Question about 7-string nylon guitars

[Lionelsax]

Hi !

I was looking at 7 string nylon guitars and I noticed something about their tuners.

These are two different heads.

First one (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 stand for the string tuners)

4
5 3
6 2
7 1


Second one

7
4 3
5 2
6 1


Which one is the best ?
Have you ever noticed this ?

[kris]

6 strings is enough for me.
The tuners in a guitar with nylons are very important.
The more expensive the better - they hold the guitar's tuning and you can tune the instrument precisely.

[Lionelsax]

6 strings is enough for me.
The tuners in a guitar with nylons are very important.
The more expensive the better - they hold the guitar's tuning and you can tune the instrument precisely.

Thanks but that wasn't the point.
If you want to know, every morning I drink a cup of coffee and then a cup of tea. I won't tell you what's happening after that.

[pcjazz]

If the extra string is low, the extra tuner should be on the bass side of the head. If the extra string is high, it should be on the treble side. I own several high-A 7-strings. One has the extra tuner on the bass side, which is counter-intuitive to me. On my Kirk Sand nylon, the high-A tuner is on the treble side, which feels correct. It means that everything else is where you normally expect it to be. So, to answer your question directly, on a high-A 7-string the high string tuner is at the bottom of the right side of the head. On a low-A 7-string the low string tuner is at the bottom of the left side of the head.

[Lionelsax]

No.

I think nobody understands.

Look at this guitar and its 7th string.
I don't talk about extra high string but extra low string (A, B or C string).

[Lionelsax]

This one too !

[Rob MacKillop]

I had a Michael Gee 7-string, very high end. He put the 4th string high up, using a peghedz violin-style peg in the middle of the headstock, as you can just about see on this video I made. It worked well.

[RJVB]

No.

I think nobody understands.

I think pcjazz understood and explained perfectly, though he did not answer your question explicitly.
For your low 7th string (lower than the normal 6th/E string), the "first one" schema would be best, because you can keep tuning your guitar like you're used to. On a nylon stringer, you'd have all the wound strings on the left side of the headstock (in both cases, admittedly), AND the highest wound string (D) will be the highest tuner whereas that low 7th string will have the tuner under the 6th string tuner. IIRC this is also how it was done on the bass viol when it got its 7th string.

Look at the Costa guitar and ask yourself how often you'd find yourself turning the wrong tuner; the 7th string has a tuner that sits above the one of the D string. That's simply counter-intuitive. But maybe it's how Y wants it - I don't think there's anything making it impossible to put the strings on the tuners you want.

[kris]

Thanks but that wasn't the point.
If you want to know, every morning I drink a cup of coffee and then a cup of tea. I won't tell you what's happening after that.

I know that wasn't the point.You didn't understand my joke.
I drink coffee in the morning and then tea, almost every day.

[Lionelsax]

I know that wasn't the point.You didn't understand my joke.
I drink coffee in the morning and then tea, almost every day.

As you know I never joke. And I've felt offended for almost two seconds.
I hope I will forgive you one day.
By the way, yesterday I ate chili con carne (very spicy) cooked by myself, I've already drunk my coffee and tea.
So I won't tell more.

[kris]

From my observations, the vast majority of well-known jazz musicians use interesting jokes.
But I may be wrong.
Sorry

[Lionelsax]

From my observations, the vast majority of well-known jazz musicians use interesting jokes.
But I may be wrong.
Sorry

Well, you needn't !

[Lionelsax]

I wondered if it was a benefit to have more room between the nut and the tuner.
Maybe less thickness on the tuner ? A better control ?
Maybe the possibility to put a real bass string, longer than 35,5 inches ?

7
4 3
5 2
6 1

[Lionelsax]

I wondered if it was a benefit to have more room between the nut and the tuner.
Maybe less thickness on the tuner ? A better control ?
Maybe the possibility to put a real bass string, longer than 35,5 inches ?

7
4 3
5 2
6 1

Thomastik Acoustic Bass Set AB344 – Thomann France

[Lionelsax]

The original Brazilian 7 string guitar seems to be a very special instrument.
3 nylon strings and 4 steel strings.

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, I thought my Michael Gee 7-string was a very special instrument, but clearly not worth a comment. His setup worked really well, and is a stunning guitar.

[RJVB]

As you know I never joke.

It should be a well-known fact that the people of the Avignon region created a theatre festival to make up for their own lack of creative humor, no?

[Lionelsax]

Well, I thought my Michael Gee 7-string was a very special instrument, but clearly not worth a comment. His setup worked really well, and is a stunning guitar.

Russian tuning ?
I think I've already seen this type of guitar. With the peg, maybe it was you !
Maybe John Pizzarelli has got something a bit similar but I'm not sure, maybe in a dream.

[Lionelsax]

It should be a well-known fact that the people of the Avignon region created a theatre festival to make up for their own lack of creative humor, no?

I'm sorry, I can't understand English.

[RJVB]

The original Brazilian 7 string guitar seems to be a very special instrument.
3 nylon strings and 4 steel strings.

The nylon ones being the top 3? I don't feel like scanning a 20 min subtitled video to find that tidbit. What I did catch is that the original Brazilian 7-string was apparently a steel-string guitar, which seems odd given the 2 hypotheses concerning its origin.

FWIW, if memory serves me well Chet Atkins used to play with nylon bass strings because of their richer sound, something he may even have started doing after getting a DelVecchio (= Brazilian) resonator.

[Lionelsax]

The nylon ones being the top 3? I don't feel like scanning a 20 min subtitled video to find that tidbit. What I did catch is that the original Brazilian 7-string was apparently a steel-string guitar, which seems odd given the 2 hypotheses concerning its origin.

FWIW, if memory serves me well Chet Atkins used to play with nylon bass strings because of their richer sound, something he may even have started doing after getting a DelVecchio (= Brazilian) resonator.

He says, nylon strings have got more sustain, it's good for solo work but if you play with a street band with clarinet, percussions... You have to cut in the mix, the bass strings don't need sustain because the bass is moving a lot. To have more power and to preserve the thumb nail, you need to play with a thumb pick.
Original classical pieces were also adapted on this instrument.
Entirely nylon string instruments came after this.
Entirely 7 nylon string instruments are very new.

[RJVB]

He says, nylon strings have got more sustain

Does he? He's wrong, unless you stiffle a guitar by putting way too heavy steel strings on it.

Nylon and similar composite strings have material properties that cause greater internal dissipation of vibration energy which reduces sustain (beginning with the high frequencies).

[Lionelsax]

Does he? He's wrong, unless you stiffle a guitar by putting way too heavy steel strings on it.

Nylon and similar composite strings have material properties that cause greater internal dissipation of vibration energy which reduces sustain (beginning with the high frequencies).

Well, if you know more than a Brazilian luthier who knows less than you about Brazilian music, it's OK.
Listen at 16:38 !

At 7:20
2 nylon strings
5 steel strings

I made a mistake.

[Lionelsax]

Dino 7 cordas, the master of 7 string guitar.

At 20:35 he is playing.


I don't really know if the bass strings are steel strings.

[Lionelsax]