7 String Acoustic??

Slackmaster2K

Slackmaster2K

Gone
Ok, so I had this old twelve string laying around and it really didn't hold twelve strings very well...so I turned it into a 6 string for a while...but that was annoying.

The interesting thing about a 12 string guitar is that the neck is usually just the right width for 7 strings. So I went to the music store and bought a piece of bone, then proceeded to file it down, which is NOT an easy task. I also had to groove out the saddle a bit to get the strings to seperate.

Long story short, I now I have a 7 string acoustic. I bought a set of medium acoustic strings and one light acoustic bass string for the low end...I think it was a 0.65.

Now, when you start getting that low on a guitar...chords *kinda* start falling apart....but I blame some of it on the low string. If I tune the low string to a B then it seems to hold a note and chords sound ok. However, if I try to step it down to an A, it all falls apart pretty badly.

Without spending a fortune on various strings, has anyone ever done this? I've never seen a 7 string acoustic but they must exist. I'm not sure if I can buy strings for it so if you have a custom setup then I'd be interested in hearing what you've done.

Man, it is cool though. Now I can play acoustic version of Korn songs...hahah...yeah

Slackmaster 2000
 
I have a Yamaha AJ 307CE NT seven string. It's their top of the line model with Fishman electronics built in. I got it brand new for $399.00 at a Guitar Center parking lot sale. I guess they can't move them. I have no idea how to play it. Still couldn't pass it up at that price. It's a beautiful axe. Jumbo body with binding, expensive wood, single cut away, gold Grover hardware and pearl inlay logos on headstock. Beautiful!

Several people have reccommended using open tunings on it as the easy way out.

Also handy for doing some lead lines with some extra bass.

Nothing a good homewrecker couldn't find a use for.

There's also an old thread in this section with several comments on 7 strings.
 
'B' would be the usual way to go - it gives you the same relationship between the strings that we're all used to.

Another way to go is to tune the whole guitar to an open 'C' - it depends on what you are planning to do with the guitar.

If it's to accompany you singing, then either the root or fifth of your preferred key would be good - if it's for playing chord melody type material, I'd go with 'B'

foo
 
I think the original purveyors of all that is 7-string guitars Ibanez have a 7 string acoustic model... I read a review of it in a a guitar mag probably 2 years or so ago... from memory the reviewer thought it was pretty cool. I actually would have thought it would be quite popular with weird ass jazz players... the extra string would allow them to create even more bizarre guitar passages.
 
[slaps forehead] The 7-string I have is an Ibanez, not Yamaha.

I'm such a dummy!
 
Check out a really great jazz guitarist/vocalist by the name of John Pizzarelli. He plays a 7-string archtop acoustic, with the low string tuned to B. Mostly he uses the lower strings to play bass lines along with his chord compings on the higher strings. His father, another famous jazz guitar player by the name of Bucky Pizzarelli, also uses a 7-string.

Good luck, and don't hurt yourself!

Ryan
 
... and while you're there, check out George Van Epps and Ron Eschete, who have both used the 7-string in the past.

foo
 
Thanks all.

Hix, have you ever bought strings for your seven string? I've seen 7 string sets for electrics, but I've never seen anything for acoustics. I guess I should've just gone searching online, but judging from the weird look I got at the music store I'm thinking that a custom set might be the way to go. So what I'm looking for here are string guages. Suggestions?

As far as the tuning thing goes. Tuning to a B works well and is logical, except that chord fingerings get VERY weird.

I think what I'd like to try at first is some low tuned grungy shit. So I was playing around with A-E-A-E-A-A-E which is crazily big ONE FINGER sound except for that low string. If I could find a string that would hold an A I'd be happy...but buying strings gets expensive.

All in all I'd have to say that adding a 7th string makes playing much more complex than I had originally thought. When you're looking down on your guitar...that first string towards you is supposed to be six...six...six...man :)

Thanks guys!

Slackmaster 2000
 
I'm still using the strings that were on it. Haven't gone looking for a new set yet.
 
John Pizzarelli plays a custom Benedetto.

The luthier Robert Benedetto has a new venture with Guild Guitars, where he oversees design / construction of the top line Guild archtops, and Guild now distributes a new "production" grade (so to speak, given that they are astounding instruments)Benedetto.

For a custom Benedetto 7 - string, there's nothing stopping you except a waiting list and about $35 grand. Check out this link!

http://www.benedetto-guitars.com/imgs/7string.jpg

You might find out more about tuning and chord phrasing by researching Bucky and John Pizzarelli. Sweet stuff!
 
Slack the problem you describe is one I experience on a regular basis when I switch from my 5 string bass to a 4 string or, worse yet a guitar...(which i am still learning to play)..

the absence of that low b is just as confusing as its appearance.. trust me!
 
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