Time for 7 string!

[slusar]

Hello Everyone!
I have recently increased my collection with new guitar and I wanted to share this happy moment with You This time it is 7 string instrument.

Why I need 7 string guitar?
From my presence on this forum You can guess, that I am not after any high gain low crushing tones (however I have to admit, that I take a lot of inspiration from amazing Tosin Abasi or Javier Reyes style). Already from some time I'm really passionate about solo guitar playing. My learning is concentrated on learning how to cover all the range of frequncies (bass, chords and melody) using one guitar on one take. I hope having this 7th string will inspire me and help to create some new music. It is not a replacement for 6 string guitar, but just something different.

The guitar
Having the new apartment decoration proces on-going I didn't have huge budget to buy my third guitar. Moreover I wanted something that will be not pitch black and I always wanted to have guitar with maple fretboard. Considering the conditions above I have choosen budget range Harley Benton R-457. I have already one guitar for this brand and my experience is all fine. It was no different in case of new guitar. Out of the box intonation was fine, no fret buzz and no major finishing flaws. Fret edge is not perfect, but I have seen similar stadard in Ibanez for at least twice the price.
On the visual side I absolutely love combination of white body and maple fretboard!


Mods
I love to mod my guitars and this one will be no exception. Naturally so far I haven't done too much, but still something. I couldn't stand factory black knobs, so I have repainted some old bell knobs using metallic oil pen to have nice swirl'ish effect.. Then I have covered knobs with 3 layers of transparent lacquer. I have also cut new truss rod cover from piece of plastic and painted it the same way. This blue color is nice composition with white body.
Possible mods in the future:
-Locking tuners
-Graph-tech nut
-Applying wax on the fretboard with next string replacement
-Possibly new pickups sometime later
-New saddles or complete high end bridge
-Maybe I will paint pickup frames the same way as knobs and truss rod cover

[zdub]

Very cool. Thought about this for a while but can't justify another guitar until I winnow down (really don't have that many).

As a Tosin Abasi fan, why did you go with 7 strings and not 8?

[slusar]

Very cool. Thought about this for a while but can't justify another guitar until I winnow down (really don't have that many).

As a Tosin Abasi fan, why did you go with 7 strings and not 8?

Yes, when you make some space in Your collection, I think this guitar is really worth attention, especially considering potential mods.
I was a bit afraid, that 8 string might be hard to manage. For 7 string I've already had the idea how to use it - I have lowest string in drop A, so it's quite easy to fit to chords and shapes I already know. But who nows, maybe in the future...

[citizenk74]

My erstwhile partner played a seven string for a while. Definitely gave our bass-less duo/trio a fuller sound.
You have a very pretty instrument. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

[slusar]

My erstwhile partner played a seven string for a while. Definitely gave our bass-less duo/trio a fuller sound.
You have a very pretty instrument. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

Thank You! I can agree - this extra string is a huge advantage in terms of having nice low end base.
Stay healthy and safe!