The coolest thing about a 7-string is that it comes with a whole normal guitar

I love this perspective of 7 string guitars - it's not about abusing the bottom string or even using it as the "centre" - it's about adding more colour to the sound. Think of it like a string ensemble - they have Double Basses, Cellos, Violas and Violins. No one ever questions what the point of having all of that range is - because they don't abuse any one range.

I find it funny that Steve Vai playing live for Whitesnake resulted in Dream Theater's first riff.

Writing Harmonies with my 7 String has been amazing our Singer plays a normal 6 String so he usually plays the higher Powerchords while I go down and it truly sounds amazing

Even for a scratch take, Glen is killing it on vocals in the original tracking

The riff at 4:00 is called "Owner Of A 7-string Guitar".

This is the second video I've seen you play "Gangbang at the Old Folks Home." We're gonna need a Gangbang counter for the channel

Love that Vola guitars are continually growing and getting more well known. Great freaking guitars

Best video since Rhett Shull discovering d standard

Really enjoyed the behind the scenes studio stuff. Looking forward to hearing the finished product when the album launches. Keep fighting the good fight!

That Whitesnake concert is genuinely one of the best live performances ever. Everyone was on fire that night

Tune your 7-string to baritone standard tuning B-E-A-D-F#-B and then add the high E. Now you can play all your open chords exactly the same but on the lower strings (so an open G now becomes an open D) That will give you loads of 'flavour' in conjunction with a 6 string

Weird how you listed off the open strings bottom to top like that. I always go, E, A, D, G, B, E. Must be an Irish thing

Always loved when dual melodies have one line going upwards and the other going downwards. First example that stood out to me for that is Metallica's My Friend of Misery when they play it live and make the crowd sing along in the middle. That Whitesnake riff was really cool!

Oh I would so love If I get some profile clicks from you guys. It is by far not the best quality video, but I´m honestly not kidding that I currently rebuild one of the best 7-String guitars on KZfaq right now. It was the pilot project and my first serrious build that made me become a KZfaq Partner. I´m now in the process of updating my studio. Got me me that 4k camcorder, Adam Audio TV7´s and all that stuff necessary to do a high quality video. On my main page you can find part 1/2 of the entire build from removing the paint until the finished body and part 2/2 will follow very soon this month I hope. The last part will be the custom neck and the assembly + sound check ;-)

The guitar used to have 5 strings, then we moved to 6. I genuinely think 7 string guitars are genuinely the next big step. Great video I've somehow never heard the track you discussed. I made a video a while ago about 7 strings and how they kinda changed the way I think about writing riffs. I still love my 6 strings, and Using the two different instruments to complement each other changed my music in a massive way!

Thank for listing the strings from first to sixth!

That lead playing is dope

I got a 5 string bass when I was 15 and fell in love with it. I only have one 7 string guitar but it is an absolute monster of an instrument.

What a great episode! Loved seeing your band and behind the scenes recording process!! 🤘

This video really had the full package. Really loved the structure Also, the idea of using a 7-string together with a 6-string is awesome. Killer track!

For a different perspective on the 7 string check out "Jimmy Foster" (RIP) here on KZfaq. His 7th string was tuned down to an A (ala George Van Eps). He was a dear friend, wonderful musician and incredible luthier. Had been building 7 strings since the 70's. I'm fortunate enough to own 3 of his instruments.

This is exactly why I play a 6-string baritone guitar. Tuning down to Drop-A, you get all that low harmony goodness without having to keep track of extra strings. Longer instrument scale length keeps you from worrying about low string flubbyness. And the best part is that with open tuning, you can get all the high notes back for soloing too. For example my new standard is to play tuned to AEAEAE. Chef's kiss.

Loved the Steel Panther riff at the beginning! 7-string version sounded awesome

Really enjoyed watching the studio footage!

Hold on to that bass player! Being able to one take everything is huge!

Spot on! My main guitar for the past 23 years has been an Ibanez RG7 and the extended range has been really useful. I can transpose songs on the fly and like in your video here, create varied parts. Now, since I play anything from blues to grind core, I've changed mikes for a number of times. Currently I have two P90s on my main seven to get a distinct tone.

I'm shit enough without being shit on a whole other string

7s are awesome. Like the Vai showcase you mentioned, Marty Friedman does this a lot too. His music is written to include 7s a lot and his rhythm guitarists in his band are always 7 string players. They compliment his 6 string playing.

Ichika nito I reckon is the perfect example of using 7-8 string guitars in a non traditional djent way. He uses those lower strings to add different harmony with his chords that you other wise couldn’t as the chord voicings would either (A) be impossible to physically play or (B) just not have the dynamic and harmonic range to counteract his melodies. TLDR: Ichika nito is a good example of 7-8 strings being used in non metal ways

Baritone tuning on a 7 string guitar completely changes the game when it comes to 7 string. It gives you all of your regular 6 string chord shapes on the thicker strings, but gives you a brand new open tuning to play with from E to e. B E A D F# b e (or in my case half step down from that) is the ultimate 7 string tuning for sure and allows you to really open up your playing.

Definitely a good video! i dont think an instrument cant be used in a genre, its just how you use it that either makes it work or not.

Thall got my into 7 string playing. Bands like Vildhjarta and Humanity's last breath. Some of the most creative guitar riffs I've ever heard

Great to get an inside look at your recording session. Banger playing and singing Guys! ✨🕺✨

our band almost uses this technique, we have a lot in common with more modern melodic metal, live we use a 6 in drop D with a 7 a whole octave below and blended with the bass it’s HUGE onstage

Really cool method to record the guide track while recording the drums in the live room. I love tracking bass and drums at the same time because feel. You guys are insanely professional in regards to recording to a tight timeline. Because of home recording I've become utterly spoiled and forget to respect my own time. I'l sometimes spend(waste) 20 minutes on recording the same section over and over again. Damn good song too. That background solo at the end, absolutely kills. I didn't know you're in such a killer band. Heck.

That was awesome of VOLA, to sponsor you with the OZ 7T. Just in time for a record, at that! I'm 60 and been in bands, and I can tell ya that, W.A.L.K.E.R got the 80s rock down! Now Y,all need a Ballad! Glen singing a ballad?

My band normally plays 6 strings in dropped B. We double track with a 7 string in Dropped B/F#, and use a 5 string bass tuned to that, anyway. We use a lot of inverted power chords. I used to play in a blackened hardcore band, and we played in C# standard, and looking back at a lot of the riffs we wrote, it would have made more sense to play with at least one guitar as a 7 in dropped F# or to double track with a 7 in studio, because of all the inverted power chords. Getting drunk and having the great idea to make a band that sounded like Pantera, Anal C*nt, Mastodon, 1349, Behemoth, and Darkthrone all at the same time was an odd stroke of genius. I miss that band. We hung it up when our bass player died. RIP Josh, you were a real one.

Another awesome video from my favorite KZfaqr!!!

Reminds me of how Zeppelin layered in 12 strings and lots of different types of guitars in the same musical direction. Creates a deeper sound.

Definitely an interesting take on 7-string playing! I've heard of people that like to extend chords with the lower string which is cool, too. What I find particularly fun is tuning my baritone 7-string an octave below standard and getting 8-string tuning without being as cumbersome to play.

Dude, you fucking SHRED! I'm a bit the opposite of you where I play metal and always loved 7-strings. This video makes me want to pick up a high quality 6-string to compliment my RG7 🖤

I use .09-.62s on my 7 and I can tune down a step with zero issues. I usually stick to B standard or drop A but I digress.

I have zero problem with this recording method, which has basically been the standard since the 80s. But as a severely old-school (learned how to mix from the man who discovered Leo Kottke) and I would put a band in a dampened room, miced up for a natural sound, into a digital multitrack, with stereo and mono mixes done to approximate the in-room sound. Those two are just there as a reminder of the vibe in the moment. The multitrack recording is then gonna be down mixed into (extremely!) stereo and mono, which will then be balanced with each other to control the depth of the stereo image.

I dig the concept. I'm going to try this with my Whammy Drop pedal for recording. I'm used to double tracking with different guitars and amps, but down tuning and playing the same part in a different position sounds interesting.

Steve Van with whitesnake and passion and warfare are my favorites. That’s more of how I play. I’m not always heavy on the bottom string, but I love having it. Plus I got a 99 Japanese RG, and conveniently that year, all 7 string Ibanez came with custom dimarzio pickups that were made just for those guitars, and they’re the most perfect pickups I’ve ever played. The guitar as a whole is just better than anything I’ve ever played. If you watch Ben Eller, he’s always got some cool swirl ones in the background. Thank the Lord for Korn or that guitar may have never been made and maybe 7s wouldn’t be so plentiful

I've been playing them since '99 with my Ibanez RG series made in Japan. Vai was my first inspiration also.

At 18 I stopped playing for about a decade, I picked it up again and my first guitar was a Schecter 7 string. I'm still mainly a 7 string player, and cool to see you get into them even more man! I love my 6 strings though, and I just got an Orville so I'm really psyched on that front too.

Sounds great, brother.

I’ve got the corvette yellow version of this OZ 7 string en route to me. Hyped to try it out.

That snippet at the end kinda gave me flashback chills. Reminds me a lot of when I was a youth in the 80s!

Nice to see the work behind the scenes. It reminds me to be prepared for my recordings. The time is always rare... I played normal 6 string e-guitars for a long time and I tryed a 7 string and it wasn't difficult to play, but I decided to play baritone and I love this thing. It has all the sounds I was looking for. That was 3 Years ago with my baritone. Now I'm looking for something new and the 7 string guitars coming back to my mind. I love lower tunings so maybe my next guitar is a 7 string baritone... I don't care about a genre, I play everything from blues to metal, I just love the sounds...and the music. I don't like new strings because of their silvery and metallic sound, so I play these for some hours, for about 2 days and then the strings have the sound I like. During this time I play blues on this guitar with a lot of bendings. I'm also using self made picks out of bronze and titanium because they have an influence to the tones. For calmer sounds I like to use picks out of buffalo horns from a company from France. I have seen a lot of picks made out of different materials that I like to try out. I think there is no right or wrong if you have fun and if you enjoy your instrument. Just do music and have fun! 😊🤘

That guitar riff in that song you recorded sounds like the "rock you like a hurricane" riff, the vocal melody is quite catchy too!! Killer video as always, excited for your new journey you are all going on with this!

Vai said when he first started using 7 strings he wanted to add an extra high string as the 7 th string instead of an extra low string but he kept breaking the extra high string because it was so thin.

Mate, the track is really pumping - when are you booking the tour to come down under? You can all stay at my house if you want! I’m in Perth, Western Australia and only about 10 minutes from the Ormsby factory…

This makes me happy. I love my 6 strings, but I've been a 7 string convert ever since 2017 when I bought my first one. I'm slowly collecting a lot of Japanese 7 strings, my favorites being an OG green dot and a Caparizon dellinger 7 from 2008, and a chameleon RGD prestige. I've been eyeing Vola for a while because...who says no at those prices?

Bro this is awesome!

10:16 Awesome tone! Marshall 30th Anniversary is my favourite amp. I've got both the head and combo versions.

I once had to learn an arpeggio set across the neck (Final Fantasy Prelude) and the first set can be played in drop C easily. But the rest dive deeper into lower root notes, so I borrowed a buddy's 7. It was an LTD with an incredible neck, I forget the model. Played it so much I offered him exactly what he paid for it. He refused and the guitar sits on his rack and hasn't been played at all, probably in years.

Got bit by the Vola bug, too, eh? I'm absolutely loving the Pierre Danel signature so far!

Jeff Lynn loved using baritones and bass vi's for very similar reasons. Worth looking up the travelling Wilbury's for loads of similar examples

Great video. I'm an old school tape guy. My vocals were usually better with good headphones and loud. Not too loud because you will sing flat if your ears are overloaded. But then you can add reverb, double track your vocal left and right and you will sound better to yourself and consequently sing better.

Good choice on the Vola. They make great bodies

Very good and meaningful video, thank you for sharing, always accompany you ❤

Being in the studio is my favorite thing about being a musician. I just love the process. I love the seven string, but why not a baritone guitar? I really love what I'm hearing you guys doing. Yay Glen!

Just started with my first 7 too. Its fun.

Really enjoyed that.

Welcome to the club 💪

Nice product placement mate!

Man those Vola's are an enticing deal.

i am glad to hear this

I love the studio footage

Some sick licks in there

Don't do this to me, KDH. I trusted you

looking forward to the full album when it comes out

I use a 7 for metal but not for the extra string at all! i was playing one a had got cheap as a gag for a band that i didnt need at all and found that infact my playing was way better and i realised it was because the wider neck corrected my thumb position giving me naturally better articulation and fretting.

Years ago, I had a Hamer Chaparral Custom. I would often think about how nice it would be with an extra string so I could get those low notes. 20 years later, and I have yet to try a 7 string guitar. One of these days.

W.A.L.K.E.R footage MY FAVORITE

Very interesting KDH. Love to see more content with the band like this. Thank you. 👍🏻

This is the same way my band recorded our demo and album about 20 years ago. 😂 Interesting to see which parts of recording change and which things stay the same. 😊

7 String fore me is : a) 4 more notes b) a natural EQ added by one more string c) possible to play in one position d) closing the gap in the mix . This or using a bass like a rick with distortion or oberdrive. Depending on the songs e) playing deeper cover stuff without using another tuning if it is possible. The name of the chords stay the same on the positions. thats cool 😎 I am very picky with voices. I don't like the singing. Sorry. But the rest is good. Perhaps there is a whiskey drunk, smoking pipe sailorman with a Hardrock- Voice. Sorry for the critics. I wish you and your Band the best, Quickwash

The way you started this script... I swear that is the way I would potentially start my school essay if I was asked to write one about 7 string guitars :'D !!

this was great and a great song too

@KDH when looking for strings for 25.5" 7 strings you might want to find a thicker gauge for the low B. On my Jackson Rhoads 7 I use a regular 10-46 + 65 in a Half step down.

I think the most important part of learning to play a 7 or 8 string guitar is to learn to play it like a 6 string. I like tuning low, but I also like playing regular 6 string stuff. 7 string guitars are my favorite simply because it lets me "tune lower" without actually tuning lower. Trying for like the 5th time to get into 8 string stuff, but it's too easy for me to get lost on the fret board when I want to play 6 string stuff. It's almost like learning a new instrument, though not QUITE as frustrating. 'Course, there's what you mentioned in this video, which is a very interesting take on 7's.

And about cutting strings, sometimes very little but many times will break off your tremolo block as well, you don't need one big hit. Always support it, does not matter how sure you are nothing will happened xD It's not a myth. Any fixed bridge should forgive you doing it but tremolos may say enough one day.

I always found that I gravitated to 7-strings but in AEADGBe so that I'd have a guitar always tuned in both in standard and drop, allowing me to play a wider variety of chord shapes in the same song without needing to change tunings. In a mix though, it all comes down to the way that the guitars complement each other, and not overdoing the low end IMHO. One six and one seven definitely feels like the right approach.

RJ Ronquillio played Take 5 on a Kiesel 7-string. 💪 Talk about throwing out any rule books.

I didn't find out about 7 string till 1995 when i saw Korn first time now I always have a 7 string on hand got 2 now Ibanez 7421 and Dean Avalanche 7

I've always called it a scratch track, but "guide track" makes much more sense.

Don’t restring the day of recording 👌

This is how I like to use a 7 string. Sure I like to chug on the low string as much as the next guy, but figuring out ways to have different inversions of a chord using the low string or playing harmonies on the low string can add a really cool element you can’t otherwise get, where traditional harmonies would be a little too cliche or “iron maiden” style. Not that I have anything against maiden harmonies but you get the point.

Great playing

7 strings RULE: Vai, Carcass, Morbid Angel, Nevermore. I love my Ibanez RG1527 with Dimarzio Evolution 7 pickups.

I compose music on my 8-string guitar and I don't even use the 8th string often. I usually stay on the top 7 strings and the 8th string is reserved only for some riffs. I tell people that an 8-string guitar is just a 6-string guitar with ten more notes under the low E but they just don't get it. I play my 8-string guitars to play songs that are played on 7-string and 6-string guitars. I see no point in playing 6-string guitars anymore because with an 8-string guitar I can play them all. It's like buying three guitars in one.

Cool video, good singer too.

I love 7 strings. I’m probably still more of a 6 string player, but only current band uses 7 strings, so it’s become my most played instrument at the time.

Honestly once you get a 7 string, you can’t go back. But you gotta really know why you want one/more strings. For me I wanted to still shred but also have the ability to have so many more lower notes so I wouldn’t have to keep changing tunings to play what I wanted. I’ve always tried to play everything on the one guitar.

That seven string is sick

Having always played a 5 string bass; the option to mix it up with a lower note adds options; and same idea for 7s, throw in some low octave chords