Tuning

Noodles · #1 01-30-2001, 01:59 AM

Has anyone tuned their 7-string(from treble to bass) e-b-g-d-a-e-a. If so how do you like it compared to normal tuning?

tagg 7 · #2 01-30-2001, 05:57 AM

your asking if we have tried a sort of drop D tuning with a 7 string right. I have droped it from B to A. Its kinda crazy if you ask me. I use to hate a droped D so at the time it was just crap to me but now im getting into that sort of thing. Its a good idea it gives the added depth but really you still have a whole 440 range.

ive also re-strung my guitars befor where i started (from bass to treble) the top 4 strings were the usual and were tuned C#F#DE then i started over with the last three strings being a .56 and down again. The second group was tuned to A D G talk about a wild sounding guitar. Incase that didnt make sense i bought two sets of 7 string strings and repeated the *depest ones twice.

I tell you what though i would play like a bass guitar on the strings tuned A D G with my fingers and play a rythm with my pick on the C# ..etc... at the same time
it was pretty bad

buzz

trajectory fish · #3 01-30-2001, 01:18 PM

i use standard tuning... *i hate re tuning my guitar... * also it seems that there aren't too many people who use standard tuning anymore... * i use lots and lots of barre chords, hardly ever using open strings... *
retuning = ick *

i have though heard of people like wes borland tuning (low to high) * C# F# B F A# C# F# *or something skrewy like that... *

i'm sure using *A E A D G B E *would work just like drop D, just 5 half steps lower

Noodles · #4 01-30-2001, 03:06 PM

Cool, thanks for the help guys.

ChrisReedSmith · #5 01-30-2001, 06:19 PM

Ah ha! Another tuning topic. I've always been involved in talking about different tunings and such cuz I'm always moving from one to the next!! I've been through so many tunings its crazy. Funny thing is...For as long as I've been playing guitar, at any one time, I never use more then 1 tuning when making my own songs. I'm the type of guy who wants to find something that works and stick with it. (or at least try to)

The second I bought my first 7 (an RG7620) I took it home, slapped some new dean markleys on there and tuned it AEADGBE. i thought it was great cuz I was listening to Korn a hell of a lot and could play along with them and I thought it would be cool to be all crunchy and stuff. Well it wasnt untill I sold that guitar and bought 2 other 7's then I decided going to A wasnt for me. It just didnt fit the music I heard in my head that I was trying to get out on guitar. So to make a long story a little shorter, I found CGCFACF and so far I'm happy with it. It's heavy...but not to heavy. Its a drop tuning. and its unique. some people say "oh i bet you never use those high ACF strings" well actually I do quite a bit. Almost all the time really.

You know what is really funny? I read in a guitar magazine that Scott Ian from Anthrax said that playing a 7 string is like "cheating". *I'm sorry I dont want to get TO worked up...but CHEATING!? c'mon! please if there are these set of guidelines to playing guitar please I want to take a look at them. I've never seen them before..

well there goes my rant for the day... sorry if i went off topic...

trajectory fish · #6 01-30-2001, 07:06 PM

i like the sound of your *CGCFACF tuning... * *
CHEATING?!?!? * the reason i got a seven string was so i wouldn't have to retune my guitar!! * is that cheating?!?! * *shame on Scott Ian... * * *thats like saying using a phillips head screwdriver is cheating... *which it isn't... * i don't think... * * *its not like the friggn guitar is going to play its self... * * geez... * *
i started a thread a while ago... *maybe on the old forum... about how *a bunch of "established" guitarists are knocking seven strings... * * bunch o tripe... * * *
as far as tuning goes, i've never had much respect for drop D, but there ARE many uses for it other than the infamous one finger power chords. *the same goes for any other open tuning... * *

foad · #7 01-31-2001, 05:39 AM

BTW!

Do they ever knock on people playing slide on guitars with open chord tuning? *

*Didn't think so! So from now on every slide player has to play on standard tuned guitars or else they are 'cheating'...

Jesper

revsharp777 · #8 01-31-2001, 03:00 PM

I use standard tuning on about 90% of my songs. *I do use the Dropped A tuning for 2 songs though. *To me, the tuning works great. *I like being able to play a 6-string barre chord w/ only 2 fingers, not to mention the overall heaviness of A tuning. *Example of the chord:
E-----
B--7--
G--7--
D--7--
A--5--
E--5--
A--5--
As far as Scott Ian's comment, I respect the guest for his talent, but cheating? *Yeah right! *I got into 7-string guitars for the flexibility. *If you play in standard tuning, you get an extra low string to go deep. *If you play with really low tunings, then you get back your high string. *It's the best of both worlds!

littlegreenman · #9 01-31-2001, 08:34 PM

Anyone here tried tuning a UV or other 7 like the old Hamer 7's,
from low to high, *E,A,D,G,B,E,A
Just curious.
Jeremy

ChrisReedSmith · #10 01-31-2001, 09:12 PM

I've never tried it before or heard of someone trying it. I remember talking it about tho...maybe on this forum.. Someone asked what gauge they should use for stringing a high A. I think it was a .06 which seems right to me...wayyyy to thin. probably breaks alot. With that type of thing, I think it all depends on the player. How hard they play and how often they break strings. Me, I have a high F, which isn't THAT high but using a .10 it still has a little more chance to break and it never does. I think I have maybe once or twice in 6 months. If someone like me just has all the factors right like having the guitar setup properly are maybe using a lower scale then they could get away with a high A. But anyone who breaks a lot of strings and tends to smash on them a lot probably would break thing thing every 5 minutes. (probably before they got it to pitch)

littlegreenman · #11 01-31-2001, 10:05 PM

I figured it would work better on a shorter scale, does anyone know what scale the Hamer 7's were, they were introduced in 1990, same time as the UV's but they were set up from factory with a high A as the 7th string. *In all the music stores I've been to and all the guitars I've seen, I've never seen a Hamer 7, I don't even know if they made it into production.
Jeremy

Noodles · #12 01-31-2001, 10:41 PM

I could be mistaken, but I think Vai tried high A string when was prototype but it kept braking so he used a low B. I wonder if anyone has tried to use a titanium string for the high A.

trajectory fish · #13 02-01-2001, 01:11 AM

i just got the image of a high A string slicing off my pinkie *

littlegreenman · #14 02-01-2001, 02:11 AM

Yeah, I don't think you could bend it very far without slicing you finger off or breaking the string!
Is there such a thing as titanium strings?!
I wouldn't think so, titanium would be a terrible material to make a string from, especially a .009. *it would snap before it reached pitch! *Besides, titanium gets very brittle under extreme vibration (it work hardens very easily) and you know what makes a string make noise right (vibration in case you didn't know)
Were you just kidding about that or is somebody claiming to have titanium strings?
Jeremy

Noodles · #15 02-01-2001, 02:30 AM

I was just kidding.