Pickup covers and the 7 string universe.

[restorationad]

Is there really that much demand for a 7 String pickup with a nickel cover?
Most 7 String guitars are more metal looking, and most players like that, don't care about a cover.
The only time I fool with 6 string covers, is for a LP or a guitar of that nature that looks unnatural without the cover.
If there is some high demand for the cover, might send an email to Tom at Mojo about sourcing it.
However that takes a few months to get them made.
T

Yes and no. It is high enough that I get at least one request a week.... not high enough to tool up for it.

[rjb]

Not Exactly!

BTW- That's George van Eps, "Father of the 7-String Guitar".

[JoeM]

BTW- That's George van Eps, "Father of the 7-String Guitar".

My teachers' teacher, I've had the pleasure of talking to George several times. A true genius on the guitar.

[David Schwab]

With van Eps guitar, that was a low A string, and everything else was a step lower, so it was drop A tuning. I bet he could get some heavy tones from that!

[JoeM]

With van Eps guitar, that was a low A string, and everything else was a step lower, so it was drop A tuning. I bet he could get some heavy tones from that!

Low A for the seventh string, but otherwise standard tuning. The low A is like having an extra 5th string an octave lower.

[RCI Guitars]

I get more requests now for 7 and 8 string pickups then anything else. I guess more players are getting into them besides metal players...they are looking for more tone then the ceramic screamers that are most commonly found in stock 7 and 8 string models. The 8 string idea with the chopped bobbins doesn't sound like a bad idea if its done right...plastic can be buffed out pretty well if you know what your doing. Only issue is the keepers and base plates, unless you want to fab them yourself. I am starting to get more and more into fabricating parts due to lack of custom options on the market. I have been getting more and more requests about angle set bobbins for fanned fret guitars...unless I make them with a fiber base plate, I would have to fab a nickle base plate for it.

[David Schwab]

Low A for the seventh string, but otherwise standard tuning. The low A is like having an extra 5th string an octave lower.

That's what I thought too, but when I went to double check I found references to the rest of the strings being a step lower.

[JoeM]

That's what I thought too, but when I went to double check I found references to the rest of the strings being a step lower.

From Van Eps himself:

"You can do what I did in 1937, when I was working on the design of the 7-string guitar that Epiphone was building for me: Get hold of an extra guitar and restring it as the low six strings of a 7-string. Eliminate the high E string and move everything up one notch, so the B string is on top, followed by G, D, A, and low E. Then put a heavy-gauge string on the bottom. You can use whatever gauge you like. I use a .080 and tune it to A. Get as familiar as you can with that tuning. Don't panic -- there are no strange notes. The bottom string is just another A string, tuned an octave lower than your standard fifth string. Start by playing anything you normally play where you use the fifth string in standard tuning, and move it over to the bottom string. That puts you down in the bowels of the bass range.

"There are basically three tunings to think about with the 7-string: strings 6 through 1 are in standard tuning (E, A, D, G, B, E, low to high) and strings 7 through 2 are in the secondary tuning (A, E, A, D, G, B). You'll find that things which lay in terrible positions and require long reaches on a 6-string will lay right under your fingers in the secondary tuning, which frees up your left-hand fingers to provide moving voices. The third tuning is all seven strings integrated (A, E, A, D, G, B, E). If you have any ears at all, and are willing to get calluses on your fingers and your behind, you'll learn how to put them all together."