Uber noob question. be gentile

[zilla]

Hey guys

please forgive my uber noob question about 7-strings

i guess this is more of a fundamental question.

I play all styles of music. The one absolute thing that i *HATE* is having many different guitars with different tunings, especially for a live show.

So now comes my question:

If i have a 7-string with the traditional 6-strings tuned normally but the 7th string tuned down to B or A, will I be able to go from playing Iron Maiden to Arch Enemy without having to switch guitars?

i know that Arch Enemy uses a lower tuning, so the hand positions would obviously be different, and they also use super heavy strings, but with a suitably tuned 7th string, would i be able to make this transition without having to have another guitar with separate tunings?

Tim

 

[Fred the Shred]

It IS possible, of course, but you may find some pedal tones a bitch to achieve as you'd be galloping on the 1st fret and hopping all over the fingerboard or doing unncessarily wild string skipping. You can, of course, transpose the songs to keys that fit the instrument better, and it isn't an uncommon sight.

Personally, it all depends on what actually sung parts (as opposed to grunts and the like, which are not affected by a step of half step's difference in tuning for obvious reasons) you have, and how well the singer copes with that.

Also, !

 

[Tawm]

If for example Iron Maiden are tuned in standard and Arch Enemy in B standard, then yes you can play both styles on the same guitar

 

[EcoliUVA]

If for example Iron Maiden are tuned in standard and Arch Enemy in B standard, then yes you can play both styles on the same guitar

 

[bostjan]

Arch Enemy at least used to tune to C Standard. My old band covered Arch Enemy songs in the original key and the fingerings were not so bad on the seven, becuase they don't do many pedal tones. You need to get used to playing in any key anyhow.

I had some real problems with certain songs in D Standard- for instance, Death uses a lot of power chord + pedal chugga chuggah, which was a lot of hopping to the third fret and back. Single note stuff is not bad at all, but those power chords don't sound the same if you start playing them on thinner strings.

But Arch Enemy shouldn't be a problem, unless they started tuning to Bb or something.

 

[Chri]

Going off of what everyone has said so far, I would either tune up to C and play the Maiden songs a half-step up, or vice-versa, stay in standard tuning (BEADGbe) and play the Arch Enemy songs a half-step down. Neither will end up sounding bad.

 

[Durero]

If you want an open C note for the Arch Enemy songs you could just tune to standard and put a capo on your first fret.

 

[Isan]

If you want an open C note for the Arch Enemy songs you could just tune to standard and put a capo on your first fret.

capo son !

 

[Philligan]

Hey, sorry this is kinda late, but all the pre-Angela Arch Enemy stuff is in B standard (Black Earth, Stigmata, and Burning Bridges). The Angela stuff (Wages of Sin up to now) is in C standard. If you're only planning on covering older Arch Enemy, tune the 7 string to standard (so with a low B) and you'll be set for Maiden and AE

If you plan on covering new stuff, you could just tune up/down a half step when you need to, or you could maybe try tuning the top 6 strings to E standard, but tuning the 7th string up a half step to C. That could make things kind of weird, but once you figure it out, it shouldn't be a problem, and it'll make any pedal stuff way easier to play.

Also, if you wanna do old and new AE, if you haven't already, acquire their latest album, Root of All Evil. They re-recorded an album's worth of old songs with Angela on vocals, so they're all tuned up to C. If the songs you wanna cover are on the album, it'd make things way easier, because you can just learn them in C (or that weird 6 string + C thing, if you try it) right off the bat.

Hope this helps, man.

EDIT: Durero, good call on the capo. That didn't even register when I first read it, for some reason I read Isan's post andthought you said "crapo son", so I just kind of shrugged and moved on Capo's way easier than tuning between songs, although the misplaced dots always throw me off at first.

 

[Xherion]

I didn't see this mentioned, but B standard on a 7 isn't exactly the same as B standard on a 6. The high b string on a 6 is Gb while it's a G on a 7 string.

 

[harvested]

here's my 2 cents, and with the aproval of the other guys, I'll sum up the posibilities

Yes, you can play some songs from both bands on the same guitar. As somebody said you can play AE older songs, that are tuned to B and IM stuff...without any problem. Though Standard B on a 6er isn't exactly the same as Standard B on a 7-string...the diference being the Gb on the 6er and the G on a 7. But you can easily adapt to that... it isn't a biggie...

regarding the AE songs tuned to C, you can use a capo, I did that while trying to learn old In Flames and Dark Tranquility songs. but this solution has a small catch, as Philligan said the dots will throw you off...but you can ofcourse...adapt..

I'm just like you, I hate to retune my guitar for each song that I want to learn/cover and this is especially frustranting when you have only one guitar...like I have..and that's my 7-string...

so here's a tip for you...

When I try to learn a song, I bulk up some other songs that are in the same tuning..
EG: If I'm tuned to Standard B, then I'll try to learn stuff like Metallica,IM (Standard E) and At The Gates, Amon Amarth, In Flames (standard B)

then I'll go half a step lower to Standard A# and try to learn stuff from Nevermore, Meshuggah, Morbid Angel, (they play in Standard A#) but also Iced Earth that plays in Standard D#

and then I'll go again half a tone lower to Standard A, and play some stuff like Korn or Death (Standard D) ..

that way I'll change my tuning as rarely as I can

hope it helps

 

[FLGearnut]

I cant believe nobody picked up on the fact he said to be "gentile" in his thread topic

 

[Koshchei]

I did - I was trying to formulate a clever way to mention that I am a Gentile (non-Jew).

Back on topic though: It's important to learn to play in all keys. This opens all sorts of tonal possibilities (thicker strings ring out differently from thinner strings, even if the note is the "same". You may wish to explore the subtle nuances of this to see how you can make the song more "yours".)