The guitar is undoubtedly the most famous musical instrument around the world and is seen to be played in almost all parts of the world out there. That makes guitar not only highly popular but it is also diverse and you might be seeing different shapes, styles and types of guitars with various features o them in the market as well.
The reason for all this diversity is pretty much the same and you get to enjoy different genres, cultures, and authenticity of the region from all these different sorts of guitars. Mainly there are two types of guitars these days are acoustic and electric guitars but there are hundreds of sub-types among these as well that vary on basis of features and stuff.
7 String Acoustic guitar is one such type of acoustic guitar that is pretty great to use and you will find it better at times since there is an extra string on the guitar that means some extra tones on it as well. A few such features and characteristics that you will need to know about the 7 string acoustic guitar would be:
7 String Acoustic Guitar Overview
Design
The overall design is pretty much the same and you will hardly notice any difference from afar. The best thing about 7 String acoustic guitars is that a person who is not into guitars will not be able to even tell that you are playing a 7-string acoustic or a 6-string acoustic. Yet, some key factors are changed on the 7-string guitar to make it possible to adjust all those 7 strings there.
To start on that, you will be noticing that the fretboard is definitely a bit wider than the 6-string guitars and that is certainly necessary to adjust that extra string on the guitar fretboard. In addition to that, you get a bit more room on the bridge as well, since the bridge has to be made wider as well. Except that, the overall guitar design is kept the same and you can find some solid body or even hollow-body guitars with 7-strings on them.
Tuning
Of course, you are getting one more string on the guitar, so you will need to tune it accordingly and that would mean you are going to require certain expertise for that. While the 6 string guitars can be tuned pretty easily no matter what tuner you are using, you will need to be careful about having the 7-string guitar tuned since you will need the compatible tuner with it
Not only that, there is a lot more including getting your hands on the strings perfectly and adjusting them in the right manner. It is better if you learn how to tune the 7 strings guitar beforehand so you are sure that you can do it right. Tuning is one of the major factors that play a highly important role in playing the guitar and getting the right tones on it and that is why 7 string guitar would need a bit extra effort to make it work for you.
Playing Style
The tunes are pretty much the same, and you can play it the same way as you would be playing any other acoustic guitars since there are not many changes on the tones, and you will not need to worry about that.
You just need to make sure that you are picking the genre right and then tuning your 7-string acoustic guitar accordingly so it will be worth paying for, and that should be the best thing that you can get. The playing style and fingerpicking techniques can be varying too.
You get to enjoy a far better and stabler experience, with the 7-string guitar since you get an extra string to pick. Yet, it can get a bit complicated as the 7-string guitars are different from the 6-strings and if you have learned playing guitar on a 6-string guitar, you will find yourself in a fix while playing the 7-strings guitar.
Practicality
While not all the guitarists would agree to the fact, that 6-string guitar and 7-string guitars are no different and you can pick all the tones on them the way you want to. Most importantly, you will need to know and understand that these guitars are almost the same in terms of tunes, pickup styles, and almost every other notable feature that you might have a chance of getting on these.
The 6-string guitar is certainly a bit more practical for everyone to use, since it is convenient to tune and manage, and you got less string to learn at the same time.
However, the idea of having freedom and one extra string to be played sounds fun to some people out there and they would love to get their hands on the 7-strings guitar since it is some sort of a new adventure for them that they can use to learn and play their guitar with.
Is it Worth a Change?
If you are trying to buy a new guitar, and are looking for something that would add a learning edge for you, and you can play it in the right manner, you will not be facing any issues and it should be easier for you to learn on the 7-strings guitar from scratch and you will be able to play it as easily as well on the same time.
Moving forward, if you already have the 6-strings acoustic guitar and you are looking for an upgrade, then it might not be worth it and you can get all the tunes and playing styles on the 6-string guitar as well that you can play on the 7-string guitars.
So, it is simply best to stick to what you have and keep improving your playing style and technique to make it work for you in a better manner. The 7-string guitar is great, but not worth the upgrade unless you need to have it for some specific performance or genre that you might be looking for.