Reactions to your 7 string?

[nyck]

So what kind of reactions do you get when you play with your 7 string? Maybe at a jam or a place that would usually have 6 strings.

One time I brought my 7620 to this shop to get something fitted for it, and this old country playin dude was like "7...strings??". I told him all about it and he finally got the concept. He told me that it seemed unnecessary

 

[guitarjitsumaster]

Really, I know a coutry guy who uses the low B for extra bass lines in his Chicken Pickin

 

[guitarjitsumaster]

I usually get total shock with my 7 im flabberghasted at how many guitarist say theyve never even heard of em , im like what planet have you been on. One good thing is that the other six stringer leave your guitar alone when its sittin on the stage because the low B throws their little brains for a loop it totally confuses em on their playing patterns

 

[Metal Ken]

People generally either
1) think its cool
2) Ask me if i play Nu metal.

 

[dpm]

Q - "What's the extra string?" A - "Whatever you want it to be"

Q - "Do you like Korn" A - "Hell no."

EDIT - I just reread the question. The reaction to my seven is usually "What the fuck have you done to that poor guitar."

 

[Ancestor]

I don't usually get many comments. I got one, "It's beautiful." One person said, "That guitar has two many strings." But, I did have fun taking my Schecter Blackjack C-7 (which is in G) to a show a friend. What with the extended scale and 70 guage low string, I think there was a bit of culture shock there. His guitars are all SGs.

 

[NegaTiveXero]

Around here, I get this ANY guitar, "Can I play it?" or, "Hey! I know a song!". It's annoying, but when I have a seven with me, it's like people can't grasp the concept in their heads, there's one more string. It's funny when they're trying to play a G chord and fuck it all up. One guy bitched me out for having a detuned guitar to play crappy music or something, just because he couldn't play a chord on my guitar, I explained that it has more strings than a six (6 < 7) and it was in standard tuning.

It's the guitarists that annoy me the most though. "Why do you need seven?" or, "Only people who play easy stuff use 7-Strings". And if you try to explain that people use them for shredding (i.e. Vai, DT, Nevermore, or any of the guys that were inerviewed on here) they go, "who?". And forget about expaining how Jazz guys use them for walking bass lines, "That's what a bass is for."

I hate everyone in Kentucky, I wanna go back to the North.

 

[Leon]

hey, at least in kentucky you have hills. here in the "north-of-kentucky" ohio we ain't got shit!

i mostly get funny looks. but, those might just be for me

 

[NegaTiveXero]

I meany NY, that's where I'm from. Where in Ohio do you live?

 

[Leon]

bowling green, ohio. though, i spent '99-'04 in cincy.

 

[Vince]

So what kind of reactions do you get when you play with your 7 string? Maybe at a jam or a place that would usually have 6 strings.

One time I brought my 7620 to this shop to get something fitted for it, and this old country playin dude was like "7...strings??". I told him all about it and he finally got the concept. He told me that it seemed unnecessary

Funny, that's exactly how I feel about country music

Most of the time, the reactions I get about the 7 string are from bands that play directly before or after my band. Usually their guitarist or bassist makes a comment about how cool and different my 7-string is. So, that's pretty cool. I've never really had a bad experience from someone about the 7-string. No one's ever told me they found the extra string "unnecessary". With the group I'm playing with now, my bassist plays 5-string, and I play 7, and we have a drummer that loves double bass, so we're usually the heaviest band playing at any given time

Other comments I usually get about the 7-string are usually questions about what I tune to, or "how'd I get that sound" or something along those lines. I just tell 'em two words, and those are usually "Ibanez" and "Mesa". It makes sense

 

[Allen Garrow]

I usually get that jaw drop look,,,as if I'm some freak with super powers. Followed by Really? 7 strings eh? You must be good to play all of them strings. Mention 12 string guitar and they just stand in disbelief. I like to ask players the same but " you mean you play only 6 strings?" Whoa that's an interesting concept,,, limited, yet interesting.

~A

 

[Ancestor]

Around here, I get this ANY guitar, "Can I play it?"

Dude... and I swear this is no lie... I had a guy ask me to play my baby after he had been eating swedish meatballs with his fingers.

 

[Metal Ken]

It's funny when they're trying to play a G chord and fuck it all up.

That happened to me yesterday, some dude was trying to prove something, and he was like "Play a D Chord" So i did this shape:

E-2
B-3
G-2
D-0
A-0
E-2
B-3

And i had to spend like, a minute explaining its a D Chord and not a G Chord.

 

[Shannon]

For the most part, I get positive reactions. It's human nature to be inquisitive about things you aren't familiar with. There are those times where people automatically assume your a Steve Vai or Korn wannabe just because you play a 7. That annoys me. But, oh well. However, after 10 years of playing them, I'm still amazed at how many ooos and aahs my guitars get.

I do come across the occasional 6-string purist though. I calmly explain why 7s work for me & they usually get where I'm coming from. If they don't get it or they choose to flip me attitude, I let my live show do the talking. That shuts 'em up real quick.

 

[Digital Black]

If it's a musician, they usually have a snide comment about it being overkill or you can do that on a 6 string. I tell them I can keep standard but still hit lower than most guys with their downtuned LP's.

Anybody else, they are usually floored and amazed. I tell them the benefits of it all.
If I have it with me, i'll bust out some monster chords and play the clean channel-most quickly change their mind if they were negative at first.

 

[Donnie]

People around here don't seem to care. I can't remember a single time someone has said anything about one of my 7s. Now, the 9 string on the other hand... I ususally just get the "That's cool!" and "How the hell do you play that?" Never anything to negative.

 

[Shawn]

Here in Maine, more people are getting their hands on one every chance they can get.
Back when I first got one, people asked if I liked Korn and if it was hard to adapt to the seventh string. I just told them that it wasn't hard at all to get used to it and that it's feels natural having the extra string. Other than that, some people thought it was cool.

 

[Laren]

i just play a B chord with my shit good distortion and level the room

 

[eleven59]

Hmm...

At an audition for a school assembly the guitarist of one of the other bands auditioning spotted me holding my guitar from across the room, his jaw dropped and his eyes got really big and he said "Is that a 7-string??" I said "Yeah", and he said "Do you use all 7?" and I said "Yeah" lol

When I brought it to a tech to get my Blaze put in, I called first to get a price estimate, etc. and so when I showed up he was like "Oh right, the guy with the 7-string. Is it an Ibanez?" I said "No, Schecter", and he said "Ah. Most of you 7-string guys seem to like Ibanez."

Other than that most people don't really notice/comment. It helps that most of the people at our shows so far have been into the same kind of music as we are, so a 7-string's nothing new