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TheSurvivalCode

Chapter 5 : 7 String delight

I have been infatuated with the ESP Ltd SCT607-B for as long as I can remember…or at least since they released it as a Telecaster with a baritone edge.

Our tuning is Drop C and is pretty is low tuned for what we do (Rock /Alt Rockwith singing). We have one other Baritone in our guitar Arsenal – Hagstrom Viking which we used on our debut album – MMXV on the intro to “Burning”. Everyone unanimously purred having heard the low end on the machine along with enough resonance to raise the dead. This is a semi – electric though, so one can only imagine the potential for the SCT as another option for our new slightly heavier tone.

The issue I had as most people seem to have when changing from a 6 string to a 7 string is how to adapt the tuning to suit your band’s style for both songs that are written, and where you want to take your sound. If you’re more than happy to bring a plethora of guitars to each show then it won’t really matter to you….but I argue of you’re relating to this… you’re in the minority :), I love taking one axe to a show and am therefore a little anxious about how much I love the SCT, in case I can’t go anywhere without it again.

Regular tuning:

C G C F A D

The Regular tuning is a drop C which is pretty well documented. We use heavy strings to achieve a good tension to play the sorts of things we do without losing tuning

7 String options from what I read

A-Keep the setup the same but add a high G:

C G C F A D G

B-Keep the same setup and add a low G

G C G C F A D

C-Works best for our music

C C G C F A D

Option A: This was valid and worked eventually once I got a low enough gauge high string to be able to reach G without snapping. The orinal Baritone and a .10 Dunlop snapped rather unsurprisingly before an .08 Dunlop did the trick.

In truth, we are not the most lead driven band, the ones we have are rarely over chromatic and complex so we wouldn’t actually utilise the string so this wasn’t for us.

Option B: This would take advantage of the baritone nature and hopefully give us more flexibility…. We did;t like it, it meant too much altering of long set guitar patterns and permanently muting the top string but for the odd moment.

Option C: Controversially this is the one we’ve gone for. We don’t want to re-adapt our songs but both the presence and power of the guitar make it worth investigating. We do still have to mute the Low top C a lot of the time, but for Choruses, Boomish parts and where we need impact it can act as an extra layer where are only a trio and cry our for impact on occasion.

Not 100% if it’ll be on the upcoming EP, but you never know 😉

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