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Topic: 7 String pre war Ric.. tuning and string tension |
Hal Braun
From:
Eustis, Florida, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2011 12:06 pm |
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I am a complete newbie, and have read enough about tunings here to confuse me completely.. figured I would just say what my thoughts and concerns are, and take feedback.
I play regular guitar, open tuning, blues/rock. I wanted to try and slide the Ric (  ) into some blues stuff.
My Ric has 7 strings and is Bakelite, not to mention old, and I worry that the string tension not overly stress the neck (which seems really beefy, but who knows)
Most of the tunings I have seen are for 6 or 8 strings.. not 7 (what do you do with that extra string that is cool? especially in a blues environment?)
So, my ultimate question? what tuning low --> high, and with what string gauges that won't turn the neck to a pretzel??
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!!!
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Apr 2011 12:24 pm
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That is a very fine guitar you have there--a very, very fine guitar. Jerry Byrd made so much music on a 7 string Rickenbacher, it's not even funny.
That guitar is more than capable of playing in a Blues/Rock format. Should you someday decide to pursue more "steel guitar" type endeavors, it will be great for that, too.
I would recommend an E7 tuning like this:
E
B
G#
E
D
B
E
That will be most familiar to you as a guitarist and you won't get hung up on 6th chords and stuff like that. Later on you may see the advantage of tunings such as E6 or C6, but you can get a kickstart with this tuning.
You don't have to worry about string tension stressing the neck--it won't happen. What will happen, though, is your tuners will fail and become stripped if you go with the wrong string gauges. They are difficult to replace on that guitar and will de-value it. Be careful!
_________________
Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2011 12:31 pm
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| You've got THE guitar to become a blues geetar hero in all biker bars across the land, just tune as Mike sez and crank it! |
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Hal Braun
From:
Eustis, Florida, USA
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Posted 11 Apr 2011 12:53 pm
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Thanks for the fast response.. my Dad always said this was the place to go for info.. I notice steel strings usually come in a pack of 10 strings for either E9 or C6 tuning.. would I use the E9 set and pull the 7 out of the middle, or start from the largest up or lightest down?
I am also assuming your tuning is going from the high E B G# E down to the low D B E?
Thanks again! |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 11 Apr 2011 7:22 pm
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Lots of string sets available in 6 or 8 string sets, in various tunings.. They are available here, as well as from juststrings.com etc. Buying them here helps support this forum.
And a donation to this place is a nice thing to do occasionally too 
And I'm REALLY jealous of you having a pre-war 7 string bakelite !!  |
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John Bushouse
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S.M. Johnson
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2011 8:27 am STRING Tension? Not a concern.
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That is one of the cleanest 7-string Ric's that I have ever seen.
I've heard that Jerry Byrd played/recorded with one of those for years. His string selection can be found on the JerryByrd-FanClub.com site.
If it was good enough for him, it would seem more than adequate for YOU........and no risk to your guitar. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Apr 2011 9:16 am
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When I was still playin' my Gibson D-7, I had the outside neck tuned to C6th for Country, and Western Swing. But I had the inside neck tuned to a stretched out bottleneck G tuning for Rock and Blues.
Low to high, DGDGBDG
Although it's just a G chord, it has an advantage to it;
Strings 7 thru 2, are standard bottleneck Low G tuning, but strings 6 thru 1, have the same intervallic relationship as standard bottleneck E tuning. |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 12 Apr 2011 10:23 am
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nice 7 string! really great shape. here's a similar 6 string.
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Hal Braun
From:
Eustis, Florida, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2011 8:29 pm
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Thanks for all the help and replies.. my Dad was the steel player of the family.. and I am sure some of you knew or corresponded with him (Al Braun) but unfortunately we never really had a chance to talk about tunings, playing, etc. before he passed and left me the guitar.. Heck.. he started me on an accordion back in the day, and an old Gibson hollowbody that I would give my eye teeth for now..
 (What a twisted sense of humor.. that squeeze box would catch me in the neck and nether regions at the same time)
Then the Beatles hit.. along with everything that came after, and my musical tastes parted ways from his pretty radically! Now that he is gone, I have a 1000 questions I would have liked to have asked him, but heck.. he was probably getting the answers from here anyway and just taking credit!!! (he was a sly old dog that way) and this picture just shows the true joy he got out of any guitar you could play "flat"!
thanks for letting me run down memory lane..
Cheers! |
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