7 string guitars out of style?

[Allen Garrow]

Trends I will forever be a 7 string player.

~A

[Shakma!!]

Originally Posted by the.godfather

I cant see them dying out - they have been around too long now.

And 6 strings havent?

I dont really give about trends, i playit cause i like and, and i strictly play 7 strings now, and i will as long as i can forsee.

[Polaris20]

I don't care if they go out of style.....the only concern about them going out of style is the lack of selection resulting from that. That's the only thing that sucks.

At one time, we had the Uni, K7, 1077XL, and RG7421XL all around, and that was damn cool.

It just seems to be dwindling.

[straymond]

...i wonder when we'll see a hybrid sort of 5-string comin'...

[Two hands31]

Originally Posted by straymond

...i wonder when we'll see a hybrid sort of 5-string comin'...

It happened. Schecter made them, and they were tuned in fifths, starting with a low-A. The one guy from Orgy has one or two that he uses.

[straymond]

hmmm.. are there any pics of this?

[ATDVSBL]

I love the extended range of the 7's, and I will continue to buy and play 7's....not because of any trends, but because I enjoy it.

One thing that I feel is kind of weird, is the difference between guitar and bass players. I never hear of 4 string bass players turning their noses down at 5 and 6 string players, they seem to embrace the extra range and possibilities...yet in the guitar world, the die hard 6 string guys seem to actually dislike the thought of a 7 string guitar....I don't understand it

[Jim Soloway]

I'd like to add one more piece of significant perspective to this discussion.


George Van Eps had his first 7-string conversion done in 1938 and it became his primary instrument from then one. He was not an obscure guitarist. He was one of the top session players and side men in the world and in the 50's he had some very successful recordings. Despite that, there was not another significant 7-string player until the 60's when Gretsch brought out the Van Eps model and Bucky Pizzarelli began playing one. That's a gap of 25 years. No one else emerged until the very late 80's/early 90's, a gap of another 25 years.

We're obviouly dedicated to the 7 string or we wouldn't be on this forum, but the 7 string community is a very small group of enlightened fanantics and it is only the fanatics who seem to be interested.

[Two hands31]

Originally Posted by straymond

hmmm.. are there any pics of this?

They had a couple of different models, here's one:

http://www.guitars.cc/guitars/elect/used/a5x2.html

Couldn't find any pics of the older one, but it was more of a strat-type shape (but not traditional strat shape, it was Schecter's strat-ish shape)

[Shakma!!]

THat schecter looks cool. I wnder what it would be like to tune a 7 string that way? You'd get some serious range...
A E B F# C#G# D# Would it be? What kinda strings would that use?

[The Euphor]

Originally Posted by Two hands31

It happened. Schecter made them, and they were tuned in fifths, starting with a low-A. The one guy from Orgy has one or two that he uses.

I think the Strat-type 5 string was a Keith Richards signature model.

The Sevenstrings have been around for a long time, the revival by Vai was a good thing. Same thing might be happening with fretless guitars. Ron Thal, Shawn Lane and Gary Moore gave it a new public. Many will try it and boost sales, then it will calm down again.

I don't think the 7 will go away. It's just as important as Floyd Rose, both the man and the tremolo.

[Jim Soloway]

Originally Posted by The Euphor

I think the Strat-type 5 string was a Keith Richards signature model.

The Sevenstrings have been around for a long time, the revival by Vai was a good thing. Same thing might be happening with fretless guitars. Ron Thal, Shawn Lane and Gary Moore gave it a new public. Many will try it and boost sales, then it will calm down again.

I don't think the 7 will go away. It's just as important as Floyd Rose, both the man and the tremolo.

I hate to be blunt, but I think that's ridiculous. There are hundreds of thousands of guitars made every year with a Floyd style trem. I doubt if there are 2000 people seriously playing 7 strings on the entire planet, all makes, styles and all tunings combined.

[The Euphor]

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

I hate to be blunt, but I think that's ridiculous. There are hundreds of thousands of guitars made every year with a Floyd style trem. I doubt if there are 2000 people seriously playing 7 strings on the entire planet, all makes, styles and all tunings combined.

And?

How many 7 string guitars are made every year? How many are seriously playing a Floyd style trem? Sorry, I don't see your point.

My point was that the OFR opened up a whole new world for many guitarists. The same goes for the 7s. That's why they are important.

[Sephiroth000]

Originally Posted by Two hands31

When would that not be a good thing?

Becasue some of these stupid kids put me on a high horse automatically and that's not what I'm about.
Lot of guys my age that I hook up with to jam or get a band going don't want to give me a shot sometimes because they think I'm going to play something real complex all the time.
I guess THEY automatically feel inferior with their 6 strings. Maybe it's only like that here. Cleveland is a poor place for prog metal fans. Everything is pretty much rap orinted now.
lol we are the nu Detroit...

Latest metal band outta Cleveland that anybody else knows about is Mushroomhead-and their new album is pretty bad.....

[BeastofLove]

Actually, Sephiroth- the 1st thing that comes to mind when I see a kid with a 7-string isn't, "Boy, he can play some complex stuff". It's, "Boy, I wonder if he knows how to play anything other than muddled 2-note nu-metal riffs". Unfortunately, the prevalence of the 7-string in popular music is to be muddy riffage that spills into the bass guitar's territory... which spills into the kick drum's territory... and eventually becomes thumping sonic mud... which seems to sell.

I love good 7-string users, and I'll get one for myself eventually. Maybe 10-12 years ago I'd think "7-String = Prog or Virtuoso" but those days feel long gone to me.

-Ben