Tell me about seven string guitars

[zebrah]

The title says it all, tell me about seven string guitars. Any info would be nice: good models, bands that use seven strings, etc. How hard is it to transition to a seven string from a six string? Is it easy to switch back and forth? Thanks folks.

[jarrhead]

I transitioned from five string bass to 7 string guitar easy. Four string to five string is the most similar transition I suppose, which only took maybe a day to get used to. Ernie Ball and Agile make some sweet seven strings. Ibanez and Agile make sweet 8 strings as well. Look at the Ernie Ball John Petrucci sig! It is by far the BEST 7 string out there. A bit pricey though, I'll admit. Periphery - Letter Experiment (music video!) - YouTube Whitechapel "The Darkest Day Of Man" (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube Tosin Abasi Performs "Wave of Babies" Live at EMG Studios - YouTube Tesseract: Anger- Concealing Fate Part 5 - YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_rVQiywVw0 ESP makes some decent 7s as well. I might not be the guy to talk to though, as I can't find a single bass or guitar under $800 new price that I would like. On that note, always buy used. I got a $2249 Euro 5LXEX bass for $1100 after taxes and shipping without even a hairline scratch to the finish. Totally mint. I don't think it was ever played.

[TheSkies]

I had a BC Rich Warlock 7-stringer for a while. Very good build quality, extra string was l lower B, gauge of 56 to 62 depending on whether I've got a light set on or not. The neck, though wider, is much shallower, which is great for fast fingering and reaching the lower string. It's not that hard to transition between the two, but you have to remember about the barre chord.

[jarrhead]

I never found BC rich guitars to be very good. Nor their basses.

[Clyde Machine]

I never found BC rich guitars to be very good. Nor their basses. I second his experience regarding BC Rich guitars. They're made to be buried in distortion/made for bands that aren't too concerned about having a good, clear, full-bodied tone with their instruments. Also, Steve Vai has shown me through his music just how great a 7-string can sound. He spoke on the 6-/7-string switch in an interview once and said it's a whole other beast. Like, you'll think it's just adding another string to the guitar, but it's like a whole different instrument. I've never had the pleasure of trying a 7-string, but I really imagine I would disagree with him on that point. But then again, he's been playing for 20+ years and built a history-making musical career on it, so my 6 years experience with the guitar hardly hold a candle to his opinion.

[jarrhead]

I second his experience regarding BC Rich guitars. They're made to be buried in distortion/made for bands that aren't too concerned about having a good, clear, full-bodied tone with their instruments. Also, Steve Vai has shown me through his music just how great a 7-string can sound. He spoke on the 6-/7-string switch in an interview once and said it's a whole other beast. Like, you'll think it's just adding another string to the guitar, but it's like a whole different instrument. I've never had the pleasure of trying a 7-string, but I really imagine I would disagree with him on that point. But then again, he's been playing for 20+ years and built a history-making musical career on it, so my 6 years experience with the guitar hardly hold a candle to his opinion. In my experience with bass, you take on a whole new playing style when you go from 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 string. That said, you can still physically play all the same stuff. 7 and 8 strings are my favorite guitars of all time.