I saw the video for Lie a long time ago, but it wasn't until I got some really good friends that liked Dream Theater a lot more than i did (did, I love them now), my seven string GAS took off.
One and a half year later I finally bought a Jackson DKA7 as my first seven string last month. Probably because I saw Dream Theater earlier this year. Especially "The Enemy Inside" and "the Mirror" were magical.
Keith merrow, i found him on seymore dun cans pickup selected. It was a video of him playing 'Pillars of creation" with different pups. i watched that video soooo many times.
I had to think about this for a minute.....influences change with the seasons. Long answer, no pictures.
I would have to say the first band was Unearth. Ken Susi and Buz McGrath really were the two main dudes. Where I was at the time was between traditional metal and hardcore music and the III: In the Eyes of Fire was so thrashy, yet had the metalcore sound of the time. That record along with The Oncoming Storm for sure was my first exposure to what could be done with 7's and what made me join this forum.
Parkway Drive...yes, I know they don't play 7's. I discovered them right after Unearth and they both play mostly in B minor type of stuff. They sounded similar to me at the time, so I assumed they played 7's in B standard like Unearth. I was new to metalcore back in the mid 2000's. So they made me want to get into 7's.
Next, I would have to say the guys from Suicide Silence. To me at the time their tone was so sludgy and nasty...and it was compared to what I was listening to at the time. Very low and monstrous for what I knew at the time. I later discovered more sludgy/grindish type of music thanks to them mentioning it in an interview about people calling their music deathcore back right before it's peak. Sound familiar? Much like the djent debate now. They also mentioned Meshuggah......like the djent debate.
As time moved on and I discovered that Petrucci sometimes played 7's...I fell in love with his tone and his playing style....I still hope to get my hands on a stealth black JP7 one of these days.
Then....Misha Mansoor....yes, that guy. I had just enrolled in community college in 2010 and had time to peruse this forum during breaks between classes. Then I ran across his name and found him on youtube and a couple of other sites as Bulb. Listened to some of his stuff and was very impressed until I found Periphery....Letter experiment was it for me....though he may have played it on a 6 at the time, it was low enough to be played on a 7. Discovering his stuff was the nail in the coffin.....extended range guitars were the way to go....
Of course, there is so much out there now and it only gets better in my opinion....along with the bad, but sometimes there is good in bad music.
I mainly play 6's still, but only because I haven't had the chance to own ERG I am completely satisfied with....they feel comfortable to me and I feel at home playing them. Sorry for the life story, I just found this awesome thread as a chance to practice writing before I head back to the University in a couple of weeks....Cheers!
My initial interest was definitely due to Dino Cazares... but at the time, I only really saw it as a 'chug chug' tool... and never really explored it (musically)
The new wave of prog (TesseracT, Monuments, Periphery etc.) hooked me into what a big tone range can do, and made me pull the trigger on finally buying one.
John Petrucci originally. However, Misha Mansoor, Munky and Head, and Stephen Carpenter got me to buy one again. Now it's swiftly become my main guitar.
It's a mix between Misha and John Petrucci. They both have such a different approach in comparison to each other and it made me realize that 7's aren't just for chugga chugga.
I admired the sound and versatility of being able to play low tuned songs and regular standard tuned stuff at the same time but it wasn't until I got into Scale the Summit that I really wanted to buy one for myself.
just like many of you.. for me its Dino.. Hearing Obsolete when it came out was it for me... my first 7 string was mh207 ESP LTD. Gun metal Grey.. and I installed a 707 in bridge a year or two after
I guess I'd have to say Bulb, but I can't discredit my subconscious. Sit around, and let me tell you all a little story...
Well, a few years back, I was a naive young guitarist who believed he knew everything about everything; really, I knew nothing about anything. I laughed in the face of Schecter, Dean, Jackson, and most of all, Ibanez filth. Anything that had more than 6 strings, non-EMG pickups, and a bolt-on neck was utter trash to me; and God help the thing if it was a super strat. Then one fateful day, I visited a Guitar Center, and immediately sat down to play what I thought was one of the most wretched things to ever disgrace my presence; a Schecter Omen-7. A bolt-on, 7-stringed super strat; it's only redeeming value to young me was its EMGs. I played it, and utterly hated it... But I was intrigued. Some strange curiosity built up inside me. It hid in a dark corner of my mind for years until one day, a little band called Periphery appeared on my YouTube feed. I listened, and foul rubbish pierced my eardrums. "Metalcore filth!" I sneered, "You're all imbeciles!" But suddenly, the curiosity hidden deep in my soul began to peak out again. So I kept listening. I was confused, lost, excited... entranced. Perhaps this isn't so bad. Maybe I didn't hate 7 strings. Maybe there is some merit in bolt-on super strats, in passive pickups and... Dare I say it... Ibanez guitars.
Fast forward a bit, I'm about to buy an Ibanez Prestige RGD2127FX, and I'm going to my second Periphery show in September So yeah, go Bulb. I sure did learn not to follow trends after that, though. Sneaks off to djent