Finished my 7 string Headless assembly/build

[GuyBoden]

I've been assembling/building a fan fret headless 7 string over the last few months.


The body and neck where built by:

Scot Woodcock at WSM Guitars, Hastings, England.

The Body is two Pieces Ash.

The Neck is one piece of Wenge with Padauk stripe.
24 Jumbo Stainless Steel frets.
Scale 25.5 - 26.5inch Fan Fret.


The body is finished in Osmo Polyx, which seems very tough for an oil finish.



The bridge is a Koloss fan fret bridge.
The nut string clamp is a double hex bolt, which I like and have on another headless.


There was a lot of sanding, before oiling and fitting the parts, maybe not enough sanding, but I'm declaring it finished.


Anyway, here's some pics.

[tbeltrans]

Very cool! I recently purchased a used headless Legator 7 string electric built in 2021, that looks very similar to yours, though I like the look of the wood on yours much better than the finish on mine.

Mine is 27"/25.5" scale which matches that of my acoustic Emerald X20-7. It has Fishman active pickups and a "roasted" neck (which is apparently desirable, though I haven't a clue as to why). The strings on mine have a bit wider spacing than other 7 string electrics I have played, and that is my preference.

What do you tune your 7th string to and how are you adjusting to 7 string?

I tune mine to A and then can decide to move chords whose lowest note falls on the A string down to the 7th string. I figure it is just a matter of time doing this to develop a sense of when to do so. In any case, it removes any "mystery" about how to approach the 7 string.

Tony

[GuyBoden]

Very cool! I recently purchased a used headless Legator 7 string electric built in 2021, that looks very similar to yours, though I like the look of the wood on yours much better than the finish on mine.

Mine is 27"/25.5" scale which matches that of my acoustic Emerald X20-7. It has Fishman active pickups and a "roasted" neck (which is apparently desirable, though I haven't a clue as to why). The strings on mine have a bit wider spacing than other 7 string electrics I have played, and that is my preference.

What do you tune your 7th string to and how are you adjusting to 7 string?

I tune mine to A and then can decide to move chords whose lowest note falls on the A string down to the 7th string. I figure it is just a matter of time doing this to develop a sense of when to do so. In any case, it removes any "mystery" about how to approach the 7 string.

Tony

I tune in fourths BEADGFC, so a low B string.

I have played 7 string for over 12 years with a high treble string tuned EADGCFA#, but the high treble string kept breaking, so I've changed to a low B string this week. Early days.

[tbeltrans]

I tried tuning the 7th string to B, but find the A makes more sense for my approach.

Also, I tune my Emerald down a whole step. It is easier on my fingers and the guitar's sound just blooms. My Legator is tuned to standard pitch, but I also tune the 7th string to A.

Interesting comment about the 7th string being the highest string. That was Lenny Breau's thing.

Tony

[JWMandy]

FWIW, here's a guy who talks about pro's and con's for 7-string tunings:

He also has some 7-string tuning "lessons" which I haven't watched given I'm a 6-string man. He's a B-tuning kind of a guy.

[tbeltrans]

Thanks. I watched a couple of those videos and experimented before settling on tuning mine to A. It really just comes down to whatever works for a given player.

Tony

[Rograt]

Love it. Are they just fine tuners? If so I’m guessing that a playing style without bends means that the string rarely need to be unclamped.

I had a 7 string briefly for high gain work but I wasn’t up to the task. I recently bought the incredible Eventide H90 and use that to “tune” the guitar up to a Major 3rd down. Sounds good enough into a high gain amp. Great fun in fact. I bet yours sounds great clean.

[tbeltrans]

Yesterday, a friend got me interest in looking at Martin Taylor's book "Beyond Chord Melody". I found that for the stuff he does with 10ths, tuning that 7th string to B works much better. So I conclude that I will be retuning that string as needed, depending on what I am doing at the moment.

Tony

[Rograt]

I wonder if that’s how Taylor does his Here There Everywhere / Day Tripper medley.

[tbeltrans]

I wonder if that’s how Taylor does his Here There Everywhere / Day Tripper medley.

I found a list of his equipment here:

Martin Taylor Gear Review - The Guitar Journal

There is no mention of 7 string guitar. However, it seems to me that one would get more range for playing melody and fitting chords between it and the bass line if a 7 string guitar is used. Considering that a fundamental aspect of his style is the use of 10ths, being able to have 3 strings instead of two, to play the lower note of the 10th on, would provide that greater range. I am somewhat surprised that Martin Taylor doesn't mention exploring this.

Tony

[Rograt]

Thanks Tony. I misunderstood. I was thinking about tunings rather than the guitar. I saw him perform that piece several times, both with his weapon of choice at the time, the Yamaha archtop. Very much 6 strings. Thinking about it, he didn’t change guitar all night so was certainly in regular tuning. Obviously as I knew all along - a result of skill and talent.

[DRS]

I've been assembling/building a fan fret headless 7 string over the last few months.


The body and neck where built by:

Scot Woodcock at WSM Guitars, Hastings, England.

The Body is two Pieces Ash.

The Neck is one piece of Wenge with Padauk stripe.
24 Jumbo Stainless Steel frets.
Scale 25.5 - 26.5inch Fan Fret.


The body is finished in Osmo Polyx, which seems very tough for an oil finish.



The bridge is a Koloss fan fret bridge.
The nut string clamp is a double hex bolt, which I like and have on another headless.


There was a lot of sanding, before oiling and fitting the parts, maybe not enough sanding, but I'm declaring it finished.


Anyway, here's some pics.

Stunning. What is the nut width?