hey guys, I'm in the market for a 7 string... But all the guitar companies are simply not making good stuff!!
What the hell is wrong?
It seems like 24 frets, Tremolo, nice neck, and humbuckers are a rarity.

Here are some quick stats on the 7 strings CRISIS

Jackson Dinky 7's
22 fret (why not 24!!)
Duncan Designed pickups (geez...)
No tremolo unless DR7T model
...for over $1000 AU? (bout $800 Us)
Ridiculous.

Ibanez:
Hardly any guitars with tremolo's installed
Good neck!
humbuckers need replacing
cheap wood (in < 1000 $ models)
bad bridges anyway ... gay
no interesting finishes
from the AX7221 to the Universe ... all lack something.

Schecter:
Bad necks (imo)
not a single guitar with a tremolo bridge
quite pricey here in Aus
hard to find
nice finishes
bad pickups in low - medium range models.

Esp:
hardly any tremolo bridged 7's
Duncan designed pickups
neck quite fat
pricey

BC Rich:
don't even bother.


Anyway, On with my question.
What do you 7 string players play?!?!?
Any quality around the $1000 mark??
and the biggie:
HOW MUCH MODIFYING IS NEEDED TO GET A NICE, GOOD SOUNDING 7?


thanks a lot, any comments appreciated.
John.

I want a 7 string with a fixed bridge, I'm over the tremolo....

My guitar has everything you're looking for, a 2000 Ibanez RG7. I ain't giving it to ya though.

__________________

hehe, K man, nice, ll look into it, btw.. anyone know what guitars Chris from Beneath The Massacre uses?

Thats the same problem I´ve got. I´m lookin for the Ibanez UV 7BK.
And I found this one:
would you buy this ibanez (UV7BK)

http://es.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jr.../ph//my_photos+

img0126, img127 and img128 are the ones I would like you to see.

For something about 800 euros? I want to know if its a good deal or not. (I don´t know if I´ll sell it later). That is the reason not buying a RAN custom.
Thank you guys

__________________

I play an ltd with 22 frets, stock pickups, and a fat neck
but it is still my favorite guitar, or it would be if it wasn't broken

I know of a really cool 7-string you could try for, it's discontinued but if you find it used it'd be great. It's an M-307 it has 24 frets,EMG's,a tremolo, and cool inlays. The neck is still kinda fat but in my opinion once you get used to them ltd & esp 7-string necks are the best.

__________________

I play a Schecter C7 lefty.
I think the neck's great, it could be I bassist's grip, but...
I have 24 frets.
I have a tune-o-matic with thru-body.
I have Seymour Duncan pickups, that I've coaxed active tones out of, like Decapitated for example.

__________________

I've always really liked the RG 7-strings.
Do you get any of them lefty?

__________________

I have an Ibanez J Custom 8527, and I love it. It is probably one of the nicest guitars I own.

I'd recommend either a Universe, or a 1527, and swap out the pickups for EMG 707s.

I have an Epiphone LP style 7-string, limited ed. Pretty fat neck but it feels nicer than a lot of 6-string necks. EMG-817 in the bridge, sounds damn good. I'm currently after the ESP S.C. 7-string baritone!

Ibanez UV777 best guitar ive ever laid hands on.

__________________

He uses Ibanez RG 7's,cant remember the model,though sorry.I saw a Jackson Dinky 7 for $400 a while back,havent seen one since.

When I saw him last year he was playing an esp (rg style with floyd dunno what model)and the other dude who is no longer in the band played a ltd.

Problematic,

A lack of tremolo doesn't really mean lack of quality. The want of a tremolo is open to personal taste. There seems to be a trend at the moment where fixed bridge guitars are more popular than in recent years. It's not unnatural for the market to follow this.

A few comments about some of the guitars mentioned in the first post though; The pickups the DR7 has are actually okay depending on the rig you are running through. They're not terribly ballsy, but they have a nice enough tone to them. I'll be honest and say it's not the greatest guitar. I like it though, and I only paid AU$900 (new) for mine thanks to the whole Fender-buying-Jackson thing, so my purchase seems more worth while. Also, an alternative is the Christian Olde Wolbers 7 - no tremolo, but it has 24 frets and a EMG707. I've played the 6-string version and it's very nice.

On the RG7s - I have two 97 models (tremolo & fixed) and they both quickly sported Dimarzio Blaze pickups. The stock pickups were actually very good, they just didn't have a tight low end. Otherwise they were great. For another style of music they would have worked well. I can't imagine them completely fucking up the newer models as the RG7 is one of my favourite guitars in my collection to this day.

My impression was that Schecter have always seemed to be reasonably priced here. Try bmusic and see if it compares to your local.

I think it comes down to the price range you're looking at. You won't find every feature you want for under AU$1000. You'll either be replacing pickups or pissed off with the crappy Floyd Rose knockoff. You could always save and just go the whole hog with a custom shop Jacskon or ESP with any feature you'd like. Or find a quality instrument like the Caparison Dellinger 7 (AU$4000 through bmusic).

The nature of guitars, though, is that you'll rarely get exactly what you want even after extensive searching. There will almost always be a mod you want/need to make. My suggestion for your 'biggie' is to get the closest to what you want in your price range, something with a half-decent tremolo (probably an Ibanez) , and think about simply replacing the pickups down the line. There are some great passive, high-output pickups that won't cost you too much and will allow you to replace one pickup at a time as you can afford to do so.

EDIT: I forgot to add that you should try going to http://www.sevenstring.org/ and maybe ask for advice on their forums. Plenty of 7-string nuts there and you should be able to find out more about other brands that produce 7's which might fall into your tastes.

yeah 7 strings are becoming less popular now a days. 24 frets are nice but it doesn't make a guitar bad if it has ony 22. probably every 7 string will have a humbucker, so its an issue of which ones they use, which with most guitars aren't amazing stock. now 'nice neck' is completely preference.
you're best bet is ebay.

__________________

I won't bother reading the rest of your post...

__________________

Haha,there were only a few lines after that!

I know!!!DAMMIT!!!

__________________

Hmmm ok.. I know tremolo bridges aren't 'better', it was just personal preference. In fact they actualy give the guitar a slightly worser (sp. :P) tone. But are they that necessary??? hardly any bands solo with themn anymore.... Hmmm Maybe Ill get a fixed bridge. The only reason i wanted one was to do cool Dive bombs... but meh.. can live without em right??

Oh after calling heaps of shops in Syndey, 2 stock a guitar that goes by the brand of "JND" I couldnt find ONE single bit of information on the net, try looking you wont find anything, maybe just an acoustic jnd in the classifieds.
Anyway the stats on a JND 7 are as follows:
$599 AU
Solid Alder
24 fret
rosewood fingerboard
maple neck
1 humbucker, 2 single coils
"floyd rose" bridge (cannot verify originality of bridge).

Hmm what do you guys think , som no name brand, or go for an Ibanez or ltd or something.

btw travis - BCRich only make one 7 string model (non custom), the Warlock 7 string platinum. and from personal experience i know they suck.

Thanks for all your repsonses guys!

Well after exstensive research that ive done looking for 7-strings over the years here are some with the options that you want....

Ibanez - All of these are basiclly the same, Very pricey
RG7620
RG7420
RG1527
Universe
Plus some Prestige models

Schecter - Decent guitars, built to take a beating, Not to pricey
C-7 Plus
A-7 Plus

ESP - Different feeling, kinda like in between Ibanez & Schecter, Not to pricey but good value
M-207
M-307

These are the models with 24 frets, trems & dual humbuckers which you should upgrade the pickups because all of them that come with these guitars suck & most of them are discontinued models so your best bet would be ebay. Now if you wanted something without a trem, thats a different story.

__________________

Tell you what, 'Waste.
Your own 7's can attest to that 7's are not going down the drain.

__________________