SE 7 String vs SE Baritone Soapbar vs SE Baritone Solidbody?

[Pine Cone]

I've decided that PRS guitars are the best bang for my price range, but I always end up wanting to go lower on my guitar, generally wishing my bottom string would go lower. I've detuned, but why always detune when you can just get a guitar made for lower notes. I'm a newish player and I'm trying to decide what to get.

So I have 2 options, a 7 string option or a baritone guitar. The 7 string would allow me to keep every thing I know with the 6 string and to harmonize with other players easily with that lower drop sound I want. However, the neck is fatter, and I've heard the pickups have a little harder time with such a wide range of sounds. And it is only 1 string different from what I have.

The baritones allow for all the strings to be lower and them all to have different sounds than standard. I love the sound coming out of them on the test videos on the PRS website. I do have a standard 6 string already, but if I get a baritone, my nice guitar will always be stuck with a lower tuning. And it will be harder to play with other people.

Then, if I did get a baritone, it's tricky to decide whether to go with the soapbar hollow or the solid body. I love the clean sound of the soapbar and the surf sound, but generally I play all over the board with different sounds, and I'm worried that the ability to only have one coil sound instead of the single and humbucker option on the solid body would limit my tonal variety. But the solid bodies coils sound rather aggressive and I'd be worried that they would make many things sound too dark and attack hard.

If any of you have these guitars, I would appreciate feedback on what you like or dislike about them and what you would recommend to a newish player. Thanks!

 

[MistaSnowman]

I have a SE Custom 24-7 String and absolutely love it! I was set to decide on getting a 2nd 7-string but then the baritones arrive and I've been stuck in neutral ever since!

As far as advice goes, if you want to tune lower but want to keep the chord shapes you already know, go for the baritone. If you feel that you're ready to tackle a larger neck and the extra string, go for the 7. On the 7 I have, I tune to Drop A for the extra bass notes on 5th string root barre/power chords for a 'fuller' sound.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Well as you've noticed, you can already detune your regular guitar, you just need to get the right string gauge.

Baritones, on the other hand, are designed to already be tuned lower.

7 strings, on the third (?) hand, are the best of both worlds. But the PRS scale length limits that a small amount -- I've never detuned my 7 string, I always leave it just BEADGBE, and it's quite common for 7-string players to tune it to AEADGBE.

So the lower 6 strings are sort of the baritone, and the higher 6 strings are sort of the regular guitar.

So -- if your original statement is correct, and you find yourself needing to go lower on a regular basis, I would recommend the baritone. It has a scale better suited for going lower.

The PRS SE Custom 24/7 -- because of their scale length -- are more suited not to be tuned much lower than they already are. But their appeal to those that want more interesting chordal possibilities remains.

The Holcomb is a 6 string 25.5 inch scale guitar, so it's more suited for lower (de)tunings. If you need to go bass lower, might I recommend another brand -- a Bass VI perhaps (6 string tuned an octave lower). Or perhaps a 5-string bass of some variety.

 

[Pine Cone]

Thanks for the replies guys! It never clicked till now, but a baritone is just a 7 string without the top E string (with the third 7 string being different than the second baritone string though).

A lot of people seem to have 7 strings and really like them. Baritones are significantly rarer. Online, both seem to like them if they have them. My hesitation with the 7 string is that I feel it will be more difficult. More difficult to do full (where you play all the strings) chords, more difficulty with another string to deal with when playing, fatter neck... I guess the question is, do I really want that top E string?

I've always heard that 7 strings were good for breaking out of the box you had been in with 6 strings and doing new chord inversions, playing heavy low riffs and high end solos, new tunings... More advanced stuff.

So I think I'm leaning towards the baritones, and thinking about picking up a 7 string when I have played around more and have gotten more experience. That way I could have a standard 6, a baritone, and then a 7 that combines the both. But a 7 string right a way might be too much to handle...

 

[alantig]

I haven't played with a baritone other than a couple at Experience PRS, so I can't talk about those.

As for the 7-string, I had a lot of trouble wrapping my head around them. I watched Dave Wiener and Emil Werstler play them at Experience, and I tried the SE-7 there the year they were announced. I'd tried a couple a few years before that, but I just couldn't quite wrap my head around how I could make them work or how to incorporate the low B. Then, one year, about four months or so after Experience, I started thinking about them in the shower of all places, and it suddenly clicked how the B would work in with various chord shapes. So I took the leap and ordered one from Sweetwater.

The extended lower range is great. I've been trying to work with it on a more regular basis, and on stuff that I wouldn't normally peg as 7-string stuff. It's cool to throw in some different chord voicings in places where they might not usually occur. And it lets me throw in some harmonies and parts that wouldn't be possible in a "normal" 6-string world. The pickups on the SE-7 are pretty decent - they do pretty well clean or dirty. There may be pickups that would be better suited to some applications, but that's something you have to decide for yourself. I did read a review that said the pickups could handle anything from country to metal, but as always, YMMV.

The neck is wider, obviously, but certainly not unmanageable, even for my stubby hands. The area where it really affects me is that the low B can throw off my right hand - I struggled for a while hitting the third and fourth (G & D) strings. They weren't where my hand expected them to be. That has gotten much better as I've played it more - just some retraining. Oddly enough, while I had some similar issues with the left hand, they didn't happen as often as with the right hand.

Good luck with whichever you pick. The easy solution, of course, is to order both and plan to send back one. Then just don't do it!

 

[solacematt]

I've messed with 7-strings off and on for over ten years as a good friend of mine, who is a big guy, plays them. They make more sense for his hands and he's a hardcore Ibanez 7-string user (custom shop models, not the cheap ones). So I've played a bunch of his over the years. I have also owned a custom shop 7-string for a few years (non Ibanez) but have always found it too weighty and the neck cumbersome to the point of cramping my hands. I find Schecter and LTD 7-strings to feel the same way, but I do have a friend in a local band who swears by them. On a whim I finally took the plunge this week and bought the PRS 7-string and it's by far the most comfortable one I've played. I got use to it fairly quick. Though I bought it because there are quite a few bands that I like who use 7-strings and I just want to learn their songs properly, I did try playing some of my bands songs on the instrument and it really wasn't that big of an adjustment considering that I use a lot of open chords and an alternate tuning for them on a 6-string (CGCFAC; an equivelant to a triple drop D tuning only down a full step). I did kick around the idea of getting a PRS baritone, and who knows, maybe I still will, but I will say this - the baritone is meant for B tuning and lower, so if you are going to want to tune it up, I'd say go check out the 7-string instead. At least then you'll still be able to keep those higher tuning's and get the low end that you're craving.

 

[Pine Cone]

Alright, you guys talked me into getting a 7 string... at some point. I've heard nothing but good about the PRS 7 string. I just don't know whether I should get it first, then get a baritone later, or get a baritone first, and a 7 string later? (Or order them both and forget to return! )

Will the PRS 7 string blow my Epiphone Special II (about a $160 guitar with single coils) out of the water? Would there be any reason to have a normal 6 string after a good 7? Another reason I'm leaning towards the baritone is that I could always jump back to the Epiphone if I want to play standard, but am I just handicapping myself by doing this?

It sounds like the 7 string really isn't meant for detuning, so if I did want to do that, I'd need a baritone.... Arg so many decisions!

Then, I still have the question of whether to get the soapbar or the tone furnace pickup model... But I don't think many people have them, if any on this forum. I'm leaning towards the soapbar just because I like the way it sounds better clean and the more distortion you add, the less the pickup should matter, correct? Does anyone have tone furnace pickups (or something similar)? Are they pretty much meant for metal only? Also, if I did get the 7 string, it might be nice to have a guitar with P90s and one with humbuckers... or would the sound be significantly different between the furnace and the normal ones?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Thanks for the replies guys! It never clicked till now, but a baritone is just a 7 string without the top E string (with the third 7 string being different than the second baritone string though).

A lot of people seem to have 7 strings and really like them. Baritones are significantly rarer. Online, both seem to like them if they have them. My hesitation with the 7 string is that I feel it will be more difficult. More difficult to do full (where you play all the strings) chords, more difficulty with another string to deal with when playing, fatter neck... I guess the question is, do I really want that top E string?

I've always heard that 7 strings were good for breaking out of the box you had been in with 6 strings and doing new chord inversions, playing heavy low riffs and high end solos, new tunings... More advanced stuff.

So I think I'm leaning towards the baritones, and thinking about picking up a 7 string when I have played around more and have gotten more experience. That way I could have a standard 6, a baritone, and then a 7 that combines the both. But a 7 string right a way might be too much to handle...

Well the baritones are rarer because two of them just came out. They had a Mike Mushok model for a while, but ... I think that's about it as far as PRS baritones are concerned.

I hadn't thought of it this way, but I like your thinking. Get the baritone first, get comfortable with that, then revisit whether or not you want to get into 7-strings. That's exactly what it's good for -- breaking you out of your routine, if you feel your routine needs breaking out of. (Most of our favourite guitarists are our favourite guitarists because they dedicated themselves to getting better at what they do, not by breaking out of their routine, so there's literally no downside to this choice, whichever way you choose. I choose to break out of my routine before I even establish a routine because that's just the way I'm wired.)

The problem I have found with 7 strings for a beginner is that there just isn't that much out there for us. I mean, you can talk to any guitarist about 6 string chord theory, but when you want to talk to someone about 7-string theory, you have to ( a ) find them first, and then ( b ) decide on a tuning. A lot of metal guys play in drop this and drop that, but the jazz guys usually play pretty straight and/or go completely off the deep end in terms of obscure tunings. I am fortunate that I found a guitar teacher who is smart enough to be able to adapt to 7 strings on the fly -- he never played one before, but at my first lesson, he gave me scales and exercises just by me handing him my guitar.

Scales are pretty easy on a seven string, chords are another matter entirely.

 

[alantig]

A couple other things - as Dusty said, expanding scales on the 7-string isn't that difficult. You pretty much just repeat the second string. Full 7-string chords are another matter, but I don't know that many people do that - I've honestly never paid attention to what those guys do in that area. I tend to stick to mostly power chord formations.

One other consideration that I didn't think of - if you change the tuning of the 7-string to B-E-A-D-F#-B-E, you have baritone tuning, without the longer scale and with an added high E. Admittedly, I haven't played around with that yet, but it is something that might play into your decision.

 

[shinksma]

7 strings, on the third (?) hand,

On the GRIPPING Hand.

A couple other things - as Dusty said, expanding scales on the 7-string isn't that difficult. You pretty much just repeat the second string. Full 7-string chords are another matter, but I don't know that many people do that - I've honestly never paid attention to what those guys do in that area. I tend to stick to mostly power chord formations.

One other consideration that I didn't think of - if you change the tuning of the 7-string to B-E-A-D-F#-B-E, you have baritone tuning, without the longer scale and with an added high E. Admittedly, I haven't played around with that yet, but it is something that might play into your decision.

As folks have pointed out, both type of guitars are useful and fun to play. I have a PRS SE MM baritone, tuned in Standard A, and a SE 7, tuned in either Standard B or Drop-A. The SE-7 really likes slightly thicker strings on the heavy side of the fret board - IMHO the stock strings are a little light and don't "djent" as naturally. IMHO, YMMV.

Playing the baritone tuned in Std B means if you put a capo on the 5th fret you have a "normal 6-string guitar". OTOH, playing a seven string tuned to Std B means you have a normal 6-string guitar with a bonus extra heavy bass string! If you tend to play the thick E string with your thumb on a 6-stringer that may throw you a curve ball, but I don't, so it was fairly natural to me.

And yes as alan said, you can tune the 7-string to B-E-A-D-F#-B-E, giving you even more options.

Guitars have always been flexible enough to encourage alternate tunings like DADGAD and whatnot, even though 99% of folks probably don't stray too far from standard E or drop-D. The baritone and seven stringers just take it up a notch.

 

[Pine Cone]

Alright, after mulling it over, I think I'll go with a baritone for now. I still need to learn a lot of chords on six strings and I feel like 7 might hinder that and keep me just to scales and one or two strings at a time.

I'm leaning towards the soapbar as I love that clean, full sound they have, but I'm a bit worried that the semi-hollow will ring and be annoying if I do a ton of distortion and echo and delay. Is this something I should really worry about? Will it be to the point of annoying when I try to play really heavy effects?

 

[CardMeHD]

Alright, after mulling it over, I think I'll go with a baritone for now. I still need to learn a lot of chords on six strings and I feel like 7 might hinder that and keep me just to scales and one or two strings at a time.

I'm leaning towards the soapbar as I love that clean, full sound they have, but I'm a bit worried that the semi-hollow will ring and be annoying if I do a ton of distortion and echo and delay. Is this something I should really worry about? Will it be to the point of annoying when I try to play really heavy effects?

I think you have it kind of backward. You won't really be able to do standard tunings on a baritone guitar. It has 6 strings, but they're all tuned a full 2.5 steps lower. You're not going to be able to tune up a baritone to concert tuning. On the other hand, a 7 string already has standard concert tuning on the top 6 strings. You just have a low B added, or you can drop it to an A to match the 5th string. All the 6 string stuff still works, there's just something else there.

With a baritone, all the shapes and scales will work, but they'll all be 2.5 steps low. You won't be able to do an open G major chord - you can do the same shape, but it will be a D major on a baritone (assuming standard tuning). That's not the case with a 7 string. If you want an open G major chord, you do it just like on a 6 string, just don't do anything with the low B. And if you want to recreate a baritone style, where the chord shapes and scales all work, but they're just shifted down a string, tune the G to an F# and ignore the 1st string, or (alternatively) tune it to a B (so you'd have B-E-A-D-F#-B-B), but of course it would be a little floppy and "dissonant" sounding at that point.

On the other hand, the issue with a 7 string, especially at first, is with the right hand in my experience. Similar to alantig, I'm having issues getting my right hand to understand where the G and D strings are by feel, especially when I'm using the low B. If I ignore the low B and play it like a 6 string, I don't have much issue, because everything feels oriented properly, and I just have my right hand lower on the bridge already. But trying to go from the low B to something on the D string is really weird right now. But it's also important to understand that a baritone comes with its own issues - namely, that the frets are farther apart than a standard 6 string or 7 string. Because the scale length is longer, the frets will be farther apart, meaning you will have to stretch farther. If you have short fingers, this can be an issue when doing scales (you can get an idea of the difference here: https://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator). What's unique about the PRS 7 string is that it still has a 25" scale length, so the frets have exactly the same spacing as any other 6 string PRS. Playing a scale on an SE-7 should feel roughly the same as playing on any other PRS. That won't be the case for a 277.

In terms of the 277 vs 277 soap bar, it depends on the kind of music you want to play, but to your earlier question, no, more distortion doesn't mean the pickup matters less. In some ways it's the opposite. The soap bar has single coil P90s. They may have issues at high gain with hum and feedback - not as bad as a traditional single coil, but they're not humbuckers. And they're not going to be as high output, either, so you're going to have to use pedals or a really high gain amp if you want to play metal. The semi-hollow can be an issue at high gain with feedback, but it's not a deal breaker - the bigger issue is the pickups, in my opinion. It depends on the music that you're going to play. If you're mainly playing jazz and blues and only occasionally go to high gain rock, then the soapbar should be fine. If you're mainly playing distorted, or you want to do metal, then get the solid body. The P90s won't have the punch or the output that you're looking for. The way I think of it is this - there are plenty of jazz, blues, country, pop, whatever musicians that use humbuckers, because they're basically the standard. There's nobody playing metal on P90s. They're great pickups (though I haven't heard great things about the PRS version), but they're niche. If this were your 8th guitar and your 2nd baritone, I'd say to get whatever you like. But being your second guitar and your only baritone, I'd recommend to play it safe with the solid body unless you're very sure that P90s will meet your needs. Even if you don't like the Tone Furnace pickups, you can swap them with literally anything, including humbucker sized P90s (I have a P94 in the neck position of one my guitars, for example, which is something you could consider), while you can really only swap the Soapbar pickups with other P90s or a minihumbucker, which are much less common and pretty niche themselves.

 

[Pine Cone]

Thanks for the reply!

So, things I'm doing to prepare... I got heavier gauge strings (one chrome and one steel), and I'm going to drop down to B or A tuning. I'll see if I like it enough to where I wouldn't have a desire to hop back up.

Next, I'm either going to sell my Epiphone Special II and buy a P90 modded Telecaster (craiglist) for like $75 uptick in price differential or I'm going to install a GFS Mean 90 P90 in the bridge of the Epiphone! I don't know why nobody does different pickup types for neck and bridge, but I'll try if craiglist guy falls through. I think they're pretty hot pickups though. I played some P90s at Guitar Center today and they were definitely in your face. I really am scared though because like card said, they are specialty and unique sounding and I'm afraid I'll be boxed into too unique of a sound.

IF I fall in love with P90s (I've heard this happens to people) I'll go with the soapbar semi hollow. I saw the video posted by that other guy and it really does sound gorgeous. Otherwise I think I'll go with the 7 string first, with a baritone coming later possibly.

 

[jimistephen]

I'll add this to this whole debate, the difference between a baritone and 7-string notes wise is only 7 semi-tones in an area some people don't play a lot of.

 

[CardMeHD]

Well, not to make this more difficult for you, but I just heard the 277 Soapbar in the Chapman video, and it sounds amazing. I can see why you'd want one - I think I may actually get one.

Now, that said, I have almost a dozen guitars, including a 7 string. So, I'm in a bit of a different position, and my recommendation to play it safe still stands. But I can totally see getting one of them if you're really interested.

 

[Pine Cone]

I've played around learning new chords, and I don't really do full chords anyways because they require a lot of awkward hand twists to get that last string, so I just leave it off. So I think I'll do 7 strings first now, because I can the best of both and play it safe. Lol, I'm so indecisive. The thing was, I knew I wanted a decent guitar at some time, because I genuinely like it, I just didn't know exactly what my preferences were.

 

[solacematt]

I've played around learning new chords, and I don't really do full chords anyways because they require a lot of awkward hand twists to get that last string, so I just leave it off. So I think I'll do 7 strings first now, because I can the best of both and play it safe. Lol, I'm so indecisive. The thing was, I knew I wanted a decent guitar at some time, because I genuinely like it, I just didn't know exactly what my preferences were.

If your curious, there actually is a book on 7-string theory, interesting chord shapes and such. Can't remember the name at the moment but I'm sure a quick google search will bring it up. There are also many a weird possibilities as far as odd tunings are concerned using a 7-string as well. I almost feel horrible just getting one I enjoy playing at 32 because I don't have the time I did at 22 to really sit and mess with it.

 

[Pine Cone]

Alright, so I got that Fender guitar with the p90s and drop tuned it to B tuning. It is a lot of fun. I can pull that surfer sound like they have in the video nicely. I like the grit the P90s have too!

But.... I wouldn't want it to be my only guitar. The P90s grit get in the way of fuller chords. Especially at the lower notes, it can turn really muddy if you try and play a full G chord or E7.

And everything sounds different that low. It doesn't quite sound like normal, it's darker and thicker. I do like it, but then I like normal too.

So it's definitely the 7 string for now (or when I land a job after college and get more money ). The chords aren't really an issue because down low full chords don't sound as good anyways (unless your playing clean, and then its more jazzyish) and you can just leave off the 7th string and play normally. I can get the best of both worlds with the 7 with a lot more tonal variety than I'm going to get out of the baritones. And the clear sound of the humbuckers is nice too. And when I want P90 growl, I'll just switch to the Fender, which I'm not going to leave at drop B. I might drop it to D or Dflat, but no lower. It will be interesting to try around with 7 string theory too!

But if I was going to get a baritone, it'd be the soapbar because I love the way the tones ring and hold with the hollow body.

 

[guitarfan85]

trust me the baritone will sound much more clear and articulate due to the longer scale length.

 

[Pine Cone]

trust me the baritone will sound much more clear and articulate due to the longer scale length.

That's what I keep hearing. Reviews from others on this forum state that the soapbar baritone is incredibly clear and resonant.

I stuck and EMG H4 super high output passive humbucker pickup on my Epiphone... I like it, but I don't know if I need another setup like it. They are clear and can play through effects much better than my P90 guitar, but clean or with low modification, I really like the fat and growly and unique sound the P90s have.

The thing is, I don't know how much better a PRS would be than my homedog operated Epiphone; how can you improve upon clean? I do know that the baritone would be an improvement on my drop tuned P90 guitar though. The option to switch between humbucker and single coil with the tap of the knob would be cool though.