View Poll Results: Do you play the 7 string guitar ?
- Voters
- 43. You may not vote on this poll
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I do
20 46.51% -
I never tried
13 30.23% -
I did and I disliked it
4 9.30% -
I don't want to
6 13.95%
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I picked up a Cabaret 7-string around a year ago...it was virtually new, flawless, and a great deal so I thought I'll give it a try. I wanted to get a nylon string guitar and I know from past experience that John's instruments are outstanding, so I decided to "stone two birds at once" with a nylon 7. It's fun to play but I've only used it for solo playing or with a friend on uke. The 2.25" nut width was challenging at first but even with my smallish hands, now it's not really a problem (note: I use a pretty strict "thumb behind neck" for everything I play).
Another reason I took the plunge with a 7 is that most my playing is home solo since COVID (not that I was ever a gigging pro, but did jam regularly with others and play fun gigs for around seven years) and I think that will continue for me since it's way less "work" to organize and...I gotta say...it's just so damn hard to find compatible non-pro jazzers to play with. I've pretty much given up on that and so will focus on solo playing with occasional playing with others if I really get along with them.
I just wish I had more time to explore the 7. I don't find it hard going back to 6 strings (all my other guitars are 6) but every time I use the 7 it takes some adjusting, so I do sometimes wonder if I should just get another 7 to replace one or two of my 6's so that the 7 is less foreign to me. Ultimately, I think it just comes down to...I need to practice more. Time will tell. Playing finger style, it's easy enough to play the 7 "like a 6" basically ignoring the 7th string (low A) for everything except some tonic chords and turnarounds that I'll probably keep the guitar regardless.
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11-13-2023 07:53 PM
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I'm not lost when I play a 6 string guitar, I'm playing again my 5 string bass, I can say I'm sometimes lost because of its low B, I'm so used to playing the 7 string guitar (low A) that I make a lot of mistakes.
I could play a regular bass but my hands are too little to play what I've got to.
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How does the playing technique differ or is similar to a 6-string guitar?
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Originally Posted by murphybridget837
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Originally Posted by Lionelsax
As a result, you have to learn to adjust both your timing and your voicing to play in good time with a band. You also have to learn to control the tendency to strum harder on a 7 to make up for the time lag between strings 7 and 1. Faster is not harder, but it's as difficult for us to control that is it is for drummers to control playing louder when they play faster. FIngerstyle becomes a much more practical option for chording because of this. It's the only way to get multiple notes to sound simultaneously.
The low A adds a whole new dimension to voicing, too. You can play inversions with the 3rd, 6th, flat 7 etc at the bottom all the way up the neck and still have full, rich sounding chords. You can use harmonics on the 7th to really fill in close harmonization with fretted notes on higher strings. Being able to add the root to even 2 or 3 note chords 'way up on the neck also adds a richness that you simply can't get from a 6.
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Yes, I was talking about picking and plucking, not about splitting hairs.
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I don't think playing with three fingers and your thumb over the neck would work on a 7 string.
I play with a low 'B' string.
Three note chord shell voicings work fine.
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Originally Posted by coolvinny
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I'm really loving my 8 strings though the strings are a little close together.
Truth be told, if I had seen the 7 string first I probably would have bought that instead of the 8 string.
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I keep on thinking about wanting to get a 7 string. The low B version makes sense to me and I think it would be easy to visualize how the notes are laid out.
But I wonder about the ergonomic stuff. Is the neck to wide; will muting the 7th string be possible if I fall back to a 6 string chord.
I think I would go with a solid body guitar. I generally prefer somewhat chunkier necks. If not sure what options I have if I started to look seriously for a 7 string.
Any comments? Please consider your answers carefully as I haven't purchased a guitar in 5 years ... and the 7 string ideas has been on my mind for a while.
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Originally Posted by SoftwareGuy
TL-7 - The ESP Guitar Company
48mm nut width.
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Originally Posted by SoftwareGuy
It's cheap and good.
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Is there some way to describe the playing feel, like compared to a strat or Les Paul?
I would love to try just to see how it play. Given the lack of local retail, I'm not sure where I would go.
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Originally Posted by SoftwareGuy
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Rob, beautiful playing! I also play an 11-string alto but tuned usually to D minor for baroque lute repertoire.
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The 7 string guitar had a gig last night (I've been playing the bass guitar in a big band since November so I don't really play the guitar anymore as a "performer") and it was really cool : flute guitar duet.
Some people wondered what was happening, they thought there was a hidden instrument or something like that.
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been playing 7 since late “80s. low a
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I played 7 string for a number of years (Benedetto Benny 7, Soloway 7 String Swan and Ibanez AF-207). Low A for the 7th. In order to adjust to the extra string without getting "lost," I reoriented my perspective. When I play (I'd imagine this is the case for many players), since the root of the chord is often located on the 5th or 6th string, the 6th string becomes the "home base" or foundation for my left hand and I locate the rest of the left-hand positioning based on that. When I got the seven string, that really confused me because my home base changed. What used to be the bottom string was now the second string from the bottom, so the foundation shifted... It's like driving home after being away for a long time and there's a convenience store where your house used to be, and your house is next door...
So I temporarily mentally shifted my "home base" from the bottom string to the HIGH E string, concentrating on that and using that as the focal point instead, until I unlocked/unglued myself from the sixth string. Once I got used to that, I could easily switch from a six string to a seven, expecially given that the seventh string was just a duplication of the fifth.
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i think of the root being a.
1st position a maj or minor now has the root in the bass.
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I don't have much (any) company, playing electric 10-string mandolin. It's five courses of unisons, CGDAE, and the C is the same as third fret on the guitar A string. This gets me down into guitar solo range, and allows being the main harmony instrument in a bass/drums trio.
Heritage H525 (like Gibson 225)
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