New Korn signature 7 string for 2014?

[zimbloth]

Isn't this supposed to be the bridge he switched to after he cut his hand?

The bridge itself is fine, its just the saddles need to be filed. Not the end of the world, just something to be considered

 

[Pikka Bird]

I wonder if a hipshot 7 fixed bridge would work. If the bridge on this 7 is the same basic one they used on the 7620/7621s, it should be pretty much a straight swap.

You can see the string-through holes on this bridge are two staggered rows and not in a single slanted line like on the Hipshot, but that's nothing a little crafty drilling won't remedy.

 

[Ben.Last]

Head meant on his own guitar, he either got new saddles or shorter height adjustment screws.

I could have sworn the old bridge had pieces around the sides of the saddles too, whereas the one on the sig just has that back piece.

 

[Señor Voorhees]

What is the deal with those massive gauges btw? The tone on the new album is pretty killer but I would think that big of a string would sound dull.

If I recall correctly, Head tends to enjoy stupid heavy gauged strings. I forget if it was during the rig rundown or not, but somewhere on youtube they said something about him preferring heavy gauges.

 

[Ben.Last]

They've traditionally used 10-60 sets, but they were always complaining about how loose the strings were, so I'd assume he finally decided to do something about it at some point. (And he is coming back from using baritone 6s on his solo stuff)

 

[DrunkyMunky]

Komrad comes with 11-74 strings. A lot better than 10-60 for A standard, for sure.

 

[zimbloth]

Komrad comes with 11-74 strings. A lot better than 10-60 for A standard, for sure.

Could not disagree more. 11-74 is way overkill and sounds muddy/boomy. When we restrung the KOMRAD20 for 10-60, it sounded 1000x better. Why would anyone want their 6th string to be a 62? Thats so excessively tight. Most people use a 42 or 46 for that. A 74 would be a suitable string gauge for an 8-string tuned to Drop E, its way over the top for "A".

Massively thick strings = less attack, more rounded/mellow sound, woofier bottom end, less vibration/sustain, just less tone all around. This is why our 8-strings sound so good, because we keep it around a 0.068.-072 which keeps it sounding like a guitar still and not a distorted bass. Korn used 10-60 for most of their career, I think Head just felt like goofing around on this one.

Been using 10-60 on my 7-strings tuned ADGCFAD for almost 15 years. Never had a problem. If it feels too loose for you, you may be picking a lot harder than you need to. Its one thing to jump up to a .062 or .064 in that case, but a .074 sounds terrible (relatively).

 

[SlipknotKoRnfan]

Could not disagree more. 11-74 is way overkill and sounds muddy/boomy. When we restrung the KOMRAD20 for 10-60, it sounded 1000x better. Why would anyone want their 6th string to be a 62? Thats so excessively tight. Most people use a 42 or 46 for that. A 74 would be a suitable string gauge for an 8-string tuned to Drop E, its way over the top for "A".

Massively thick strings = less attack, more rounded/mellow sound, woofier bottom end, less vibration/sustain, just less tone all around. This is why our 8-strings sound so good, because we keep it around a 0.068.-072 which keeps it sounding like a guitar still and not a distorted bass. Korn used 10-60 for most of their career, I think Head just felt like goofing around on this one.

Been using 10-60 on my 7-strings tuned ADGCFAD for almost 15 years. Never had a problem. If it feels too loose for you, you may be picking a lot harder than you need to. Its one thing to jump up to a .062 or .064 in that case, but a .074 sounds terrible (relatively).

Couldn't agree more on this.

 

[MF_Kitten]

Could not disagree more. 11-74 is way overkill and sounds muddy/boomy. When we restrung the KOMRAD20 for 10-60, it sounded 1000x better. Why would anyone want their 6th string to be a 62? Thats so excessively tight. Most people use a 42 or 46 for that. A 74 would be a suitable string gauge for an 8-string tuned to Drop E, its way over the top for "A".

Massively thick strings = less attack, more rounded/mellow sound, woofier bottom end, less vibration/sustain, just less tone all around. This is why our 8-strings sound so good, because we keep it around a 0.068.-072 which keeps it sounding like a guitar still and not a distorted bass. Korn used 10-60 for most of their career, I think Head just felt like goofing around on this one.

Been using 10-60 on my 7-strings tuned ADGCFAD for almost 15 years. Never had a problem. If it feels too loose for you, you may be picking a lot harder than you need to. Its one thing to jump up to a .062 or .064 in that case, but a .074 sounds terrible (relatively).

Sounds like exactly what he goes for sonically though. Fat as hell. He got used to baritone scales in his solo stuff, so I'm guessing he's trying to get that feel on his standard scales.

 

[DrunkyMunky]

Could not disagree more. 11-74 is way overkill and sounds muddy/boomy. When we restrung the KOMRAD20 for 10-60, it sounded 1000x better. Why would anyone want their 6th string to be a 62? Thats so excessively tight. Most people use a 42 or 46 for that. A 74 would be a suitable string gauge for an 8-string tuned to Drop E, its way over the top for "A".

Massively thick strings = less attack, more rounded/mellow sound, woofier bottom end, less vibration/sustain, just less tone all around. This is why our 8-strings sound so good, because we keep it around a 0.068.-072 which keeps it sounding like a guitar still and not a distorted bass. Korn used 10-60 for most of their career, I think Head just felt like goofing around on this one.

Been using 10-60 on my 7-strings tuned ADGCFAD for almost 15 years. Never had a problem. If it feels too loose for you, you may be picking a lot harder than you need to. Its one thing to jump up to a .062 or .064 in that case, but a .074 sounds terrible (relatively).

We are talking about Korn. They don't pick lightly. Head put 11-74s on Komrad to make-up for the shorter scale. If tone was all about string gauge I would totally agree, but it's not.

Munky likes his 10-60s alright. Head needs heavier strings. They both sound great to me.

I am currently using LaBella 11-70s and they are muddier than 10-60s, I'll give you that. But then there are a few options to take the mud out.

 

[zimbloth]

We are talking about Korn. They don't pick lightly. Head put 11-74s on Komrad to make-up for the shorter scale. If tone was all about string gauge I would totally agree, but it's not.

Munky likes his 10-60s alright. Head needs heavier strings. They both sound great to me.

I am currently using LaBella 11-70s and they are muddier than 10-60s, I'll give you that. But then there are a few options to take the mud out.

The solution is just to not pick excessively hard. Munky picks fairly hard and does fine with his 10-60s. Again, people can use whatever they want, but I'm saying this because the 11-74s on the KOMRAD sounded terrible from first hand, real experience. As soon as we swapped them out, the tone became amazing.

 

[DrunkyMunky]

The solution is just to not pick excessively hard. Munky picks fairly hard and does fine with his 10-60s. Again, people can use whatever they want, but I'm saying this because the 11-74s on the KOMRAD sounded terrible from first hand, real experience. As soon as we swapped them out, the tone became amazing.

Could it also be that the stock strings suck? I only used Dean Markley 10-60s and they are very nice strings. Next time I change strings I will give them another go and take your advice on my picking technique.

 

[zimbloth]

Could it also be that the stock strings suck? I only used Dean Markley 10-60s and they are very nice strings. Next time I change strings I will give them another go and take your advice on my picking technique.

Perhaps, if it wasn't for the fact the tone dramatically improves swapped out giant gauges like 11-74 for normal ones. Its just the science of strings and tension man. If your freakin E string is a .062, thats just madness. It won't sound or feel very good, relative to what it could be with a more sensible gauge. Also such a thing string will necessitate higher action to reduce buzz, and you can run into bridge saddle issues, etc. Nothing good comes from it IMO. Plenty of dudes will use a .054 or .056 nevertheless a .074.

And yeah 10-60 is fine like I said. My comment is about 11-62+74 on a 7-string.

 

[Chris O]

Any need for nut work after such a significant string change?

 

[DrunkyMunky]

Any need for nut work after such a significant string change?

I had to lightly file it so that the 7th string (I use a .70) would rest correctly in the nut (on an RG7321). Going back to a lighter string will most likely require you to fill the slot and file again to adjust for the gap.

 

[zimbloth]

Any need for nut work after such a significant string change?

That assumes the nut was filed right in the first place, which it often isn't. But yes in general if you're going from a .074 to a .060, the tech would need to adjust the nut accordingly. It takes just a few moments, and is standard practice.

 

[Chris O]

That assumes the nut was filed right in the first place, which it often isn't. But yes in general if you're going from a .074 to a .060, the tech would need to adjust the nut accordingly. It takes just a few moments, and is standard practice.

I guess I wasn't clear -- did YOU have to do anything with the nut on the one you played after replacing the strings with a significantly lighter gauge?

 

[zimbloth]

I guess I wasn't clear -- did YOU have to do anything with the nut on the one you played after replacing the strings with a significantly lighter gauge?

I don't believe so but I would have to ask my tech. Either way, when that kind of nut work is needed, its as simple as it gets. Just involves a little superglue IIRC.

 

[27InchScale]

So since i have a komrad 20, we know they are in the wild. Does anyone have word on release of the new apex 20 yet? Anyone preorder one?

 

[zimbloth]

So since i have a komrad 20, we know they are in the wild. Does anyone have word on release of the new apex 20 yet? Anyone preorder one?

As I posted a few weeks ago, the Apex20 is out. We've already sold several and they're readily available.