6,7,8,9 Strings ? Erg Discussion Options

[Ben Higgins]

ERG - Extended Range Guitars. Basically anything over 6 strings comes under the ERG bracket. There's love and hate towards it and indifference, curiosity and hesitancy. Why ?

The 6 string guitar is 'the one', the main holy grail that we've used to for decades. And yet...

There was a time when early guitars had only 4 and then 5 strings. http://www.guyguitars.com/eng/handbook/BriefHistory.html Interestingly, they were also doubled up, much like a mandolin is today.

The tuning was one that we still use, with low to high strings being tuned as A, D, G, B, E. Imagine the consternation when something dared put a low E into the mix. The music lovers of the 17th century must have been trembling when the bottom end thundered through some quaint Italian piazza. Imagine the circle pits as a twin guitarra attack drove the locals into a head banging frenzy.

Ok, maybe that didn't occur but in the musician's world there must surely have been similar trepidation towards extending an instrument that many had become used to to and gotten to grips with. After all, when one is considered a master in a field, if somebody comes along with the 'next step' it offers a possible conundrum of learning the new skill or sticking with what you know. Would there have been a similar demand upon court musicians of the day to provide nobility with those fascinating new sounds they'd been hearing about ? Maybe there could have been a gaggle of older players feeling disconcerted by the switch to 6 strings and a younger generation of musicians coming up into the world, learning their craft on the new layout.

So, for the longest of times in the guitar's evolution, 6 strings has been the norm. But evolving in the world of music is no new thing. History tells us that as well as what we've experienced in our own lifetimes. It's a given that things will change. But the thing about change in the world of music is that it's mostly a case of choice. It's not like choosing to use plumbing or electricity. It's not something that seriously affects life. So we do have the comfort, to a point, of choosing what we choose to embrace in the world of guitar. Nobody's going to suffer if you like playing 6 strings only. It's no big deal. So it's really about what you personally like.

7's these days are not as big a deal as they were a decade ago. They're a lot more 'acceptable', if that's the right word to use. They're less likely to warrant a discussion then 8 or 9 stringers.

8's are still bold territory for most. I think they sound great in the right hands. It truly increases the sonic palette of the guitar and makes for some brilliant sounds.

And then there's 9 which I would safely bet is still a bridge too far for many. Let's face it, if you make a video with a 9 string guitar, it's still going to get you column inches on guitar based sites.

In a few years from now, will 9's seem normal ? 8's probably will.

What do you guys think about ERGs ? Give us some examples of why you like them, or not !

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This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Feb 15 2015, 11:20 AM

[Todd Simpson]

Found a new vendor on Ebay called "SHAWN" guitars (shawn of the Dead?) who makes a spiff 8 STRING FANNED FRET guitar that starts @ $499. Now that's pretty darn tempting even for a brand I"ve never heard off Then again, I've been jonesing for a fanned fret 8 for a while now. For those who dont' know, the "fanned" fret models looks like the frets are angled out at the top and in at the bottom per the pic below. This allows more tension on the low strings that need it and less on the high strings that don't

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