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Guitar with extra string (not normally used) that by some very cunning means can be used as a substitute string for ANY of the others. Very handy when playing live.
a 7 string guitar
http://www.vai.com/...ages/guitar025.html
from Steve Vai's online guitar gallery. [djymm, Dec 29 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]
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I don't know much about guitars, but I think that this would be pretty useless. |
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From the way Slancaster described it, I think the idea was to have a "hot spare" in case any of the other strings broke... |
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Has anyone had a crack at playing a 12 string? It's not really possible to mere mortals. I've owned 2 and got rid of them when it occured to me that you need King size fingers, (not regular like mine), which have two extra joints. Also, the punk band that I was playing with thought I was going all Genesis, (no offence), on them and threatened to chuck me out. Sorry, I have enough problems with the 6 string variety. |
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Rods Tiger: Yes, strings that run up and down all the bits of it. Whang a sock...no, a plectrum...perhaps a washing machine...back and forth across them (the strings). Isn't that an awful sound? I guess it really is better to leave the strings off and imagine beautiful music instead. Oh well. |
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I've picked up a few 12 strings and knocked a few chords out - absolutely lush sound. BTW Punk and 12 strings do not go together. As for extra string - carry a spare for High E and B strings. In the meantime, know your fretboard so you know where corresponding notes/chords are located... if you play often, change the strings more often on your guitar after you have it properly set up by a guitar tech. It will improve your intonation and action in the meantime while Tech may find burrs on the tuning or bridge end. I used to break strings constantly on my first guitar until I got rid of the burrs. Haven't broken a string in over 2 years now. |
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I must be weird; I learned on a 12-string and find them as easy as a 6. The usual problem is that the action's set so high (because of the extra tension) that you could grate cheese with it. I have two now, a cheap (but quite good) acoustic, and an Epiphone 6 & 12 electric double-neck, which is the kick! |
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While walking through Central Park I once came accross this guy playing a guitar that had a full set of bass and guitar strings on the same neck. Not sure how the fretting worked. Seemed pretty tricky to play. |
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Don't get me wrong. I like 12 strings especially when they're played well. I can also confess to liking some Genesis (earlier stuff). Its just that I couldn't get my fingers across the fretboard, let alone hold the strings down. No, I'll leave it to the experts.
RodsT I know how you feel. It's a drastic moment in your life discovering that one.
DogEd You must have been to some of the gigs I've played. Now a washing machine solo, Hmmm. |
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Sorry slancaster, I'm voting against this. Not because of the idea, to which I'm entirely indifferent, but because the annotations mention Genesis THREE times! |
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You're right. Can I vote against it again? |
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Yeah, Sorry about the Genesis thing (5). Just a passing reference y' know. I mean it's not like I've got any albums or anything..... Well, not if you don't count Three Sides Live, but that was before they went all heavy duty Pop-a-rama and decided they couldn't dance etc. |
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I'll chip in my two cents on the 7 string guitar issue.
I've played classical/nylon string guitar for several
years. One thing I can tell about playing solo instrumental music is that you work your ass off
moving all over the fret board trying to push a
bass part through a song while trying play a melody
at the same time. As you play higher pitched notes
on the guitar, the further you get from the lower
bass notes. Those bass note make everything you're
doing sound fuller. When you get too high, pitch wise,
you start sounding thin and empty. The Idea that
I could get those lower bass notes while playing the
high notes sounds damn good to me. I remember
seeing "ET" the first time and thinking-MAN! This
guy could do anything on a guitar with fingers that
long! I vote YES for a 7th string. |
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I can't see how this would work. Each string has its ownunique guage (diameter) and the thicker ones have extra string wound around them to make them fatter (and hence, lower frequency). You can substitute one for another -- as long as its the one before or after it in the sequence -- in a pinch, but generally each string has its own tone / thickness, and you can't really get away with switching them around willy-nilly. |
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Just returning from NAMM, I played my first 7-string. Man, this is the way! And if Steve Vai, Korn, and Limp Bizkit are not endorsements enough, I don't know what it would take. |
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As for the 12-string, that is a different thing all together. The sound is definitely not PUNK, but the 7-string, dude! Go for it! |
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a 7 string is like the greatest guitar ever for experimentation . I mean after you learn all your tricks on your 6 string you look back and wonder is there anything else you can do to a guitar ? So thats when you pick up a 7 string and literly learn to use all your strings, make up new chords on the and challenge your self dont be a pussy and only use the four bottom strings use them all. Because if you do your not playing it right , you just might as well buy yourself a baritone guitar . Thats how a 7 string should be used . And thats the reason why i purchased a 7string guitar for the challenge of a new weapon |
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The original intent of this idea is to have a convenient means of replacing a broken string while retaining the standard 6 string tuning.
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One idea would utilize a guitar synthesizer, and a 7 string guitar. The 7th string is not normally used. Since the generated pitch is synthesized, the strings may all be of the same gauge. Each string passes over a leaf-type switch which is held down as the string is brought up to tension. When a string breaks, the switch changes state, signalling to the synthesizer processor to remove that string as a 'sound' source. Each surviving string is pitch-shifted to account for the broken one. The standard tuning is preserved, although you would now have a randomly placed gap between strings.
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The problem with this solution is that, in certain circles, the words "guitar", and "synthesizer" should not be used in the same sentence. That is, unless you enjoy hospital food.
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A more reasonable solution would be to purchase strings on bulk spools. Mount the spools on the body of the guitar, and thread the strings through the tailpiece, and over the bridge (may not work on certain bridge types). When a broken string is encountered, simply dispense a suitable length of new wire, re-clamp the end (via some sort of quick-clamp mechanism), and re-tune (via some sort of servo-driven auto-tune mechanism). Total string change time: not more than one whole note. Also compatible with 7 and 12 strings guitars.
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The best solution, however, is to buy a back-up guitar, and have a roadie (better yet: a guitar tech) replace and retune broken strings. Having someone scurrying about onstage doing your personal bidding does more to reinforce your Rock-God image than whether or not your guitar has the proper number of strings on it. Go for it, Dude!!!! |
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Multiple redundancy in guitars is definitely the preferred option, but I find that, even having fourteen guitars of one type or another, there are some pieces that require one *specific* instrument. That's mainly because my first criterion for buying another guitar is that it be sufficiently different from the ones I already have, so if my main workhorse guitar (Casio MG-510) breaks a string, I can use my Vox Custom 25 *unless* I need the tremolo bar (or the MIDI output, or the modified switching I've fitted). |
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I began my guitar playing on a six string classical, moved to
six string electric, to 12 string acoustic and then on to
the Ibanez Universe I know play and worship. There is not
better guitar. It simply takes a feew months to adapt and
to redevelop your style to the new string, weight and
neck width. |
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You can't say 'There is no better guitar' and expect not to be challenged. It may be perfect for you, in which case, congratulations on having found your ideal, but it wouldn't necessarily suit me or [thumbwax] (for instance). I love my Burns Flyte, but most other players hate it. I don't like the Fender Strat. Go figure. |
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Snarfy's comment should have put an end to this idea. The idea by slancaster can't be done. Let's not confuse things. Most of the comments praise the addition of a 7th string to a 6-string guitar but this was baked by Steve Vai. Slancaster is talking about a 7th string that is a "hot standby" for any of the other standard 6 strings. Snarfy's right - strings are gauged (the diameter) according to the tension that the string will have when tuned to its respective note. Besides, the E, A, D, and sometimes G strings are wound strings whereas the high B and E strings are not. Try it for yourself - try and tune the high E string down to the pitch of the low E string - it will sound like shit. The other problem with this idea is that guitarists are used to the strings being in the standard order from low E to high E. If there was another string, where would it be? If it could be tuned to replace any string that broke, how is the guitarist supposed to adapt to the new location of the replacement string? |
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The whole issue about what to do when you're playing live and a string breaks was solved long ago. Finish the song with the broken string. Pick up your $200 import stratocaster that you bring on stage for just these moments and keep on rockin'. This idea gets a stinky fishbone from me. |
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Actually there is a relatively simple approach to solving the problem of continuing to play uninterrupted if you break a string. simply string a 12 string guitar redundantly. Two low E of the exact same guage, two A of the same guage ETC... The guitar would lack the "sweet" sound typical of regular 12 strings so the punkers and thrashers ETC would have less to complain about. The sound would be different from a six string because each of the two strings, no matter how well tuned would still deviate slightly. might give the guitar a fuller sound---but then again it might thin the sound out and give it a cool twangy sound due to phase cancellation----Hmmmm, I might actually try this. |
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HEY WHY DONT YOU ALL GO OUT AND PLAY A 7-STRING. ITS NOT WHAT YOU THINK.I FIND IT GREAT FOR PLAYING SCALES.ALSO YOU CAN PLAY SOME VERY COOL SOUNDING CHORDS USEING THE 7STRING.
ALSO 12 STRINGS ARE GREAT TO PLAY.
JUSY ENJOY PLAYING INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
GOOD DAY-- |
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A trick for playing 12-string is to tune all your strings down a tone, so your E strings are tuned to D ect. Then you put a capo on your second fret to bring your looser strings up to standard again. The reduced tension strings are much easier to play and your guitar neck doesn't warp as much. |
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I LOVE the seven-string guitar! (tune to low A) To quote a friend of mine, it doesn't make sense to play anything else! :) |
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I have a 7 string guitar. It has an extra low- B string and it
is tuned BEADGBE as opposed to EADGBE. Before I had it, I
down-tuned my 6 stringer to BEADGB. It is just as easy to
play as a 6 stringer. I love it. |
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-Dave from Profoundly Unacceptable Noize |
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Most 7 strings just have an extra C below the E unless you tune down... but that would make it an ultra baritone. |
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