Gear setup

[Ibycan7]

the 7th string on a 7 string guitar is designed to be tuned down lower a 5th to the 6 string because it is usually thicker than your standard 6 string on your guitar.

If I tune my 7 string 2 1/2 steps down to F# it will sound mushy and not defined. if you are looking for that type of sound then that's fine. but most people don't. they want kick ass, tight rhythm sound. you can't the the same definition in your tuned down guitar than a 7 string guitar.

with you set up I would probably tuned down to C or C# not to B.

 

[thepunisher]

without a longer scale neck^
no, i understand. i am glad the settings help.
and no you aren't doing something wrong by detuning, however, the guitar is what needs to be changed in your rig first. the floppy and crappy aspects of your setup on that guitar will not be fixed with strings.

 

[Brett89]

And if I buy a 7string, what size of string sould I use at B or A# tuning? I saw an Erniball set in 9-56 size, it would be floppy I'm sure, so I think a 58. or a 60. sized B string would be better.

 

[Ibycan7]

9-56 is a standard size for a 7 string. if you wanted to tune down 1/2 step you could still do it with the 9s. if you want to go lower like A. then I suggest getting 10s. some people like having 58 and 60 on their 7th string. but it is a matter of takes. but remember that if you are tuning standard and putting heavier gauge strings, it will cause more tension than normal in your neck.

 

[thepunisher]

you can easily buy bigger guages. it is all a matter of preference. and if you have a hard time finding strings, use a bass string. that's what i do. i use a .60 for b, and 65-70 for a.

look at used guitars on ebay and in shops. it might save you some money. ask if you have questions

 

[Ibycan7]

65-70 for A....man that's a huge string. Zakk Wylde has a custom set with GHS Boommers. I think .13 and 70 for 6 strings. lol that would break my hand.....

have fun with you Yamaha and tuning but it will only take you so far. like Punisher said. look for used guitars and you may find what you are looking for.

 

[Brett89]

Yes... a new guitar will be the first, I know its shit... but money... you know :S

 

[thepunisher]

yea... it is a lot of money. but guitar gear quickly becomes expensive. its an addiciton, only unlike many, it is only harmful on the wallet... and the ears of others if you suck.

.70 isn't huge for an A. i use the 60 ghs on my sixers. which by the way, makes it easy to drop to c if needed.

 

[Hexer]

you dont really need to buy a 7-string set if you dont like the gauges on those.
what I do is buy a 6-string set and a single string for the low b (10-50 set and a single 66, I play in standard-tuning)

 

[thepunisher]

same... only different guages.

 

[Brett89]

And can you tell my what is an effect loop? I heard many times but I never saw an amp with it.
And what's a spring reverb? Its the same like reverb? And one more... what is the differenc betwen active and passive inputs?

 

[Ibycan7]

Effect loop on an amp allows you to put effects between the pre-amp and power amp. some people rather the sound of chorus or flanger before the distortion or after so it is a matter of taste. but this feature in the amp lets you do this.

I don't know much about spring reverb so I would let someone else chime in with that.

I'm not sure what you mean by Active or passive inputs. do you mean active pickups? maybe

 

[thepunisher]

spring reverb was originally created using a spring(according to my highschool physics teacher, who was a nut) basically, it is reverb on board the amp, most likly emulating the original spring, which sounds crappy unless used in moderation.

the active passive i can explain a bit better. a passive pickup is what you are using now. the pickup draws no power and only sends the signal to the amp to be amplified. now, an active pickup requires an outside power supply, a nine volt, and the signal is boosted before leaving the guitar. this provides a variation to sound not possible with passives(most people find them to sound clear), however, it also has limitations. for instance, tonally, it has very few workable settings, almost sounding sterile.(i use actives in one guitar. pm me and i will talk to you about it.) they also distort quite well, although passives do also.

if you mean active passive inputs on an amp, then on the active input, it boosts the signal a certain db, while on the passive the signal remains the same at that point. for input jacks, a guitar passive input is mono, while active is stereo.

 

[Brett89]

"if you mean active passive inputs on an amp, then on the active input, it boosts the signal a certain db, while on the passive the signal remains the same at that point."

Thanks for the anwsers, I meaned active and passive inputs on an amp.

I saw Digitech's Whammy pedal... it looks like a cool toy... are they still produce that, becouse I never saw one in ships... And can you tell me other manufactures that produce this kind of pedal?

Thanks!

 

[Ibycan7]

well...there are pitch shifters and Harmonizers. the whammy is the only one of its kind as it has the pedal to go up and down and also a harmonizer so you can have your original signal and have a 3rd, 5th or both for example with it. guys like satch, vai and Dime are (were) big users of that pedal. I'm saving up to buy me one of them.

 

[thepunisher]

Umm, listen to tom morello, guitarist for the no longer together rage against the machine to see a whammy in action. not to diss your examples, ibycan, who are all guitarist that i respect and envy their skills, but morello is the true whammy master.
Boss produces a harmonizer like it, but there is not one produced with the expression footswitch like the whammy.
Unless you are really good with it, they quickly become annoying as fuck.

 

[Ibycan7]

man...I can't believe a forgot Morello. he is in another class of his own....

does he use his whammy pedal as often on Audioslave?

 

[thepunisher]

it is my opinion that audioslave sucks, but morello remains awesome. I couldnt believe you forgot the master of the whammy either.

 

[Brett89]

Hi there again!

Did anyone heard from the Powerstate brand? Its a Hungaryen company who build amps and combos. They are relative cheap, and I think their are better quailty than the amps build in Korea or China, or am I wrong?

I saw a nice 100W amp, and they write its a half-tube amp, with tubepreamp, what does it mean? Its sound like a tube amp, is it good? It has the same issues like tube amp, you know warmup time and such?

 

[thepunisher]

i have never heard about powerstate amps. let your ears be the judge of the quality and tone.
this means that they use one or two tubes as a sound shaping method. a preamp is where you dial in the tone, while a power amp boosts it. in this case, the tubes will give you the gain(think pregain on your peavey), while the poweramp(think postgain) is solid state. therefore, you will have the problems of a solid state, like clipping at high volumes, while having a bit of the tube sound.
hope that helps.