Best 7 String Guitar Selection for Extended Range & Power

Scale Length and Multiscale

Scale length is the overall distance between the Bridge and Nut. Different scale lengths have varying tone, string tension, and playability – and this is true even for guitars with 7 strings. If you are tuning below B standard, it is best to go for a longer scale length, such as 26.5″. Longer scale lengths also affect tone by having the strings more taut, resulting in a twangier and tighter tone. Regular 25.5″ scale length has the advantage of having less string tension with the same string gauges. This makes leads and solos a bit easier on the fingers. Lower strings also tend to sound fatter and looser. Note that 7-String Tuning also impacts string tension.

The best of both worlds is to get a 7 string Multiscale guitar. These usually have a regular scale on the high strings and a longer scale (often baritone) on the lower strings. This setup is perfect for extended-range guitars, as it keeps the high strings feeling great for lead work and the low strings tight and clear. Depending on the manufacturer, the fanning of the frets may take a bit of getting used to, especially those with large scale length range. When it comes to scale lengths, more options don’t always mean better because multiscale guitars will require significant technique and muscle memory adjustments.

Neck: Construction, Material, Profile, Radius, and Fret Size.

The material of the neck and fretboard determines a lot of how the guitar feels and responds in your hands. And this is true for any type of guitar, be it a regular guitar or a seven-string guitar.

Aside from neck construction (we’ll get to that in a bit), the way the neck and fretboard resonate will feel different for each type of wood. Neck woods like Maple tend to feel snappier, and you feel more of the initial attack of the strings. Mahogany or other darkwoods tend to give you less of that attack but feel more “mellow” to the touch when you strike the strings.

Fretboards also contribute to the tone and feel of a guitar. Maple fretboards emphasize the initial attack of the strings better than rosewood. Rosewood boards mellow out the attack but have a nice “bloom” to the notes and make for warmer tonalities. Ebony is somewhere between the two as Ebony is very dense, and the resulting tone sounds a bit like maple fretboards, but the resonance and feel is closer to rosewood boards.

Another factor that affects tone, feel and sustain is neck construction. In general, bolt-on necks tend to feel snappier than set-neck and neck-through designs. Combined with a maple fretboard, you get the most attack from this combination. If you’re worried about sustain, many well-constructed bolt-ons can even out-sustain the most massive of Les Paul-type bodies. The difference will be how the guitar will feel as you play it. Set necks tend to have a more mellowed attack and fatter tone.

Neck profile is also very important – especially since you are dealing with seven guitar strings. Depending on your ergonomics and how you hold the neck, you may either prefer a thin, flat neck or a slightly thicker, more rounded C shape neck. Different guitar players have different tastes when it comes to neck profile, for example John Petrucci would prefer a wider and thinner neck, while jazz players would often go for a more chunky feeling neck.

Take into account that excessive thickness might hinder playability. Having thick, blocky shoulders on a guitar neck that’s thicker than a 6 string will feel obstructing. An overly thin neck may cause wrist pain in some people, particularly those not accustomed to them. So take note of this single guitar specification before you choose the best one for you, and keep in mind that you have an additional string on your fretboard.

Body Wood

Body woods tend to affect how the guitar resonates as well as provide the characteristics of its attack and sustain. A warm-sounding body wood like mahogany is often paired with brighter neck woods like maple or ebony to give a more balanced tone. Some of the best electric guitars of all time have snappy sounding ash bodies paired with maple fretboards.

In theory, the tone might sound overly bright and snappy, but these are often paired with higher output pickups that have less high end. Proper pairing of woods and electronics results in a great feeling and great sounding guitar. Within these, every guitar will sound different even if they have the exact same specifications. it’s a bit more subtle, but the optimal choice of wood pairings would narrow down your ideal tone.

Stock Pickups

Much of the guitar sound is attributed to pickups. As such, stock pickups can make or break a guitar’s tone. Some manufacturers tend to put cheaper pickups on some 7 string models on the assumption that players will replace them anyway. Others prefer to put in their own choice of pickups in what they believe to be the most optimal set for the model. Preferably, these are pickups that are designed to handle the extra low string.

The reason why you should check the kind of pickups as your last decision-making factor is that a good-feeling guitar can have a bad set of pickups that can easily be replaced. It is far better to get a great-feeling guitar that you feel comfortable with than replacing the pickups than choosing a guitar solely on the pickups and not being satisfied with how the guitar feels. Unplayable guitars are a no-go; the right course of action is to focus on playability and feel – if you’re planning on upgrading your pickups in the future.

Take note that if the guitar has active electronics and you want to replace them with passive pickups, you will have to purchase new potentiometers for the guitar. Aftermarket active pickups tend to have most of the electronics included.