 7 string. I had spent some time playing some of the Ibanez and schetcher 7 string guitars and the 1 thing I couldnt get used to was the increased neck size. The JP7 by far has the most comfortable and neck so the transition was very easy to adjust to. I will admit that making the jump back and forth is kinda weird but other then that ints not too bad

 

[jeffrey]

And you got friends like me shoving EB 7 strings down your neck all the time.

 

[darren]

I didn't have much trouble adjusting at all. I think i made the decision fairly early on to tune my low string to A instead of B. That made more sense to me, and i can play "A" barre chords across all seven strings very easily. I just have the root and fifth below the "normal" A pattern.

 

[jeffrey]

Yeah, lots of people drop tune 7's. I'm not into that at all though, personally.

 

[Lefty_SS]

the switch isnt that bad....i have a silo 6 and a schecter 7, the difference is insane, the shecter is like a club. iam sure the JP7 is a much easier switch from the JP6.

 

[germangallardo]

My first and only ball (for now) its a 7 string and I love it to death. The transition was smooth I totally feel in love with the low end. The bad ass riffs, the cool funky slap the beautiful cleans the JP7 is a great guitar.

 

[jeffrey]

the JP7 is a great guitar.

That it is, brother. That it is.

 

[Voo]

and honestly with the tonal possabilities of the JP7 who cares if there is a little adjustment

 

[AlexL]

Thanks for all of your responses, everyone.

I guess the general consensus is that it's not that tough of a switch.

I'm not concerned about the neck feeling fatter or the increased reach. Compared to my five-string bass necks, ANYTHING is going to feel small, comparitively!

- Eric

 

[Pablo]

First off: I highly recommend taking the plunge, it's truly a lot of fun having that extra string at your disposal. I recently switched from 6 to 7 strings and to be honest it was a surprisingly easy transition. Practice once with your band and you'll have it down - it is after all just one more string... However, be aware that the experience is highly addictive - personally, I don't think I'll ever be going back to playing "ordinary" guitars again.

Cheers

Eske

 

[Plaschkes]

^^^

Exactely. after the first day i had my JP7, which was my first 7 string, i knew that from that day forward most, if not all, of my future guitars will be 7 stringed ones.

The intial transition took me like 4 hours, then a couple of months until i could really shred on it like a 6er.

 

[rmh925]

I always wanted to ask this question, and now that i have read the comments on the transition from 6 to 7 string is not that bad...I will seriously be taking the plunge.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I once played an Ibanez 7 String. Totally could not cope with the concept and put it back on the rack!

 

[andynpeters]

Sometimes I swap from 5 to 6