Anybody in a cover band and use a 7?

[Riffer]

I've been in a few death metal/thrash metal bands and have a few 7's. I joined a cover band in mid October and was wondering if anyone else here is in a cover band and if they use their 7's instead of a 6? We don't do any heavy songs really. The heaviest song we do is an Evanescence song but most of our stuff is Katy Perry, Journey, Lady gaga, GNR, Sublime, and newer pop/hip hop stuff with some classic Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, and some modern Country. It's a huge departure from my last band which was a Death Metal band but it's fun to have people say you're awesome just because you played Basket Case from Green Day and not have to worry about nailing those sweeps or fast alternate picking riffs.

.....I do throw a sweep at the end of the solo in Jessie's Girl though

So does anybody else play a 7 in a cover band? Just wanted to see if I'm the anomoly.

 

[Fred the Shred]

I only use 7's and 8's. This includes cover bands and whatnot. I don't remember seeing anything saying "these only sound good with a fuckton of distortion on them" when I got any of my ERGs.

Also, all my session work and the like is recorded with 7's and 8's as always. There is also no written law that forces me to use all strings at all times under all circumstances. If there was, then I'd gladly break it, though.

 

[Riffer]

Yeah I know theres no written rule about using an ERG in certain forms of music but I have never seen anybody using 7's or 8's in cover bands around the area. Just didn't know if I was the only one or if this is common and I just haven't seen any yet. I brought my RG7420 to practice yesterday for the first time and the other guitar player looked at it like it was something from the future.

 

[cGoEcYk]

I don't usually catch cover bands, but I've definitely seen a few bands where the guitarist has a 7 and never uses the B string.

If your cover band has a particular theme and part of your business idea for it is to "look the part" I'd get whatever guitar fits the gig. For a while my friend used a black Ibanez Universe 7-string for his mainly accoustic church band... that was funny.

 

[Riffer]

I don't usually catch cover bands, but I've definitely seen a few bands where the guitarist has a 7 and never uses the B string.

If your cover band has a particular theme and part of your business idea for it is to "look the part" I'd get whatever guitar fits the gig. For a while my friend used a black Ibanez Universe 7-string for his mainly accoustic church band... that was funny.

I would definitely use the low B string for sure. Mostly to add to the chords. Or to the occasional solo when I get the chance to improv a solo on a few tunes we play. We don't really have a theme but I'm not going to go up there with a warlock and 2 full stacks and corpse paint on if I'm in a cover band lol. I usually play my PRS SE singlecut, Customized RG270, or PRS Employee Custom 24 but I was thinking about using the RG7420 or S7320 and seeing how it works out.

 

[Betterlaidplans]

I played an agile 725 in a cover band for about 2 years. We didn't have a bassist and I would play the rhythms on the B and it filled out the sound a bit more. We played everything as well. Some sets would have stuff like Phish, Hendrix, and Metallica. Dual Coil taps and passives make almost anything possible

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

I want to play covers. Normal people actually like it and you get paid!

 

[SnowfaLL]

I think it depends; if your cover band is one of the bands where "looking the part" is important; I dont think you will get a good rep for bringing anything to deter away from the look. People (aka other guitarists) sometimes fixate on what gear you play, rather than the music, especially in cover bands.. It sucks, but thats the music biz. I plan to pick up one of those Agile Texan 7s sometime next year, so I can sneak that in for country or pop gigs and probably look normal (not many people actually count the tuners lol)

Coverbands are a fickle business.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

I'm in a Metallica tribute band, I've been using my 7s a fair bit for those gigs recently (sometimes almost exclusively). I've even done the odd stand in gig with some friends or help out during a Vietnamese Moon festival show with my 7s. It almost came out of necessity as both my 7s are in gig bags, which are much easier to carry around over hard cases.

It didn't make much of a difference in my playing. The only real difference is that guitarists from the audience and other bands are the only ones that notice.

EDIT: Also add Nuno Bettencourt rocking a 7 with Rhianna nowadays.

 

[RuffeDK]

I'm in a band, but sometimes we play covers for fun and/or inspiration.
I've done some 6-string covers with my 7-string. My tuning is A D G C F A D.

The Haunted - 99, D.O.A
Decapitated - Spheres Of Madness
Slayer - Disciple
Lamb Of God - Laid To Rest
Bloodbath - Brave New Hell
Pantera - 5 Minutes, Cowboys, Walk
... list goes on, but yeah it's possible.

 

[Valserp]

N'aha!
My cover band is one of the main reasons I got a 7 in the first place. Much easier to just use 1 guitar, instead of switch between 2 on-stage (songs vary between E, D and B)

The other guitarist is rocking on a 7, aswell

 

[oremus91]

There's a dude by the name of Chris Broderick who did some 6 string covers with a 7. Maybe you've heard of him.

 

[seven_stringer]

I tried playing one of the 7 strings that I built at a band practice once....once. I'm not that good with the 7 string and I didn't have any trouble with playing the bar chords in any of the songs that we played for some reason. The problem I had was when I had to play open string chords(strumming cowboy chords). My fingers wanted to go to the wrong strings. If my 7th string would have been a low E instead of a low B I would have been okay but that's not the way I like it. So I guess I need more practice time with the 7 to get more comfortable with it. We played Black Sabbath, Green Day, Foo Fighters and classic rock etc. with Sabbath being the heaviest that we played.

 

[Felvin]

I play AC/DC, Airbourne, Velvet Revolver, Motörhead, Weezer, Foo Fighters etc. on my Loomis.

And why not?!

 

[olicbr]

check this link of my cover band ;-)

UP 2 NOW tous les hits des années 80 à 2012 ! - YouTube

we play 'radio hits' from 80 to 2011 ... and i only use my dean RC7 Xenocide , I regularly use the low B for the 'metal covers' of depeche mode, muse, queen, etc... i love this guitar !

 

[Riffer]

I think some people are confusing what Im saying. I'm not saying that I don't know what to do if I played my 7 or that it confuses me or if it's a bad idea. I've been playing 7's for almsot 4 years now and I was just wondering how common it was or do most people just play their 6's instead. And yes I've heard of Chris Broderick or course, what does that have to do with being in a cover band and playing a 7? I know it's possible to play something that was written on a 6 string but use a 7, that's not what this convo is about.

 

[Anonymous]

There's that korn wanna be band, I can't think of thier name, but they use the Apex II and the guy tries to sound like John, and they mimic the korn bass sound. Thats about all I can think of.

 

[troyguitar]

And yes I've heard of Chris Broderick or course, what does that have to do with being in a cover band and playing a 7?

I believe the idea was that at one point he was playing Megadeth tunes on his 7, effectively the same thing as you.

I don't think the general audience would care whether you play 6 or 7, if they even notice at all. I've moved back to 7's exclusively these days and would keep playing them in anything except a specific tribute band. If/when I get an Iron Maiden tribute going, I'll be playing a 6-string strat.

Besides it would be extremely useful to play a 7 for all of the modern low-tuned rock crap like Nickelback "Burn it to the ground"... no need for multiple tunings, just the 7 in standard.

 

[Riffer]

I believe the idea was that at one point he was playing Megadeth tunes on his 7, effectively the same thing as you.

I don't think the general audience would care whether you play 6 or 7, if they even notice at all. I've moved back to 7's exclusively these days and would keep playing them in anything except a specific tribute band. If/when I get an Iron Maiden tribute going, I'll be playing a 6-string strat.

Besides it would be extremely useful to play a 7 for all of the modern low-tuned rock crap like Nickelback "Burn it to the ground"... no need for multiple tunings, just the 7 in standard.

I understand that he used 7's for awhile in Megadeth but still, I'm not asking if it's possible to play 6 string songs on a 7 or to name known guitar players that do. I'm simply asking if anybody else here is in a cover band and plays their 7. Also, we dont play anything really heavy at all. Turn on the top 40 hits station and I bet you we play the majority of what you here on there. A lot of pop stuff. I figured the normal audience member at our show isn't going to notice let alone care if I have a low B string or not.

 

[celebro95]

i play in a cover band.
80s, 90s, Top40 radio etc etc.

from L.Gaga, to Journey to Michael Jackson, K.Perry, Guns N Roses, Cranberries, HipHop
we play even "Reggaeton"

and im always using 7s (JP7, JPX7, APEX2, UV777)

Sol D'Luna - Pop Rock Cover's Band