How did you start playing 7-strings?

[Elysian]

For me,the one thing that made get my first 7 was Jeff Loomis,and the Dead Heart album.I really fell in love with the low end tone,and I couldn´t get it with my 6 stringed.Have not played 6 strings at all since 2000.....

least i'm not alone haha

 

[Metal Ken]

This puts a smile on my face, I don't know why

Well, its true, man. Can do everything on a 7 that you could do on a 6 string. So why have one around? if you need to play a '6 string song' just dont hit the bottom string,heh...I never did understand bands that only used 7s when they had a ' 7 string song'...?

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Well, its true, man. Can do everything on a 7 that you could do on a 6 string. So why have one around? if you need to play a '6 string song' just dont hit the bottom string,heh...I never did understand bands that only used 7s when they had a ' 7 string song'...?

I agree, Completely, HB'er. Completely.

 

[tongueofcolicab]

For me it was korn and limp bizkit back in 1997-1998. i was mezmerized by how weird and different the sounds coming out of the instrument were. the sonic punch of the seven string had totally captivated me, and i bought one. it seems i was destined to play them. six strings don't do it anymore for me.

 

[zultone]

I found one in a guitar shop and it was the collest thing ever.
The 1300 dolalr price tag was intimidating though.
I ended up getting a Halo a few months ago.

 

[Naren]

Well, its true, man. Can do everything on a 7 that you could do on a 6 string. So why have one around? if you need to play a '6 string song' just dont hit the bottom string,heh...I never did understand bands that only used 7s when they had a ' 7 string song'...?

Exactamundo, my friend. That's why I can't understand why people bash seven strings. It's got everything a 6-string has, plus more. I often tend to play my seven off the open E like on a six, but instead of only using the higher six strings, I also go to the lower string as well. Adds a whole new dimension.

Heck, if I played in a cover band, I'd use the seven anyway and just not use the low B string except for improvised fills or cover songs that are in dropped tunings (drop-D, drop-C, drop-B) or are originally on a seven. I like the fact you can play a drop-D song on a seven without re-tuning (some dropped songs can be a little hard to play on a seven, but they can be done. Others are just as easy on the seven).

 

[Emiliano]

my first close encounter with a sevenstring was when i bought
liquid tension experiment 2.......i forgot the rest of the cd
i listened ACID RAIN over and over, i could not stop
and i wasn't at home ( i'm always with my cd player )

when i got home it was late, but i picked up my giutar
and started to figure out why that riff could be sooooo fu+++ng cool
and i realized that was in some kind of drop tuning

i always dreamt about a sevenstring but for many reason
my first true guitar was a stratocaster
(in the meantime i listened to vai, to korn, and dream theater )
then i decided that my next guitar had to be a strato nemesis
( i've had enough of my strat )
so here it is i bought a rg1527bp
and i haven't touched my strat since i bought this beauty
is soo easy to play, so deep and powerful, but soo versatile!!!!!!!
sometimes she seems my strat!!!!!!!but i love my sevenstring

 

[Shawn]

Then it went from there. dont own 6s anymore ;D

I have ONE 6-string. A strat and I hardly play it.

 

[Shikaru]

John Petrucci and Awake (can't forget ACOS though) were my inspiration for sevens. Best decision I ever made, I only have one 6 now, for alternate tunings, though if I can get my hands on a Tremol-no when they're realeased, I'm sure that could change. I owouldn't mind another 7 for drop tunings with a doubled low string though.

I'd heard korn, but they never really inspired me to get a seven like JP did. Back in my ealier bands when I was drumming, my attempts at convincing the guitarist to by a seven failed horribly, so when I actually took up guitar, eventually I bought a seven, wrote my first song for the band on it, now I only write on the seven.

again, Best decision I ever made.

Apologies for anyt spelling errors, it's 5.30 am here, and I'm a bit toasted.

 

[ChrisPcritter]

I saw Seven's in shops in 91 and thought they were cool but was too intimidated to get one. When G3 came to San Antonio the local shop had Vai and Satch signing autographs and I told my friend that worked there that if they had a 7 string Ibanez I would buy it just to have Vai sign it. Knowing they didn't have one I felt my money was safe... A few minutes later he came out carrying a 7620 and said this just came in and I had to have them rush it through recieving..I still have the guitar with Vai's signature on the back of the headstock. I also have anothre 7620 a K7 and an acoustick aj307ce. The best part of having a seven is the look on someone's face when you hand it to them to play and they realize they just got in over there head. I had a local pro come to check out my acoustic amp that was for sale and it was ten minutes of trying to tune it before I said that guitar has seven strings. Never having seen one before I was handed it back quickly and the amp sale of course fell through... Don't humiliate potential buyers by handing them a Seven...

 

[angryman]

Well i'd been tuning to drop A for years on a 6 & wasn't too thrilled about 7's to be honest, I didn't find the super strat shape comfortable at all & I've always loved Les Pauls & SG's, But i was finding that to get the right sort of Tone & tension I wanted on the 6 was getting a bit silly cos' i was using .80 strings on the low A & my playing was suffering for it. Then one day i visited my local Guitar store & they had an Ibanez 7321 so i thought what the hell & tried it out, I fell in love with it instantly, the strings were light, the Guitar was light, but the neck was so slim & smooth & the tone was fuckin' HUGE.
It was priced at £329 so i knocked 'em down to £280 & brought it on the spot.
I've never ever looked back.

 

[crowbarfan77]

I would have to say it was UNEARTH when I heard those guys I was floored .It had great leads and harmonies that standard tuning afforded but also butal,crushing power.It was the best of both worlds.I was really left with no choice I had to have one.

 

[JPMDan]

I was playing 6's for 2 years and I found a Dean EVO Special 7 and it was in my price range for a new guitar so I bought it and loved it ever since.

 

[Mark. A]

Loved Korn, wanted a K7 bad, 2 years later I bought a cheapy from Mawdyson, put Blaze's in and sold it back. I'm very interested in how it sounds, anyway, I swapped a PODXT Bean for a 7620

 

[Fantomas]

Joined a death metal band where the other guitarist played a 7.
I only owned a couple of 6 strings and got tired of bringing 2 guitars to bandpractice (1 tuned in Bb and 1 in Eb).

Then I stumbled onto a K7 and bought it.

now I'm hooked, once you take the red pill there is no going back

 

[bostjan]

With my hands.

 

[Amp'd]

Dream Theater- The Glass Prison

I also liked the idea of not losing the stuff i could already do and adding to it.

 

[jaredowty]

This Dying Soul and The Glass Prison. Plus, I just wanted to experiment with the song writing possibilities of a seven.

 

[Your Majesty]

Just had some curiosity, because the 7-string players are a minority, and would be cool to hear how did you ended playing one of those badass instruments. What about you, guys?

John Petrucci.

After seeing him perform many, many times with Dream Theater, as they are my favourite band I was simply amazed by John's technique and style. However, I think what 'wowed' me the most was when I saw John perform with G3. John performance was by far something that I had never seen. He performed some, solo work and several pieces from LTE, which I love and therefore, after watching that entire performance, I truly walked away literally saying: "I wanna play guitar like him."

So in the short of it, John Petrucci influenced me to:

1. Wanna play guitar
2. Wanna play a 7 string guitar
3. Wanna buy an Ibanez 7 string

When I first started playing guitar and I had began receiving guitar lessons, I had started off on a 6 string, as most do. However, I quickly wanted to simply switch over and play a 7 string, due to John's technical style and range. Since I listen to alot of Progressive Metal, and I practice my style around that technique, I felt a 7 string guitar was far better suited for me.
So I researched all the various guitar styles, guitar specs, sound, neck lengths, etc...and I really fell in love with Ibanez guitars, in particular, Ibanez guitars from the RG Prestiege series. I don't know what it is, but those guitars just make my heart skip a beat. They are simply beauties.

Therefore, I purchased my first 7 string Ibanez, RG1527, which I still have today and it's truly, my baby! Playing a 7 string was the best decision I had ever made and purchasing my RG was the best choice I could have made. I absolutely have no regrets. I wanna another 7 string though.....

The only down side to owning a 7 string guitar, myself speaking, I did receive some heat from, at the time, awhile back, from my guitar instructor. He actually discouraged me from purchasing and playing a 7 string. He had felt a 6 string was fine and would do the same job as I 7 string and therefore, his argument was, why bother? I had disagreed with him on his point of view and had gone ahead and purchased the 7. At that point, I didn't care what he had thought, since his argument was based on 'opinion' and not on 'technical merits'. As well, a few musician friends of mine who only play 6 string guitars never truly appreciated 7 strings. To this day, that baffles me, as I believe, a 7 string is the greatest thing next to sliced bread. However, they were never interested in 7's and being that I was and was a supporter of a 7, over a 6, due to my preference and style, they have actually called me: "A 7 String Prog Snob".

Whatever....... I can't be bothered in dealing with idiots who care to use half their heads.

 

[Rick]

I started listening to Korn and Limp Bizkit and thought about picking up guitar but I did after seeing the video for Resurrection from Fear Factory.