7 strings newbie

[gricko]

after decades of playing only 4s, a 7-stringer landed in my lap.
took me a few minutes to solve posture, hands position, strap length, string spacing [narrower than my favorite spacing - rickenbacker]...

now, i would need your help on what to do with it. could you point me towards some literature, tutorials or YT?

forum search gave me a thread from 2000 w/ john turner giving few golden general advice.
google search on extended range bass techniques gave me next to nothing of interest.

i would not like to treat it as a "piano on a strap", as one post in that thread from the year 2000 said. nor two hand tapping. and no slap.
few chords here and there, but treat it as a bass guitar, just w/ few more strings.

or, if i my request is stupid and discarding two hand tapping, pianolike soloing and advanced chording leaves nothing on the table that is specific to ERB - please say so.

if that matters, it is tuned to F# standard.
[in my 4-string life, i play downtuned and very loud post-something music.]

 

[bholder]

Nothing to add, but watching to see what happens.

 

[Nashrakh]

Maybe you have more luck searching for six string threads, and treat your 7 like a 6 with an extra string. If you do not chord, a F# string works well. Beyond that, maybe focus mainly on melodic playing, focus on the upper register a bit. Chords are very nice too and need not be overly complicated. Get into looping?

 

[Reedt2000]

One of the beautiful things about bass is no matter how many strings, they are all a 4th apart so all the shapes (scales, modes, arpeggios, etc.) are the same. So, as simple as this may sound, just play it. Use octave shapes to start familiarizing yourself with the notes on the higher and lower strings your 4 string doesn't have. Maybe start playing lines you're familiar and comfortable with an octave down to start getting used to the lower strings, or up for the higher. Or moving their positions. It'll take time, but despite the football field of a fretboard, it's just a bass at the end of the day.

 

[JonathanPDX]

I'm curious what your goals are with the 7-string. Those tiny strings are so far above a normal bass guitar register that you may find it hard to slip them into traditional bass work without really jumping out as unusual.

Those tiny strings are really good for several things: soloing, playing high melodies, playing chords, and using techniques like tapping. When you say you don't want to use it for any of that stuff I wonder why you wouldn't just stick with a bass that doesn't have the itty bitty strings, since it sounds like they are not very appealing to you.

For general advice, I'd approach it as with any instrument: learn the fretboard, work on navigating the board both horizontally and vertically so you can play any key, from any starting position, and fluidly navigate in all directions. You'll find chord shapes get interesting and quite different from the guitar when you are tuned in fourths, so exploring things like how your chord structure (R-3-5-7) looks when you start reaching higher and which inversions are the most practical to finger.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Far be it for Me to dissuade anyone from getting a six,seven or even eight string bass.
(I have them)
But if you are not going to be doing any soloing,high melodies,chords,or tapping,why even have it??

Why not just convert a four string bass to subcontra F#BEA?
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/subcontra-knowledge-thread-octave-0.1519378/

 

[five7]

I would tune it F# B E A D G C and treat it like a 6 string bass with the added low F#.

 

[Jogobass]

I played a 7 string once. Couldn't stand the unwound high F string. I've heard low F# basses, but that doesn't appeal to me. A B string tuned down to A is about as low as is functional for me. G strings are already a bit on the thin side for a bass in my ears, so I stick with a 5 string.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I'm curious what your goals are with the 7-string. Those tiny strings are so far above a normal bass guitar register that you may find it hard to slip them into traditional bass work without really jumping out as unusual.

Those tiny strings are really good for several things: soloing, playing high melodies, playing chords, and using techniques like tapping. When you say you don't want to use it for any of that stuff I wonder why you wouldn't just stick with a bass that doesn't have the itty bitty strings, since it sounds like they are not very appealing to you.

For general advice, I'd approach it as with any instrument: learn the fretboard, work on navigating the board both horizontally and vertically so you can play any key, from any starting position, and fluidly navigate in all directions. You'll find chord shapes get interesting and quite different from the guitar when you are tuned in fourths, so exploring things like how your chord structure (R-3-5-7) looks when you start reaching higher and which inversions are the most practical to finger.

Why would you think they are tiny? They would be the same gauge strings as a 6 string bass set with either a low F# string or a high F string depending on preference.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Why would you think they are tiny? They would be the same gauge strings as a 6 string bass set with either a low F# string or a high F string depending on preference.

A high C or F is way lighter than what most people are used to if they run heavier strings E (or B) through G.

I love my high C string but I can also hear pretty clearly when a bass player is using a high C or F string. They open up a different sonic spectrum and cut through the mix differently. I like it, but if a person doesn't like or want that then a 7-string bass seems like an odd choice.

 

[Thumpin6string]

A high C or F is way lighter than what most people are used to if they run heavier strings E (or B) through G.

I love my high C string but I can also hear pretty clearly when a bass player is using a high C or F string. They open up a different sonic spectrum and cut through the mix differently. I like it, but if a person doesn't like or want that then a 7-string bass seems like an odd choice.

I thought about building a 7 string, but decided on building only 6 strings due to the difficulty of finding strings. If I would have built a 7, it would have had a low F#.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I thought about building a 7 string, but decided on building only 6 strings due to the difficulty of finding strings. If I would have built a 7, it would have had a low F#.

I generally use S.I.T Conklin 7 Stainless Powersteel 18135 on my sixers.

Or you might try Stick Enterprises strings for an N/S Stick.

 

[Thumpin6string]

I generally use S.I.T Conklin 7 Stainless Powersteel 18135 on my sixers.
View attachment 5233591
Or you might try Stick Enterprises strings for an N/S Stick.
View attachment 5233590

Since I only have 6ers, I have no problem finding strings. Currently using DR Neons.

 

[gricko]

Why not just convert a four string bass to subcontra F#BEA?

my 4s are tuned B# standard.

I'm curious what your goals are with the 7-string.

me too
was too good of an opportunity to pass up. and a challenge. i'm an visual artist IRL and kind of saw it as a blank canvas.

thank you all for your input
guess i’ll dedicate a daily dose of noodling and improvisation, and we’ll see what comes out of it.


kind regards

 

[Watchootognbout]

my 4s are tuned B# standard.

That would be C.

 

[gricko]

That would be C.

lapsus verylateus, excuse me. should have been B♭ in place of B#.

 

[gricko]

I thought about building a 7 string, but decided on building only 6 strings due to the difficulty of finding strings. If I would have built a 7, it would have had a low F#.

until it was too expensive to ship to europe, was quite happy w/ kalium since circle-K days.
newtone strings from UK since. custom, balanced BEAD set, shipping included, was cheaper than 5 string set in a local music store. and did not have to throw away that extra string.

 

[Les Fret]

after decades of playing only 4s, a 7-stringer landed in my lap.
took me a few minutes to solve posture, hands position, strap length, string spacing [narrower than my favorite spacing - rickenbacker]...

now, i would need your help on what to do with it. could you point me towards some literature, tutorials or YT?

forum search gave me a thread from 2000 w/ john turner giving few golden general advice.
google search on extended range bass techniques gave me next to nothing of interest.

i would not like to treat it as a "piano on a strap", as one post in that thread from the year 2000 said. nor two hand tapping. and no slap.
few chords here and there, but treat it as a bass guitar, just w/ few more strings.

or, if i my request is stupid and discarding two hand tapping, pianolike soloing and advanced chording leaves nothing on the table that is specific to ERB - please say so.

if that matters, it is tuned to F# standard.
[in my 4-string life, i play downtuned and very loud post-something music.]

very curious why you choose to go from 4 to 7? Why not 6? I play 6 string myself a lot and love it but personally I don’t see the point of 7 string basses. Each his own of course.

 

[gricko]

very curious why you choose to go from 4 to 7?

was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

 

[Les Fret]

ok. But seems like you are not going to make use of those extra strings reading from your post. Then I don’t see the point of buying a 7 string, even it was only 50 bucks.