Can't play 6ers anymore

[budda]

i play a les paul - its not light enough and the neck isnt skinny enough to ever feel like a toy

there's a reason i go for hefty guitars

 

[FoxZero]

Ahh... Working on getting one now.

The one 6er that makes 7 string guitar seem so easy to play. Haha. The chord options are insane as well as the scales. An extremely difficult instrument to master in my opinion but it's worth the effort. Definitely a steeper learning curve, I mean two extra strings
The best part is most people ask, what kind of guitar is that? Mine has a enlarged body so from a distance it just looks like a fucking big guitar, and it weighs a fucking megaton, by far the heaviest instrument I ever played, it kills my back.

 

[Joeywilson]

oh man i know what you mean

6's feel awkward and i always feel kinda trapped without the low B
I keep one of my 6's in A# for meshuggah-ey stuff and the another in C standard and another in E fat for pantera/nevermore/cooley kinda stuff,
if i wasnt so attached to all my guitars i would have sold them all to fund a couple of sexy 7s


gaaaawwwwwwdddd i need a 7
and in a year or so ill be saying
gaaaawwwwwwdddd i need an 8

 

[Naren]

Can't play sixers anymore...? Why? Haven't been practicing your guitar lately? I think that if you can't play a six-string at all, then you probably can't play a seven-string very well. The only difference is one string.

i feel bad for you man, i can play a 6 and a 7 equally well and love them both.

I have 3 guitars in my apartment. From smaller to bigger: a 24.75" six-string, a 25.5" seven-string, and a 27" seven-string. I can play the 25.5" seven-string the easiest, then the 24.75" six-string, and lastly the most difficult to play is the 27" seven-string (which also happens to be my "main axe" ).

 

[Kotex]

The only difference is not one string, but the whole shape of the neck (as well as string spacing). And for some people it just throws them off. I mean, like I said earlier I have a pretty hard time with this, but I could go back to playing 6's. The thing is that I would just have to play them a lot to get used to them again. I'm not one of those people who can just from guitar to another guitar and feel at home on them. I play the best on my stuff and what I spend the most time on. I think thats what the thread starter was talking about. So I don't think he meant he "can't play 6's" anymore is the literal sense, but more in the "I'm not comfortable with them" way.

 

[kmanick]

Wow, I find that pretty surprising.
I go back and forth between my Carvin 7, my Jackson soloist and my GMW strat constantly.
It takes me about 30 seconds to a minute to adjust and then I'm all set.
You should probably think about getting a 6 so you can stay "used" to it.
I play my Carvin about 70% of the time I play, but I make myself play my
other 2 guitars as regualrly as possible.
Shit they're both gorgeous guitars why not play them?

 

[Naren]

The only difference is not one string, but the whole shape of the neck (as well as string spacing). And for some people it just throws them off. I mean, like I said earlier I have a pretty hard time with this, but I could go back to playing 6's. The thing is that I would just have to play them a lot to get used to them again. I'm not one of those people who can just from guitar to another guitar and feel at home on them. I play the best on my stuff and what I spend the most time on. I think thats what the thread starter was talking about. So I don't think he meant he "can't play 6's" anymore is the literal sense, but more in the "I'm not comfortable with them" way.

I play sevens almost exclusively (I play sevens every single day and a six maybe once every 1-3 months), but, when it comes down to it, I think the string spacing for sixes is more comfortable. The shape of the neck really differs from company to company and I've played sixers that had necks that felt pretty similar to my Ibanez sevens.

Obviously, if you don't play anything but a single guitar, you will feel a little uncomfortable on different guitars, but you should still be able to play them. I personally can play sixs at 100% the capacity of my sevens, but someone not comfortable with it, maybe 80%.

From the OP's description, it sounded like a night and day kind of thing and I find that really bizarre, considering they both use the exact same principles and it really is just a difference of one string.

 

[Kotex]

I play 7's exclusively . I can't afford strings (my strings smell like rust.) let alone another guitar. I've never played an electric 6 that had a similar neck to a ibby 7 (or a 7 period). I played some classical 6's that had similar width, but the string spacing was different. That was much easier to adjust too though. I'm curious, which 6 did you play that had a similar neck to a 7?

And I can still play them at about 80% as you said (when I warm up to them), but for me I'm more comfortable with the string spacing on ibby 7's. Although, I will say that I am twice as fast on a 6 when I warm up (because of playing on the bigger 7 neck). To each his own though

 

[Naren]

That was much easier to adjust too though. I'm curious, which 6 did you play that had a similar neck to a 7?

There are several, but the closest that comes to mind is a classical guitar. I think it's even wider than a seven-string fretboard.

I've also played some acoustics with big necks. Not seven-string, but close.

Electrics tend to have narrower fretboards.

I haven't played my Les Paul now for almost 3 months, but I probably should whip it out and play it.

 

[Kotex]

Yeah, they generally do. Any electrics you could name off though? I would be curious to try one. Or at least look at it

 

[Naren]

Not off the top of my head, no. But I really don't see that much of a difference and I find it easier to go from seven to six than to go from six to seven. I'm more used to playing sevens, but I can still play sixs are around 100% capacity.

 

[Kotex]

Ah, too bad. Like I said, whatever works for you. .

 

[PostOrganic]

If it's been a week or two since I've played one or the other usually it takes me a minute or two to adjust but I switch back and forth so regularly I don't really notice the difference at all. I find I have more of a problem if I have to play any guitar that isn't mine. I can still play fine (usually).. it just feels awkward.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Actually writing on a 6string for a 7string band is fun. It forces you to play stuff you'd notmally not be inclined to. I don't mind either really, but do prefer the 7's

 

[heffergm]

I'm getting less and less comfortable with 6'ers now that I don't own one. That being said, I'm very picky about guitars... meaning if it's not mine, I'm very uncomfortable with it regardless of what it is. So whenever I pick up an unfamiliar instrument I feel (and sound) pretty crappy.

 

[neon_black88]

After playing a 7 string for about a year without touching a 6, playing a 6 felt really tiny and really wierd, but I got over that pretty fast. I do much prefer 7 strings over 6 strings though, they feel better to me, and I REALLY like being able to go down to that low B. Sonically its where I want to be for rhythm playing.

I don't really have that much trouble playing on other peoples guitars UNLESS its a shitty guitar. Infact if its a decent or good guitar it always feels really cool to me just because its different to what im used to.

That being said I CANNOT play properly without a pick thats very close to what I'm used to. If its not a Jazz three or a Black Jim Dunlop thing, I just cant fucking use it and I suck balls.

 

[FoxZero]

I should probably retire my six string Mockingbird and see how the new BC Rich's are. I just want a 6 with wide string spacing like my seven so the switch is nice an easy since my band uses both.
I'll just leave my 6 in drop D, my 7 in B, and the 27" scale 7 I'll be getting in drop Ab to cover all our tunings.

 

[Metal Ken]

I can seem to switch fine, though i won't even consider buying 6s again till i get a decent job with a nice ammount of disposable income.

Having played 7s since 2003-2004, and then working at a guitar store that had 1 sevenstring in stock the whole 2 years i worked there, and jamming at friend's places on acoustics keeps me able to player 6ers.

 

[FoxZero]

I can seem to switch fine, though i won't even consider buying 6s again till i get a decent job with a nice ammount of disposable income.

Having played 7s since 2003-2004, and then working at a guitar store that had 1 sevenstring in stock the whole 2 years i worked there, and jamming at friend's places on acoustics keeps me able to player 6ers.

Whenever I do find a store with a seven in stock, usually a very large one, there's always just one in stock, and it'll be the exact same one every time I go in

 

[Kronpox]

I basically didn't play 6s at all from about May to January, then one of the bands I was in had some lineup changes and the new other guitarist didn't have a 7. So it gave me an excuse to whip out my trusty BCR NJ Warlock that used to be my pride and joy. And god damn playing a 25.5" 6 string when I've been playing 27" 7 strings for most of a year just makes me feel like an inbred semi-capable version of myself. I always found myself thinking there were strings somewhere when there weren't and every time I soloed over riffs that I've soloed over hundreds of times before I'd get screwed up because I'd be in a different position on the fretboard and get lost.

Then I'd play the 6 for a weekend and go play 7 in another band and think wtf where did all these strings come from and where did my inlays go