So, I'm looking to invest in a 7 string. Playing in B is the standard tuning of a 7-string and I love the convenience of playing in B and then easily being able to jump into E standard. Can anyone recommend a good 7-string set for melodic/symphonic stuff? Preferably an ESP or something close to ESP. Price range is $1,000 and down.

Carvin. Carvin. CAAAAARVIN.

My DC727 is fucking awesome and one of the nicest guitars I've played. It came in at around $1000, and it is exactly the spec I want.

Although some people might think that it is an awful idea, I am about to start a guitar defretting project in a couple days but it will probably take a while before I get enough time to completely finish it. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and record some stuff so people can see the process and hear the results.

So, first i need to learn the scales? and then the chords?

Basically, so you can get the hang of tying everything together easily.
It's like this:

C Major Scale:
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C again.
The first, 3rd and 5th notes make a chord.

Therefore, a C chord is made up of: C, E, and G. The same thing applies to the Minor scale as well.
You have to learn the steps and half-steps as well (1 step = 2 frets, 1/2 step = 1 fret).

I gotta go to sleep now, but I'll be back tomorrow.

Can anyone give me any feedback on the old Boss Xtortion pedal? I really want to try one out, but the cheapest one I've come across has been around $200 used...

My guitar has this nasty fret buzz on the low E string when I'm on the low frets. Are there any common solutions that may solve my problem? Googling gave me a bunch of unrelated solutions.

Just send it for a general setup at a store that know's what they're doing(you know this from word of mouth).

How much $$ is that going to cost? While the buzz is annoying, I can live with it (I can't hear it when I'm plugged in).

i play in very low tunings. for my Jackson i play in drop g for brutal death
while on my 8-string i leave it on standard for progressive/black/thrash

What kind of strings should I get for a Jackson SL1/Soloist to do B tuning efficiently?

I've been messing with strings for the RR5, finally have some that work well for B, but SL1 has more frets and a different body/neck length (I believe).

alright, well i think im gonna star learning the scales first

Two possible solutions. It's always best to learn how to set your guitar up and get it feeling/sounding how you want it. Don't go to a tech. It's all really easy and just requires patience.

If the buzz is below the 7th fret and the action on that string is as you like it the you need to give the neck some relief.
Try playing with the action first. You'll probably just need a tiny allen key or screwdriver and you just adjust the saddle a bit at a time to get the string higher off the board. I tiny adjustment makes a bit difference so do it in tiny turns then retune and test until you have it as you like. If the strings already seem at a fair height up the neck then maybe your neck either has too much back bow or is too straight.
Unlike most people seem to think, your guitar neck should not be straight. There should always be a slight forward curve or "relief", this is especially true for downtunings. I use 9. gauge strings and downtune to a C#, a B on my fretless. I don't like thicker strings so i combat the problems of downtuning with light strings by setting my guitar with the extra relief needed to combat buzz without making the action too high.

If you need to give more relief just adjust the truss rod a tiny turn at a time and keep retuning and testing until you have it right. Generally turning Clockwise will give relief but it could be different on your guitar. People get scared of doing this, but i promise it's nothing to worry about as long as you make really small adjustments. You can put everything back as it was if you do something wrong, as long as you're not stupid. And then you can learn how to do all your guitar tech work yourself, or you could even be the guy that gets paid $100+ for two hours work with a screw driver and some allen keys.

I assume you're talking to me? (you're answering my friend buzz question but you quoted some other guy).

I don't understand anything you said (I'm still new to the guitar and know next to nothing about the hardware of it). Would it be safe for me to search up what you described on youtube and follow it from there?

Try one in store if you can. It can't really be used for metal and it's the weirdest distortion pedal I've ever tried. Nothing else sounds like it.
I wouldn't recommend you buying it.

Hey all; I've been looking around for a new guitar and I thought I'd ask for some recommendations. I'm into more unique body shapes, but not as wild as say B. C. Rich's Warlock or Beast. I've been looking at Jackson's WRMG and Ibanez's XPT700. Both look pretty slick and I've read good things about them. Other guitars like the Explorer or Rhoads also interest me.

That said, I'd like to be able to play the guitar right off the shelf, per-say. I'd prefer not to change any components like pickups when I buy it, and to keep it standard for at least for a while. Additionally, I'd prefer to play something a bit on the lighter side with good balance so the neck doesn't drop when I play. I'm mostly into death and thrash metal, so I'd like a good crunchy tone while having clear leads.

Made a Judas Priest cover today. It's not great, and the timing of the second solo sucks, but here it is:
http://soundcloud.com/jasperpost/hot-ro ... das-priest

Tabbing the intro of Paradise Lost's ''Honesty in Death'' out.

Also wrote a doomy lead. Pretty decent I guess.

EDIT: wrote another guitar lead thing quick. Time goes fast this way!

Yeah, definitely has a different sound to it, and it is very close to what I want for a new project I'm working on. I'll keep an ear out still to see if I can borrow one, if one shows up. Thanks for the reply!

Broke the wrist of my picking hand so I'm down to practising hammer-on and pull-off patterns for the next month and a bit. I think I'll strengthen my pinky for more intricate licks.

I need some help on cleaning my rosewood fret-board.
I've looked all over the place on how to properly clean it and it just confuses me on what products I should use.
I've read that you use steel wool lightly, it can help with the gunk that builds up and bore oil is good for polishing the frets. What do you guys reccomend?

Wrote few leads on my guitar. Currently trying to nail Death's Lack of Comprehension.

Question for advanced guitar players here: how do you practice? I've been thinking of seriously maling a schedule for myself. It might be boring as first but helpful I suppose. I'm really not practicing things as much as I should, though I've been having a blast of guitar playing since 3 weeks again which is pretty great.

I usually warm up with chromatics, then practice scales, then specific techniques (tapping, sweeping) and finish off by jamming to a backing track.

Restrung my Floyd Rose for the first time. Wasn't too hard since I had YouTube videos helping me. It was also my first time stringing a guitar as well and I figure the whole process gets to be second nature with practice.

Somebody on here a loooong time ago asked me to cover Beyond Bludgeoned by Brain Drill and I've got the first two minutes or so of it down well enough after all these months.

I fucking hate the guitar now.

Here's some suggestions I've gotten from professional guitar builders...

- You can use steel wool, but make sure it's a really fine grain (like 0000 grain) and do it with a light touch. Try and avoid the frets because you can mess up the levelness of the fret crown. Also, the tiny steel shaving that result from using steel wool will stick to your pickups and that can cause problems. If you use steel wool, remember to completely cover the pickups with tape. I prefer blue painter tape because it's less adhesive than most other tapes, and tape that is really sticky can leave gunk on the guitar's finish if you're not careful. Only remove the tape after you've cleaned up all the shavings.

- Apply naptha, which is in most lighter fluids, to a soft cotton cloth and rub away. Make sure you use real naptha, it works best and won't damage the Rosewood. An alternative to using a cloth would be to use naptha and a toothbrush. The toothbrush works well because it allows you to clean right up next to the frets.

- Some people use both steel wool AND naptha. If you do this, make sure you do the steel wool part first and then thoroughly clean up the shavings before applying the naptha.

- To oil the fretboard, most people use lemon oil or a brand-name specific like "Fret Doctor". Both are good, but only use a really tiny amount (like 4 or 5 drops). The instructions the name brand oils might tell you to use more, but, remember, they are in the business of selling you oil and the sooner you run out, the sooner they can sell you more.

Having a chinese Ibanez amp means you have to come up with weird creative noise-reduction techniques every day!
Maybe I have to suspend it in a bucket of liquid Nitrogen upside down while facing the wall next time.

Liquid nitrogen sounds like a great way to dodge the issue of quality amps being too costly.

Now that's an argument I cannot shake. I think you have a point here.

Just clean it with lemonseed oil and a soft cotton cloth. I don't know if I'd go as far as steel wool or other such stuff.

But then again, to me a guitar should wear naturally. A 10 year old, well-played guitar has a personality that a newly-bought instrument simply cannot duplicate -- until it has been played liberally for 10 years

I've got a Peavey Classic 30 but it's not really my thing. Anyone know the best way to sell it to get some decent money?

eBay. Btw I checked out your sig, cool music you got going on there

I'm trying to get used to soloing in diminished, I think I've become far too accustomed to 'regular' scales in the past, I need to consciously visualise the half-whole steps which slows down my playing a lot, in an awkward kinda way.

Thanks man, I know the production sucks (especially the "drums") but I like to think the songs shine through. I've written new ones since then. I'm doing the same actually, diminished is hard to really get into when you're used to abusing harmonic minor.

What are the thickest available stainless steel strings in the market ? I also wonder if there is a chance to get custom made stainless steel strings.

I believe the thickest are going to be Ernie Ball's Stanless Steel Power Slinky at .011-.048. I know there are heavier bass strings that are stainless too. If you want custom made stainless steel strings, La Bella is probably the company to go with, since they actually accommodate custom string requests (not sure how large of an order or how much they cost, but Iommi has praised their custom made strings and attention to detail).

I need some help. I want to know what some good evil sounding chords are, I wanted to try and incorporate some in one of my new songs.

Haha, perhaps you should figure that out for yourself. The staple of all dissonance is of course the tritonus, which is essentially a power chord where the interval is short one half step. Make a chord of the main riff of Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath.

I know the hole tritonus deal already I ment be specific. Like what are some favorites that you guys have. Any way I finished the song already so It doesn't matter anyway.

You won't have much luck simply finding a few chords that sound "evil". The type of sound you seem to be looking for seems to be dissonance. You should start by learning a bit about consonance and dissonance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonance_and_dissonance

You can do pretty much the opposite by following the rules of counterpoint, which seek to create an extremely consonant, harmonious sound. By testing these rules, you can find what sounds dissonant, or "evil" if you wish to call it that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpoint

I would appreciate it if any awesome guitar players in this thread could listen to these 2 songs:

1) Tank - Echos of a Distant Battle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkZFM35hwUo

I can play the song by ear, but I don't think I'm doing the intro right. Would anyone mind helping me?

2) Loudness - No Way Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEfaZZEFp3o

I have no idea where to even start with this....Need help with intro, main riff for sure.

If you are bored enough, a tab or slow motion video would be cool. I'd be happy to paypal some cash to anyone who goes through the effort. According o most of my friends, my ears are pretty damn good, but I guess my guitar knowledge doesn't really exceed minor/major scale, power chords, palm muting, and tremolo picking. So I don't really have a good ear for anything out of the ordinary. I was happy that I figured out a few razor tracks..but these are out of my league.