HEVYDEVY FORUMS

Hey all!

I

I was a bit worried about the quality, because Peavey decided to cut costs and have it made in China. I've not had a chance to set it up yet, or do a detailed inspection, but it looks good at first glace. There are a few minor flaws in the paintwork, but ho-hum.

It came tuned in 7-string standard, so I guess Peavey don't really get the point of the 28" scale. I'll be popping some fresh strings on it this week, and of course tuning it to Open-C for 7-string. I hear Devin like to use D'addario 10-52s, with a 60 for the low C. 60 seems like it would be really floppy to me...

Edkaye wrote:I was a bit worried about the quality, because Peavey decided to cut costs and have it made in China. I've not had a chance to set it up yet, or do a detailed inspection, but it looks good at first glace. There are a few minor flaws in the paintwork, but ho-hum.

It came tuned in 7-string standard, so I guess Peavey don't really get the point of the 28" scale. I'll be popping some fresh strings on it this week, and of course tuning it to Open-C for 7-string. I hear Devin like to use D'addario 10-52s, with a 60 for the low C. 60 seems like it would be really floppy to me...

It might not be as floppy as you'd expect considering it'll be on a 28" scale. On standard scales you'd need ridiculous string gauges to keep some kind of tension for a low G, in this case it might actually work. I haven't calculated the actual tensions you'd get though.

Yeah, personal preference definitely factors in quite a lot. I really dug into this a lot when I got my 8-string, and had endless discussions on the sevenstring.org forums.

Here is what a set of D'addario EX110's looks like on a 25.5" scale (the most common):

E .010" PL == 16.21lb
B, .013" PL == 15.38lb
G, .017" PL == 16.57lb
D, .026" NW == 18.41lb
A,, .036" NW == 19.54lb
E,, .046" NW == 17.48lb
total == 103.59lb

Here is what Dev is supposedly using - EX140 + 0.060 on 28" scale:

E .010" PL == 19.55lb
C .013" PL == 20.82lb
G, .017" PL == 19.98lb
C, .030" NW == 23.96lb <----- updated from .032 typo
G,, .042" NW == 25.18lb
C,, .052" NW == 16.72lb
G,,, .060 NW == 12.98lb
total == 142.12lb

I Tweeted him to see if he's definitely using. 13lb of pressure is really pushing it. Maybe he was misquoted, and it's really a .070? That would give 17.4lb, which is right in the sweet zone.

Oh well, I'll probably just end up making a set that feels good to me. At the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.


On my 8-string, I've gone with a balanced set based upon D'Addario's new EX111 set. Please excuse the lame 26.5" scale :-/

E .010" PL == 17.51lb
B, .0135" PL == 17.91lb
G, .017" PL == 17.89lb
D, .024" NW == 17.03lb
A,, .034" NW == 19.01lb
E,, .046" NW == 18.88lb
B,,, .060 NW == 18.45lb
F,,,# 0.080 NW == 17.9lb
total == 144.59lb

It feels really nice and balanced!

Hnnng want. But don't have that kind of money D:

Ageia wrote:Hnnng want. But don't have that kind of money D:

Neither do I... credit cards are great

Sooo sweet...Congratulations!

Edkaye wrote:Here is what Dev is supposedly using - EX140 + 0.060 on 28" scale:

E .010" PL == 19.55lb
C .013" PL == 20.82lb
G, .017" PL == 19.98lb
C, .032" NW == 26.89lb
G,, .042" NW == 25.18lb
C,, .052" NW == 16.72lb
G,,, .060 NW == 12.98lb
total == 142.12lb

I Tweeted him to see if he's definitely using. 13lb of pressure is really pushing it. Maybe he was misquoted, and it's really a .070? That would give 17.4lb, which is right in the sweet zone.

Oh well, I'll probably just end up making a set that feels good to me. At the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.

If that's true that's really imbalanced, and not just for the low G; I'd say tension in the middle 2 strings is too high. I'd probably try to go one gauge lower for the top 3 strings, then 2 (maybe 3) gauges lower for the middle 2 strings which are around 26 lbs tension there, then up the gauge of the low C to .056 and the low G indeed something like a .070 or perhaps even higher.

I have a handy Excel sheet lying around somewhere where I could plug all this in. May do tonight.

swervedriver wrote:

Edkaye wrote:Here is what Dev is supposedly using - EX140 + 0.060 on 28" scale:

E .010" PL == 19.55lb
C .013" PL == 20.82lb
G, .017" PL == 19.98lb
C, .032" NW == 26.89lb
G,, .042" NW == 25.18lb
C,, .052" NW == 16.72lb
G,,, .060 NW == 12.98lb
total == 142.12lb

I Tweeted him to see if he's definitely using. 13lb of pressure is really pushing it. Maybe he was misquoted, and it's really a .070? That would give 17.4lb, which is right in the sweet zone.

Oh well, I'll probably just end up making a set that feels good to me. At the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.

If that's true that's really imbalanced, and not just for the low G; I'd say tension in the middle 2 strings is too high. I'd probably try to go one gauge lower for the top 3 strings, then 2 (maybe 3) gauges lower for the middle 2 strings which are around 26 lbs tension there, then up the gauge of the low C to .056 and the low G indeed something like a .070 or perhaps even higher.

I have a handy Excel sheet lying around somewhere where I could plug all this in. May do tonight.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. There's a huge tension spike in the middle, which seems odd. It upsets the OCD part of my brain

Still, It may just be that when Devin first started playing Open C this set was a quick and convenient option, and he's never messed around with the gauges, because those tensions are now just something he's used to. Also, buying single strings and building your own set can be a pain in the ass.

Edkaye wrote:

swervedriver wrote:

Edkaye wrote:Here is what Dev is supposedly using - EX140 + 0.060 on 28" scale:

E .010" PL == 19.55lb
C .013" PL == 20.82lb
G, .017" PL == 19.98lb
C, .032" NW == 26.89lb
G,, .042" NW == 25.18lb
C,, .052" NW == 16.72lb
G,,, .060 NW == 12.98lb
total == 142.12lb

I Tweeted him to see if he's definitely using. 13lb of pressure is really pushing it. Maybe he was misquoted, and it's really a .070? That would give 17.4lb, which is right in the sweet zone.

Oh well, I'll probably just end up making a set that feels good to me. At the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.

If that's true that's really imbalanced, and not just for the low G; I'd say tension in the middle 2 strings is too high. I'd probably try to go one gauge lower for the top 3 strings, then 2 (maybe 3) gauges lower for the middle 2 strings which are around 26 lbs tension there, then up the gauge of the low C to .056 and the low G indeed something like a .070 or perhaps even higher.

I have a handy Excel sheet lying around somewhere where I could plug all this in. May do tonight.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. There's a huge tension spike in the middle, which seems odd. It upsets the OCD part of my brain

Still, It may just be that when Devin first started playing Open C this set was a quick and convenient option, and he's never messed around with the gauges, because those tensions are now just something he's used to. Also, buying single strings and building your own set can be a pain in the ass.

Seems plausible But does that even correspond to any standard set? The jump from a .017 to a .032 is huge in any tuning

grrrv wrote:Seems plausible But does that even correspond to any standard set? The jump from a .017 to a .032 is huge in any tuning

Oh crap. The .032 is wrong, it should be .030, as see on this set: http://www.daddario.com/DADProductDetai ... tom__10_52

I left it in from calculating another set. that makes the tension on that string 23.96LB. Still pretty high though. I'll update the original post.

Also, have you seen the mini version that they are giving out with the VIP goodies? It's pretty cute!

There's a review of it in this months Guitarist magazine (UK, issue 360). Gets a decent shot, they only really ding it for being focussed on a single style of music, which it is, and the sheer size of the thing. They also mention that their review copy was tuned Devin-style F# B F# B F# B D#.

swervedriver wrote:

Edkaye wrote:Here is what Dev is supposedly using - EX140 + 0.060 on 28" scale:

E .010" PL == 19.55lb
C .013" PL == 20.82lb
G, .017" PL == 19.98lb
C, .032" NW == 26.89lb
G,, .042" NW == 25.18lb
C,, .052" NW == 16.72lb
G,,, .060 NW == 12.98lb
total == 142.12lb

I Tweeted him to see if he's definitely using. 13lb of pressure is really pushing it. Maybe he was misquoted, and it's really a .070? That would give 17.4lb, which is right in the sweet zone.

Oh well, I'll probably just end up making a set that feels good to me. At the end of the day it's all a matter of opinion.

If that's true that's really imbalanced, and not just for the low G; I'd say tension in the middle 2 strings is too high. I'd probably try to go one gauge lower for the top 3 strings, then 2 (maybe 3) gauges lower for the middle 2 strings which are around 26 lbs tension there, then up the gauge of the low C to .056 and the low G indeed something like a .070 or perhaps even higher.

I have a handy Excel sheet lying around somewhere where I could plug all this in. May do tonight.

If you watch the older video Dev discusses using the 60 on his 7th, the rest being the 10-52. I ended up using a 64 on my 27" custom a while back with no issues.
When I got my Hellraiser setup the tech said the same thing about the EXL140 set, and low and behold, for this tuning it worked out fine. He said he usually hates doing guitars with the "light top heavy bottom" strings because they are horribly mismatched. I think for the tuning in 5ths it works, but I've had guitars bite the dust with that in other tunings(2 and 1/2 steps down) where the top end didn't settle so nicely and was always too loose

Dude, I'd bet that thing is going to become super rare, Congrats. If you ever have the time, would you consider doing a video review? If so that would be super sweet and I'm sure more than a few people (myself included ) would very much so appreciate it.