Who inspired you to play seven?

[sepherus]

i read through a good portion of the answers here and i didnt see any refference to the 2 bands that got me into 7s. Lord Belial (swedish black metal with lots of death influence) and Emperor (well at least the Prometheus album) i was hearing standard range chords and leads, and then hearing these really low heavy rhythms and was just like "Wtf?! he was just playing a 24th fret high E now they are tuned down to Bolt Thrower and At The Gates range!" and a small search on the interweb led me to seeing that they were using those "silly nu metal guitars" and made me realize there are other possibilities with them. i got a cheap one for a while and got rid of it quick, then i started listening to alot of Meshuggah and Novembre (if you like Opeth, this is a more melodic italian version, with 7s) and that refueled it.still with out one, but im making a down payment on a Sherman weds.

when i had one i tuned standard, Bb, and A.

 

[Lakeflower]

ss.org

 

[Rich5150]

Vai was the start for me then it just trickled down the line from there anyone that plays a 7 no matter the type of music

 

[Obscura]

Morbid Angel and Mithras.

Meshuggah, Deftones and Negativa keep me interested. Luc Lemay has a crazy S7 in the Negativa videos.

 

[hunter75]

For me it was first hearing Linchpin by Fear factory and hearing Here to Stay by Korn, at that point I needed to go down to A, as soon as I saw SYL in total guitar with open C and a low G that was it and I wnated the seven right there

 

[Forresterc]

Went to guitar center one day, picked up a seven, played the low b, and i said i want one. That simple

 

[olicbr]

Petrucci & Rusty Cooley...

 

[Rick]

Went to guitar center one day, picked up a seven, played the low b, and i said i want one. That simple

Doesn't get much simpler than that.

 

[Seedawakener]

I think its kinda interesting that the one extra string brings a lot of people together like on this forum. We're many people playing sevens and probably a big part of all 7-stringers hangs out here!

 

[kristallin]

For me it was Orgy. I loved their use of the 7-string in a "non-shredding environment", but was never really sold on it until we started writing songs where I had to go down to C#, and I decided I couldn't be arsed to detune/retune/dedicate a guitar for low tunings, so I picked up my 7321, and couldn't be happier (well, once the pickups are replaced... new tuners on the way.... remove the tone knob...)

 

[Mattayus]

well i've written an entire article on why i 'converted' on my website if you can be bothered to read it.

basically, i played 6s in drop-b, played a 7 for the first time after playin gutiar for nearly 10 years and thought "why didn't i do this sooner?".

it was only then that i started gettin influenced by 7 stringers and what they do with it. i'd always listened to dream theater, FF, then i discovered Unearth and mushuggah etc. end of story.

 

[streathervsgodzilla]

i'd wanted one for a while to have a play around with to see how it sounded, got one from ebay for quite cheap and feels alot more comfortable to play than 6s, the neck fits my hand better if that makes sense

 

[Shreddy Krueger]

I remember seeing Vai with the Multicolor Swirl UV during that whole "Whitesnake thing" and remember thinking they were an interesting idea..
That and to this day the 7 string that still gives me a full on robot chubby is the UV7bk w/ the green dot/pickups, which I believe he was also doing alot of magazine covers with back then.



But as far as someone's actual PLAYING it was Dream Theater's AWAKE CD that sealed the deal. It didn't hurt that in the video for Lie he was playing you guessed it, the UV7bk...

By the time I actually got my hands on one at a Guitar Center I was absolutely fucking hooked.


So mostly Petrucci with an assist from Vai...

BTW does Vai even play 7 strings anymore?

 

[nikki-k]

Hi!
Read articles in the guitar mags when Vai and Ibanez made the Universe. Heard Vai on Passion and Warfare, and thought it was cool, but did not have enough GAS to really go out of my way to grab one. Plus, I prefer ebony for the fretboard, maple next (some days that gets reversed tho). Next year the UVGR came out, and I was like, "Hmmm...maple board..." But I did not like it enough to have to have one. And the next I caved and grabbed a UV GR used, and about a month later, I found this cool CD by a band called "Crimeny" (cd is "Peat"). When I heard Derek Taylor play, that was it. But, it was more for the style than actually using 7-strings still.

"Awake" and "Change of Seasons" were great, but I had already been bit by the time they came out. Funny thing is, when I bought that UVGR, I did not want to learn Vai songs or Whitesnake stuff or any of the very slim pickings of 7-string songs. It was more of seeing what it had to offer that the 6 did not. I was playing one day, clean setting on my amp, and found this cool progression that could only be played with the 7 string...and THAT is what has kept 7's in my heart.

 

[Sindwulf]

I can't really put my finger where I started to get into seven string guitars. I suppose mostly by fascination at first. However, practical means, I would always try to detune to bands I would be currently listening to. My first guitar is an older RG350dx with a tremelo so messing with tuning was a pain in the ass! I thought how nice it would be to be able to play everything cause the range is there and I could still play to standard guitar riffs, songs, etc.

This at the same time I wasn't started to hate on nu-metal (for no reason, I've gotten over it now ) So I was looking up and down for muscians who used sevens in a tasteful and un-nu-metal fashion. Interesting enough, our very own TheReal7, (Kroeker) had very impressive material on his seven. I've been hooked!

I was in a Daddy's music store in Boston and saw a custom LTD M-207 or 4-7. I can't remember which one, but it had that standard strat body that we all see. I almost got it but i hesitated but it was good thing that i didn't because when I moved back home in Maryland, I found a RG7620 in a local pawnshop for only 200 bucks!!! The fools didn't know what they had! woo.

 

[K3V1N SHR3DZ]

i wanted one off and on since '95.
then i heard "the glass prison" and i was like "WOW! YOU CAN PLAY MUSIC ON IT TOO!" so i decided to learn arch enemy-type stuff on a 7. then i heard Carcass and At the Gates and I was hooked. i knew what to do.

i play in Bb because anything lower would be uncivilized. also because of Loomis, Helloween, Jag Panzer, Michael Angelo, and Yngwie.


i have yet to hear ANYONE (even ME) go lower than A and not sound like buttsex with a chainsaw.
just an opinon

 

[EvolDerek]

for me it was Meshuggah, after reading an article about Stephen Carpenter hailing them and their 7's I got into them.....never had the dough to get a 7 till now, i love it, im not sure if I ever want to play a 6 again ......especially since I am craving a sherman 8 string!!!

 

[-K4G-]

Buz Mcgrath.
After seeing the Giles vid.

Bought one. And gave away my 6. Sevens feel so comfy in my hands.

And sevenstrings.org.

 

[jackson_metal_head]

Azagthoth, Hagstrom, Thordendal

 

[Hawksmoor]

Vai, Munky ( yeeees), Loomis...

After hearing The Heart Collector, I knew I needed one