Detuning.. 7 String VS Baritone Guitar

C

ColdToTheTouch

New member
Without making this a long post, and babbling on and on...its tax return time and Im looking to get a new axe, along with a few other goodies for my home studio. I really crave the deep low growl of a detuned guitar. I just want to know, if I will get the same sound from a detuned 7 string as I would a baritone guitar? Is the only real difference the scale of the neck? Will a normal scale 7 string not sound as "good" as a baritone? I played a mike mushok PRS at guitar center, and... the first chord I played, really hit the spot and I never felt that way about any 7, or even an 8 string. Im really considering the mike mushok PRS, but...Im still in Love with Ibanez, and still love the 7 string guitar. But its really about the sound and feel of a guitar. I went on way too long for this post. my apologies.. just need to know if I can get the same "tuning" from a 7 string, as I can on a baritone.. I know that sounds stupid..of course they can be tuned the same, but... will it SOUND the same? and.... is it possible to put a 27" neck from a baritone guitar, on my MTM2, and successfully transform it into a baritone?
 
It's probably going to boil down to your personal tonal preference and how it plays in respect of 7 string vs the Baritone with its longer scale length. The low B on the 7 string will obviously allow the playing of some seriously meaty chords, this I know because I own one which has active EMG's and it's pretty mean. A common tuning as you are aware for the Baritone is a fifth lower than standard. which means the lowest open note is likely to be one whole tone lower than the B on a seven string. I personally find the B low enough to jar a few bones or announce the presence of fog in the near by harbour. It would not be a great issue to drop tune a 7 string by one tone, obviously take into account that a few set up tweaks may be required to reflect the lower tension, if you plan keeping it dropped.

Regards

Tim
 
Hey Tim,

Thanks so much for your help. heres the thingm if u dont mind me explaining alittle bit. Ive been playing guitar for 20 years this coming xmas. (guitar for xmas gift when i was 10, best ever, 2nd best... when I was 14 i got a 4 track tascam.) anyway, i took lessons for about 3 years, but I wasnt really concerned about theory and stuff like that, learning all the notes on the fretboard, etc...i pretty much learned everything else on my own and thru jamming with people. I feel kinda stupid to admit that, no Im not really aware of the common tuning for a baritone. I just recently learned what makes a baritone a baritone. Ive played 7 strings, a few 8 strings, and none of them, gave me the feeling of a 6 string baritone, the mike mushok PRS to be exact. If you dont mind, could you tell me, string by string what you meant by one fifth lower than standard? i really need to go back to lessons because I feel so foolish. So, youre opionion, you personally liked the baritone better? Now, what the HELL would the tuning be on a 7 string baritone? I know this is probably a bad idea, but I found a few 7 string baritones on ebay from $170-$200, by "Douglas" Douglas Grendel 727 Tribal Green Baritone Scale Guitar | eBay
I could always upgrade the guitar slowly, but, the less I spend on the guitar, the more I can spend doing other smaller upgrades to my studio. Maybe I shouldnt buy a guitar this cheap...I have so many mixed feelings. my tax returns will be back in a few weeks, and Im very spontaneous, and VERY impatient, and tend to make bad decisions. Should I really just go for it and get the PRS 6 string baritone and thats it? or should I say F*ck it, and give the 7 string baritone by douglas a try, go for a new interface, and possibly some new pickups? I know its pretty much up to me, but Id love to hear what you would do..
 
Hey Shawn,

No worries about not having a big understanding of the theoretical side of playing an instrument, some of the most capable guitarists I've met didn't have that knowledge either. In most cases it can be learnt whereas playing with emotion and instinctively flirting with time when dividing note lengths in a rhythmic manner is often something people are born with. The tuning I mentioned in respect of a Baritone often being a fifth lower is not that complicated or important unless you are working with compositions or wanting to determine the notation for playing a sequence of notes in a different key. On a guitar it's not too difficult to apply as the fret-board is divided by semitone steps, example one fret above A is A sharp or B flat because it's one fret below a B on the low E string. Therefore a guitar lick in the key of A if moved up the neck two frets would then be in the key of B and so on. Each fret or half note/tone distance from another note has a name for its distance depending on the number of steps which separate it from the first note. Example a major or minor third or a perfect fifth and so on. You don't need to get bogged down in all that unless you want to.

String by string a tuning compared to EADGBE such as ADGCEA on a Baritone is easily worked out like this, A-A sharp-B-C-C sharp-D-D sharp-E. Each step is a semitone or one fret. Each scale is made up of whole and half notes with half note intervals occurring for example B-C and E-F in the key of C so ABCDE is a five note span in that key. When moving a chord or lick on a guitar the frets or semitones are easier to count once you know how far down or up you want to go. Easiest way to work that out is get a picture of a piano keyboard with all the notes named and just remember that each step including black keys is a semitone. So B-C in the key of C is a semitone step just the same as C-C sharp. The interval make up of a scale is to make it naturally musical when a sequence of notes is played whereas a run of semitones would wander in and out of key which can also be a desired effect as much as diminished scales, modes and synthetic scales can be.

Standard tuning for a guitar EADGBE vs a Common tuning for a Baritone ADGCEA, which because of the need for fret distances to become greater as they get closer to the nut means that the scale length needs to be tailored to suit the lower tuning which enables the string tension to be usable without the strings flapping around the neck.

My advice is get the instrument that does what you want it to in your hands. The PRS SE range are nice to play, I've played a few different artist models and currently own a Whale Blue Santana model which is physically compact yet aggressive when required. The Grendel 727 Tribal Green with it's 27 inch scale length has half an inch over my own 7 string instrument hence it being a dedicated Baritone as opposed to the BEADGBE tuning I have with mine, which is the standard tuning plus a low B.

The ESP LTD SC-337 looks like a reasonable instrument for the money, it's scale length is a little shorter than I expected. Another thought is that good pickups and hardware usually cost less when part of a whole instrument package. I mention that because upgrading these items can cost more than the instrument.

If I've not answered this enough let me know and I'll get back, I have a student coming soon so I must eat and get changed out of my work clobber.

All the best

Tim
 
hey tim, you are the man. thanks so much for taking the time to help! at first i was a little lost during the explanation of the steps, but after reading it a few times, some of it just hit me.. so, i may be wrong, but what u are saying is that a normal or "standard" tuning for a baritone is ADGCEA, and thats 5 steps (or frets) LOWER that standard? i checkd out the piano chart, and, im trying to count 5 steps down from E, and it doesnt exaclt match up. for E, 5 steps down, inluding the black notes, and NOT counting the E, it lands on B with a black note (or semitone?) before the A?

Im actually really ashamed of myslef for not learning this sooner. what I do have though, is a pretty good grasp on writing music, mostly metal, 100% solo too, and producing my music is now a passion in which words cannot describe the extreme stimulation and therapy that the art of creation induces.. Whoa, sorry for getting all poetic.

Im really digging some Agile guitars on Rondomusic. Rondo Music Electric Guitars | Page 1 of 2

now, something im still un clear about, is... should a 7 string baritone sound lower than a standard baritone with a tuning of ADGCEA, and how should that be tuned.. will the lowest, the 7th string, change or will it be the highest string? like ADGCEA(B)? or FADGCEA again embarrased to ask. OH WAIT.. ISNT A NORMAL 8 STRING GUITAR TUNED AT F? did I get it right? i dont even want to look it up, id rather you tell me if I got it wrong. I really want to learn so bad, and absolutely HAVE to go back to lessons, but I will continue to come to HR first. you people rule.

some rough drafts of my solo metal project, "Self Will Run Riot" Most people will probaby say it sucks or they dont like it, metal is a love that only we understand. LOL the songs one top of the list, are the newest, and the songs at the start of the list, on the bottom, are from 2009- on..
www.soundclick.com/selfwilrunriot
 
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