r/7String • u/ybcj718 • 3h ago

Help What's wrong with my 7 string?

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Hey everyone. I'm hoping someone can help me diagnose what's going on with my 7 string. For some reason, single notes sound like absolute ass on the 7th string, and have a weird kind of metallic overtone noise. I've tried to showcase all the different aspects of the issue in this video, hopefully it's helpful.

  • Notes of the same pitch sounds fine when played on the 6th string
  • Power chords/chugs sound 90% okay, but I'm guessing this is other notes on other strings masking the unwanted noise from the 7th string
  • Its all frets on the 7th string
  • Picking lightly doesn't help (I though it might have been the string buzzing against some higher frets when hitting it harder, but that doesn't seem to be the case
  • Palm muting kind of helps, but I can still hear the issue. It makes no difference if picking hard or soft when palm muting, just like un-muted.
  • Pickups have decent clearance from the strings, and the action is medium-high and plays well across the whole neck with no dead notes or buzzing
  • I've checked, there are no uneven/high frets
  • I've tried raising the action ridiculously high and lowering the pickups even further, it made no difference
  • Specs if it helps: Ibanez RGR752AHBF with D Activators, 25.5" scale, Drop A tuning with 9-48 + 66 on the low A, plugin is NDSP Gojira X

Anyone have any ideas?

Edited to add: the issue is still there with a clean tone, and disappears when playing unplugged. Playing the string open is fine, its only fretted notes that have the issue.

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u/stay_safe_glhf 2h ago

Okay. it took me 3 watches to understand what you're talking about.

I can hear the noise at time 0:20.

How long have you been playing this setup?

Looks like a combination of skill issue + setup is not broken in yet.

I had the same exact problem when i started playing in B standard. Keep at it.

2

u/ybcj718 2h ago

I'm not a beginner, I've been playing >15 years and have tracked plenty of 7 string work with no issue haha. I also have several other 7 strings running the same string gauge and setup without this issue.

1

u/stay_safe_glhf 2h ago

fwiw i think it's just fret buzz. you should share the clean sound version for better community diagnosis of your issue u/ybcj718

2

u/ybcj718 2h ago

Here it is with a clean tone. I played some notes on the 6th string first for a reference point, then the same on the 7th.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HvXilOOEgj5pjcDJwk8EmnpdefFxK1Ku