Editing Seven-string guitar (section)

==Electric designs==
===Semi-hollow and hollow body electric guitars===
In the [[United States]], the jazz guitarist [[George Van Eps]] had a seven-string guitar built for him by [[Epiphone Guitars]] in the late 1930s and a signature [[Gretsch]] seven-string in the late 60s and early 70s. The Van Eps signature guitar may be the first regular-production seven-string electric guitar. Van Eps tuned his 7th string to A.

Several others began using seven-string guitars after Van Eps, including [[Bucky Pizzarelli]], [[Howard Alden]], [[Ron Escheté]], Chance Russell,  and [[John Pizzarelli]], son of Bucky Pizzarelli.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnpizzarelli.com/bio.html |title=Biography |website=John Pizzarelli Official Website |access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref> [[Lenny Breau]] also used seven string instruments, but whereas the other players all used instruments with an added bass string, Breau had at least one instrument in which the seventh string was an added ''treble'' string, tuned to the 'A' above the high 'E' string (A4).  At the time he began using the high A string, no commercially manufactured string could withstand being tuned that high, so Breau substituted a piece of [[monofilament fishing line]] of appropriate gauge. A year later, advances in materials science allowed the La Bella company to begin manufacturing a custom string for Breau's high A.<ref name="lennybreau">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.lennybreau.com/lbart2.html |last1=Ferguson |first1=Jim |title=Lenny Breau Remembered |magazine=[[Guitar Player]] |date=November 1984 |access-date=19 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703180304/http://www.lennybreau.com/lbart2.html |archive-date=2008-07-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Seven-string [[semi-acoustic guitar|semi-acoustic]] [[archtop guitar]]s were used by jazz-guitarist [[Ralph Patt]] after he began exploring [[major-thirds tuning]] in 1964.<ref name="Griewank1" >{{harvtxt|Griewank|2010|p=1}}</ref><ref name="Kirkeby">{{cite web |first=Ole |last=Kirkeby |date=1 March 2012 |title=Major&nbsp;thirds tuning |access-date=10 June 2012 |url=http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/ |website=M3guitar.com |id=cited by {{harvtxt|Sethares|2011}} and {{harv|Griewank|2010|p=1}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411064851/http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/ |archive-date=11 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Patt">{{cite web |url=http://www.ralphpatt.com/Tune.html |first=Ralph |last=Patt |website=RalphPatt.com |title=The major&nbsp;3rd tuning |date=14 April 2008 |access-date=10 June 2012 |id=cited by {{harvtxt|Sethares|2011}} and {{harvtxt|Griewank|2010|p=1}}}}</ref> Patt's tuning is a [[regular tunings|regular tuning]], in the sense that all of the [[interval (music)|interval]]s between its successive [[open string (music)|open string]]s are [[major third]]s; in contrast, the [[standard guitar-tuning]] has one major-third amid four [[perfect fourth|fourth]]s.<ref name="Sethares2001">{{harvtxt|Sethares|2001|pp=[http://sethares.engr.wisc.edu/alternatetunings/regulartunings.pdf 52–67]}} and {{harvtxt|Sethares|2011}}</ref> Major-thirds tuning has a smaller scope than standard guitar-tuning,<ref name="Sethares2001"/><ref name="Peterson37">{{harvtxt|Peterson|2002|p=37}}</ref> and so Patt started using seven-string guitars, which enabled major-thirds tuning to have the E-e' range of the standard tuning. He first experimented with a wide-neck Mango guitar from the 1920s, which he modified to have seven strings in 1963.<ref name="Peterson36">{{harvtxt|Peterson|2002|p=36}}</ref> In 1967 he purchased a seven-string by José Rubio.<ref name="Peterson37"/>

The first seven-string electric guitars were built in the "hollowbody" or "semi-hollow" archtop styles, where the guitar has a central resonating chamber, or a central block with resonant chambers on the sides. This gave the guitar the dark woodiness, breath, and richness that is associated with traditional "jazz" tone, but also made prone to feedback at high volumes, making it problematic for rock guitar playing.

===Solid body electric guitars===
[[File:Seven-string guitar ibanez rg7321bk.jpg|thumb|120px|Seven-string electric guitar ''Ibanez RG7321BK'']]
In the early thirties the [[National String Instrument Corporation]] offered seven-string versions of their solid-body lap-steel guitars.

A [[solid body]] seven-string electric guitar was conceived by guitarist [[Lenny Breau]] and built by luthier Kirk Sand,<ref name="lennybreau"/> debuting at the 1983 [[NAMM Show]], featuring a high A-string (rather than the low A-string of Eps).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2010/Sep/Builder_Profile_Kirk_Sand_Guitars.aspx?Page=2 |title=Builder Profile: Kirk Sand Guitars |first=Gayla |last=Drake |date=17 August 2010 |website=Premier Guitar |access-date=20 April 2018}}</ref> In 1987, [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] signed an agreement with Alex Gregory to produce a [[Stratocaster]]-style guitar that featured a high A-string. A small number of prototypes were made. However the unit was never put into production. He has made numerous false claims in regards to the 7 string guitar and is not considered a reliable source of information, even regarding his own 7 string signature series which was produced in limited numbers by Fender. He frequently embellishes the events that took place in all facets of its production. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Duchossoir |first=A.R. |title=The Fender Stratocaster |edition=Revised |location=Milwaukee |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=1995 |page=34 |isbn=978-0-79354-735-7}}</ref>

The first mass-produced seven-string was the [[Ibanez]] UV7, a signature model for [[Steve Vai]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Bienstock|first=Richard|title=Steve Vai Discusses Designing Ibanez Universe Seven-String|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/steve-vai-discusses-designing-ibanez-universe-seven-string|website=Guitar World|date=26 November 2018|access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> It was also used by [[John Petrucci]], [[Reb Beach]], and [[Korn]] guitarists [[Brian Welch]] and [[James Shaffer]], amongst others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Sullivan |first=L. |year=1990 |title=What's hot in guitars |magazine=Guitar School |location=New York City |page=15}}</ref> Vai was drawn to the idea for much of the same reasons seven-string classical and jazz players were—the extended range the additional string offered. After initial experimentation with a high A, a low B was added as the high A proved to be too prone to breaking. (Kirk Sand and Lenny Breau solved the breaking high A string problem by shortening the [[Scale length (string instruments)|scale length]] to 22.75", Vai's Ibanez is 25.5".) Vai began touring with [[Whitesnake]] with a seven-string prototype, and then used the guitars for his 1990 release ''[[Passion and Warfare]]''.

The seven-string guitar became prominent when the band [[Korn]] featured Ibanez Universe guitars on their 1994 [[Korn (album)|debut album]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Stoner|first=Brandon|title=A Brief History of Ibanez Guitars|url=https://guitar.com/features/history-of-ibanez/|website=Guitar.com|date=5 December 2022|access-date=2 February 2024}}</ref> During the 1990s, manufacturers of 7-strings included [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]]'s subsidiary [[Squier]] and [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]]'s subsidiary [[Epiphone]].

In this time many guitarists were introduced to the extended range offered by a seven-string guitar. This was somewhat offset by a growing stigma that a seven-string guitar was a "[[nu metal]]" instrument, fit only for heavy riffing. This was ironic as Korn guitarists [[James Shaffer|Munky]] and [[Brian Phillip Welch|Head]] remember being told in their early days that the seven-string guitar could not be used for riffing, as it was a guitar for technical guitar players.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKsGpl6lgbk  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/oKsGpl6lgbk |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Munky & Head on Ibanez 7th Heaven |author=kornfan02 |date=7 January 2007 |website=YouTube |access-date=20 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In the 1990s, several other heavy metal guitarists began using seven-string instruments (notably [[John Petrucci]], [[Trey Azagthoth]], and [[Erik Rutan]]), seeing the possibility for detuned riffing while preserving the full upper range of the guitar for solos. However, the seven-string guitar failed to really catch on at this phase in its development, and the Universe model was discontinued briefly in 1995. Historically, [[Matt Bellamy]] from [[Muse (band)|Muse]] had used a custom red Manson seven-string to play just one song, "Citizen Erased", with a AADDGBE tuning (the song was originally recorded on a detuned six-string). However, he later started using new Manson custom seven-strings to play new songs "Supremacy", "Survival" and "Liquid State" on Muse's 2012 ''[[The 2nd Law]]'' album tour. [[Dino Cazares]] uses custom seven-string Ibanez guitars; [[Christian Olde Wolbers]] has his own signature [[Jackson Guitars|Jackson]] seven-string guitar, [[Jeff Loomis]] has a signature model made by [[Schecter Guitar Research|Schecter]] and [[Stephen Carpenter]] has several of his own models released by [[ESP Guitars|ESP]].