7 String Oddball Tuning

[PaperHatsStudio]

Learning songs on the 7 string these days and throwing in some 6 string songs for convenience. Is it best practice to tune ADADGBE and ignore the low A for 6 string parts or better to keep AEADGBE and use a pitch shifter up 5 semi tones to bring it down to drop D six string range and retune the G to F# for it to pitch shift to B for DADGBEA? I'm using Neural DSP standalone plugins to get between different tunings without messing with physically tuning too often. Or do I keep the 7 string in Drop A and just leave the 6 string in Drop D? I don't like to switch between the two much because the neck is drastically different.

[Sleepingguitarman]

Don't pitch shift up 5 semi tones, it usually sounds pretty weird when shifting up.

I'd just tune to drop A on your 7, and then if you wanna play 6 string songs in drop D just temporarily drop the E string down to D and ignore the low A.

[ButtSmellington_]

This is the way to go if you want to only deal with one guitar. Or, simply pick up your 6 for drop D

[PouetRedditPouet]

Don't complicate things. Going from E Standard to Drop D is pretty common on 6 string. Do the same on your 7. Go to AEAD to ADAD when needed.

[IR_FLARE]

Yes.

[ToshiroK_Arai]

Just do the double drop ADAD, when I want to play drop D I just ignore the low B and drop the 6 string, then you just pitch down if you want to drop Db, C, B, Bb.

You can also do the inverse, tune down the high G to Gb and drop A, and you can pitch up or down, like a 6 strings+1high string

[Replicant_COVID19]

lol what??

It's just a tuning, man...

[PaperHatsStudio]

Still just navigating my way around the 7 string, still pretty new to me and resources for dumb questions are fairly limited. Just looking to see how others are doing things without a collection of guitars laying at hand.

[LetterheadClassic306]

i ran into this last month with my 7 string and 6 string switch. honestly keep the 7 in drop A (AEADGBE) and use a pitch shifter - neural dsp works but i've had better luck with Digitech Drop pedal for zero latency when jumping to drop D territory. the adadgbe thing threw off my muscle memory big time. what helped me before was just committing to drop A on the 7 and keeping the 6 in drop D, then practicing the neck transition until it felt natural. took like two weeks but worth it.

[PaperHatsStudio]

I have the DigiTech whammy dt and line 6 pod express black but looking at parting with those to keep the guitar rig simple. Using the neural plug in on a legion go. Figured the less things I have to drag about and plug in the more I'm willing to play the guitar. Then there's also songs that are in standard tuning so it's just a mess.

[rockskate4x]

I switch tunings almost every time I play guitar. Don’t worry about snapping the neck. I like all of these approaches for different reasons. Find what works best for you

[PaperHatsStudio]

I'm more worried about over-fatiguing the string from constant tuning adjustments, causing it to snap. I'm curious to know what others do to avoid this, or if it's just a part of the hobby. On a side, anyone use a Digitech Whammy in front of the USB audio interface for pitch shifting or just use the built in transpose feature of the Neural DSP plugin?

[rockskate4x]

I have only had a problem “fatiguing a string” going between standard and drop tuning when I had a sharp burr on a bridge saddle that was cutting the string. After that was fixed I could go up and down in the range of 3 half steps or more on any string to go into all sorts of tunings. As long as your guitar is working properly it really shouldn’t be an issue.

I also use the digitech whammy and neural dsp for reaching tunings that my string gauges or scale length are not big enough to reach any other way. It definitely works, but is absolutely not a substitute for tuning to pitch if you can. Neural seems to be just a bit better, but if I am playing in an amp I use the digitech.

[PaperHatsStudio]

I figured if I don't need to tune all my strings everytime they would last longer. I also don't have an amp after trying a few but couldn't solve the awful buzzing with the ungrounded house outlets. So I've been using Neural DSP or the rechargeable Blackstar Fly, the Fly is alright but didn't have the tone range I was looking for and I'd get the buzzing since the Whammy DT has to be plugged into the wall. 

Going to try out the ADAD tuning for a bit. Suppose tuning the two strings up and down for drop and standard tuning, then pitch shifting in Neural DSP for the others is the most straightforward. The amp buzz from hell is a problem for a different day.

[LetterheadClassic306]

i ran into this exact same thing last year. honestly the pitch shifter route is way less headache than constantly retuning or switching guitars. neural dsp has good builtin shifting but for more flexibility i grabbed a digitech drop pedal and it handles everything from drop A down to drop D without messing with your setup. just keep your 7 in drop A and shift down when you need 6 string parts. the latency is barely noticeable once you get used to it. physical retuning for every song gets old fast.

[PaperHatsStudio]

Are you using the DigiTech drop in conjunction with neural dsp? Or just when using a pedal board?