Muting with 7 string + , coming from 6s

Playing Technique
#1

Hi !

I can’t “right hand mute” my new 7 string last bottom B string when playing high E.

On 6s, i used right hand muting for years. When i play high E, no low E noise.
On 7s, when i play on the high E, bottom B string is ringing. A subtle “natural harmonic” like sound. Because the last string is just in the gap / joint between palm AND wrist.
Every time i move my picking hand, it is “rubbing” bottom B string.

I need to understand HOW ppl using 7 string solve the problem.
Especially ppl coming from 6s.
Thanks !

PS : i’m upward pickslanter, “reverse” trailing edge. my right hand is almost aligned with neck.

#2

You gotta play the 7 more. There’s not some big secret to learning to mute the low string. If you’ve been playing 6 your whole life, there’s going to be a learning curve to adapt, but it’s just a matter of experience.

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#3

As i use palm muting on bridge against noise AND my palm will NEVER cover the bridge (i’m not Steve Vai :innocent:) , i need to change technique.

I’m used to rest on bridge with a 6s floyd, longer than fixed 7s short “hipshot”.
That’s probably a linked problem for me.

For now, i try to MOVE my right hand closer to the bridge when playing high strings :wink:
And returning to my “normal” / usual position when metal palm muting on low strings.
Kind of “angled” wrist motion between top / bottom.

Any suggestion is still welcome :wink:

#4

Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to mute ALL strings below the string you’re playing. It’s most important to mute the adjacent strings (above and below). This ‘movable mute’ shifts across string sets as your hand moves to track string changes.

In practice, I’m probably palm muting the 2-3 strings below the string I’m playing, but I don’t really think about it too much. I’m definitely never trying to mute all 6 or 7 strings while playing, except to do that karate chop mute to silence everything.

Troy made a cool video recently that talks about how you can get away without muting at all - but it’s probably an extreme example. Hi gain metal players are almost always muting most of the time.

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#5

I seen this vid some weeks ago :wink:
I will see it again.
Those examples show NO right hand anchoring at all.
Their hand is floating over the bridge.

MY way (for now) is keeping my right forearm “relaxed” on bridge back edge.
Yes i said FOREARM :smile:
I pick near neck pickup :grin:

It works on 6s long floyd trem.
But it is a total fail on short fixed hipshot.

I will simply put my right forearm on body. Hipshot bridge being flat and round, i can keep my palm “rubbing” on it without problem.
Or just try “floating” with no muting.
I will try to do the same on 6s floyd too :wink:

May be this “discovery” will help ppl in transition to shorter/fixed bridge guitars.
Being 7s + or not :wink:

Thanks !

#6

I’ll share with you what I learned transitioning from 6string to an 8.

When playing power chords, use your middle finger to touch the lower string.
Just touch, should be enough to mute it and get some more clarity.
Also, lots of people will use a wrap behind the nut.
Another crucial thing to practice is right hand muting.
You see, ERGs have much thicker strings, 7th and 8th specifically. You need to change the way you palm mute, you gotta be more agressive with it - thicker string equals more weight equals more energy.
If I place base of my palm on the 8th string as if I would on the 6th it will still sound almost as if I was not muting it at all (kind of helpfull as this way you get less sympathetic vibration, I find it espacially usefull while tremolo picking).

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#7

Any chance you can share video of this? I can’t even picture what you’re doing here.