6string vs 7strings

Jeremy D.Jeremy D.
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    Jeremy D.

    I do love 7 string guitars but my beef is alot of bands that have 7 strings only use the bottom 4 strings.  Same with some 8 string bands.  Why not just get a 6 with heavy strings and tune down?  Jeff loomis is awesome with his 7 and unearth actually uses all 7 but alot of ppl i feel really dont need one to play heavy music.  Not saying ppl with 7 strings suck.  Just saying I think there are alot of ppl out there who really dont need one and only bought a 7 because it was the "cool" thing to do or is the popular thing now.  What do you guys think?

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    Gfunk
    Gfunk wrote

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      Adam Kasnyóczki
      Adam Kasnyóczki wrote

      That's...a solid argument.

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        brainiac7
        brainiac7 wrote

        Indeed, someone could just do what you suggest, but there are some possible issues with doing so. A few possible problems are:

         

        1. Having to adjust the nut's grooves to accomodate the thicker strings. If you then wanted to restring with the original gauge strings, you would either need to get a new nut and reslot them etc, or live with the strings possibly not being at optimal heights or sitting in the grooves loosely. (depending on the various factors this could certainly be a very small to nonexistant problem or a big problem)

         

        2. The intonation and general setup of the guitar might need to be adjusted. (depends on how important that is to you)

         

        3. You can't play the dweedly notes without going back to the original 6 string config. (once again this just may not be a big deal at all or a pain in the ass depending on how you feel about mucking around with your guitar or if you have a second guitar or not)

         

        PSA: The new heavy string won't increase the tension appreciably on the neck. Assuming you are using a set of 9s, for example, the new heaviest string you use will be tuned to B which will roughly have the same tension as the E since the amount of tension needed to get the more massive string to B is about the same.

         

        So, to just get the best of both worlds, there exists the 7 string guitar.

         

         

        Yes, some people probably got the 7 because it's cool or popular.

         

         

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