Guitars with more than 6 strings, what's the deal?

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Switchy

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I only have 6 strings on mine, some guys have 7, 8 or more :eek:

What am I missing out on?
 

johnny k

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Being able to play metal without downtuning the whole thing ?
 

Switchy

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....or George Van Eps.
I guess I'm just an old traditionalist......but six strings is about all I can deal with.
And while we're on the subject....four strings on a bass.

Exactly! At first I was actually considering learning to play a Didley Bow because it had less strings! :p
 

Mike Eskimo

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Because then you can do this (CH uses an 8 string) with only a sax player and drummer.

By the way, they all kill it on this thing…

 

Fiesta Red

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I see the technical advantages of such an instrument in certain genres/situations, but outside of Bucky and his son, and a few specific Charlie Hunter songs, I generally don’t like the music made with those instruments. It’s a semi-interesting trick that gets really old really quickly.

Most of the guys that use them also feel the need to show you every lick they can play during every song.
 

Switchy

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I see the technical advantages of such an instrument in certain genres/situations, but outside of Bucky and his son, and a few specific Charlie Hunter songs, I generally don’t like the music made with those instruments. It’s a semi-interesting trick that gets really old really quickly.

Most of the guys that use them also feel the need to show you every lick they can play during every song.


Some might be taking it too far:

 

JoesTele

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This guy started it all:




Yes, I know Suzi Arden was the first to have a 12 string electric guitar and George was the second, but, come on, Suzi Arden wasn't topping the charts or making hit movies featuring her 12 string guitar.

By the way, she wasn't a bad looking broad; but if you read carefully you'll see that while George was playing his 12 string guitar in a packed to the gills Shea Stadium, Ms. Arden was playing her 12 string at The Merri-Mint Lounge.

 

985plowboy

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Seems like I remember there being a 9 string acoustic where the G B and E had the paired octave of a 12 string.
I’d probably like that sound.
 

wabashslim

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Umm, let's go back a little further than George or Suzi...just the tip of the iceberg.

main-image


Guitar ca. 1780
Attributed to Joseph de Frías Spanish
 

nojazzhere

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It ain't anything new.


If I see right, Big Joe Williams' guitar is tuned like a six string, only adding octave pairs for the E, B, and G strings, right? I kinda make a distinction between a "more than six string" guitar like Leo Kottke or Roger McGuinn play and the guitars of George Van Eps or Charlie Hunter. (just as I would of Nathan East's multi stringed basses and Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson's eight and twelve string basses)
But that's just me.
 
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