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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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Haha,there were only a few lines after that!

I know!!!DAMMIT!!!

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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.

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

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Psh. 7 Strings are for nu-metal bastards..hehe. Just playing with ya. But you do realize thats mainly the market for a lot of companies, nu-metal kiddies who want to be just like Korn or Limp Shitzit.

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Best bang for your buck:

Ibanez 1527. You can pick one up brand new for about 700 bucks. It's got an Edge Pro Bridge, which in my opinion are great bridges, and personally don't think they take away from tone, I think they add to it.

If you're not happy with the stock pick-ups, throw some EMG 707s in there. If I weren't so busy with all of the other guitars and guitar projects I have going on now, this is exactly what I'd do for my next 7 string (which I probably will do in a few months).

A UV is gonna cost you, but it is a great 7 string. A J Custom 8127 is a super bad ass 7, but it's gonna cost you also, and trying to find one will be next to impossible. That in my opinion is probably the best 7 string out there right now, aside from anything custom shop, which is really gonna cost you.

Go for the 1527. For the price, you really can't go wrong.

Lookin for quality? Here ya go.
http://www.kyowashokai.co.jp/capari...dellinger7.html

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I can empathize with the original poster, I too share his need for a good quality 7 string with a Tremolo.

Basically, since Nu-metal died the manufacturers didn't see them as important, and several are offering baritone models instead. Doesn't help us Death metal bastards out though does it.

I recently bought a Jackson DX7 (Fixed Bridge, Indian made, not the best guitar ever, and the neck is a lot thicker than it could be) which is going to be a back-up and a stop gap until I get my custom made, which should be finished by the end of this summer.

My friend recently bought a Ibanez RG 7620 on Ebay, it is practically brand new! I am really jealous of him. The neck is amazing, and it has DiMarzios whereas the current Prestige 7 string model has the Ibanez Infinity pickups. Besides, every other bastard is playing that guitar! Nergal from Behemoth, Tony Norman played one when he toured with Morbid Angel. The exact same colour, because it's the only colour it comes in. I love those guys but I don't need to play the EXACT same guitar as everyone esle.

So, in order to get a decent 7 string guitar with a decent tremolo and EMG pickups, I had to go custom.

Another thing which annoys is that you have to do some routing in order to fit EMG 7 string pups in any guitar that wasn't designed with them in mind in the first place. Thats EMG's fault of course, for stickign it in their bas spickup housing rather than go through the cost fo producing a standard 7 string pickup housing.

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In Australia there are only 3 seven string Ibanez's available for order in 2006!!!

Korean crappy made RG7321
overpriced K7
and the Prestige RG1527

Dammit, looks like i have no choice but to get the RG1527... some people reckon its quality... any one else have any opinions???
Ill have to replace the pickups right??? Are the Ibanez (V's ?) any good???

Shit! Ill have to order the RG1527 since there are NONE in Australia... for about $1600

Noo!! soon there will be no more seven strings.... except K7's... Noooo!

[QUOTE=problematic]
Korean crappy made RG7321
QUOTE]

Do you realize theres really no difference in the RG7321 & the Universe except the pickups, trem & inlays? And any pickups that come with a Ibanez 7-string are garbage, even the Blaze II's that come with the Universe.

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I thought UV's had different necks,even though they have similar specs.

They do, but i assure you it feels no different than a RG7321

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Go to a shop, don't get from catalogues, even an Ibanez official.
That's how I got my Schecter! There's only one Schecter outlet over here in Britain and I figured that they must distribute their whole range because of that.

OR, you can hope and pray for 2007!

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So, Cyberwaste, your basically saying theres no difference? Well it's Korean made as opposed to Japanese manufacture and the prestige has the LoPro. Hmm you got me thinking. Reckon its worth $600 more than the 7321?

I think all he meant was the neck doesn't really feel much different.

Korean Ibanez's are good quality, but one can only really asume the build quality is better on the Japanese models. The tremolos aren't as good on the Korean models, but this doesn't affect the 7321 anyway, as it's fixed bridge.

The stock pickups in the Prestige RG1527 are the same as the ones that came in my Korean RGT42 (except 6 string not 7) and they were ok, but not amazing and within a fortnight I swapped them for EMG 81s.

I think it's a bit lame how they stopped putting DiMarzios in their higher end guitars, like the old 7620.

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Universe is leaps and bounds better.

The thing is,they arent easy to get in Australia,and its out of the pricerange.

How so? Please explain...

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Compared to a 7620, I was told by one friend who had played both that there was little difference other than the looks, and if anything, the Universe was worse. Besides it looks gay as fuck...

And why pay for someone elses signature on it?

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I personally think the UV is a nice guitar. I think it has more attention to finishing work, tighter tolerances, etc. than the 7620. I think my J Custom 8527 is nicer than a UV, though. I think they both sound fine.

I think the 1527 is a fine instrument. It will be the next 7 I get. I will replace the pickups, though. It is the prestige version of the discontinued 7620.

Does that come lefty?

I like the Midnight Blue.

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I played on a 1527 yesterday in a shop, and I really really liked it. Couldn't really test the pickups properly (due to volume and the amp I was using) but I pretty much know their standard anyway.

Basically, I liked it so much, I am thinking of selling my RGT42 and my NJ Warlock to finance the 7 string and some DiMarzio's for it. The neck made me wet, and the trem is so obviously better made than the Korean Edge Pro II in my RGT42.

What do you all reckon, sell my 2 six-strigners and go exclusively 7 string?

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The 1527 is a nice guitar. I think you'll like it even more with EMGs.

Probably so, seeing as I'm a bona fide EMG fanboy. But the damn routing thing!!!

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The routing is NOT a big fucking deal man!!!!!!!!!

I love mine, and it was cheap as fuck, Washburn WG587, metallic gray, with an evo in the bridge position

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...tric?sku=511575
jackson with emg 707, 24 frets, ebony fretboard,mohgany body,only bad thing string through.
also check out some washburn 7 strings

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That guitar makes me sick dude

It looks killer

i agree the shits a bit boring. and a jackson with out a sharktooth inlay?!?! whateva

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The only thing i dont dig is that price

Its not the guitar that makes me sick, its the name attached to it.

Yeah, he's just not quite Dino is he?

Yes thats a really shit guitar IMO. I played on one, 7321 feels better than it IMO. Not digging on pickups, you may aswell be more versatile... bridge + neck .. But I guess Christian is quite simply a jackass. Such a price and only one pickup! Gah! I really hate single humbuckers... especially in Australia .. That guitar is $1700 ..more than a fuckin prestige 1527. The 1527 is as good as mine, end of march. Cant fucking wait. Shit, just creamed.

I should hopefully have one by then too! With a fair bit of luck that is...

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No not at all, he hasnt even paid his dues to deserve a signature guitar! Dino never had a signature, but this give this fuck one before he even had a album out with him on guitar.

All of the higher quality ones have Licensed Floyd Roses in them.
Necks are incredible.
God forbid having to replace PICKUPS.
You are going to find that most guitars, 6 or 7 string, are cheaper woods for under $1000.
No interesting finishes? Sand it down and paint it yourself.

It seems like thesedays people complain about having a guitar that isn't "unique," but still expect it to buy it straight off a showroom floor. Put some work into it. Its far more rewarding than going into a shop and putting money down for something someone else might have.

Try Ebay for Ibanez parts. You can find necks, bodies, bridges, etc. and you can build it yourself. I was considering doing it until I realized that I was working for $6.25 an hour and had bills. That was a while ago, though, so maybe I will build myself a custom RG.

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He could pay his dues by getting the old riffs back in!


Cyberwaste, .

I think a re-vivistation of the Obsolete formula would work nicely.

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Talking about low quality (but cheap) 7strings , check this out :

http://www.thomann.de/thoiw2_harley... 297dd0126#fpix

I think it's the cheapest 7string i ever saw. Harley benton is property of the Thomann music store. They buy the guitars from some OEM guitar manufactuer from Asia and they stomp the "harley benton" logo on them .
I wonder if is it worth it to change the brigde (which i'm 99% sure that is made of cheese) and the pickups. It might be a nice project guitar.

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It would, Ive seen much lower quality 7 strings. Original FLoyd Rose aint bad (if you like it), 2 hums, Alder body, rosewood fretboard, hell It ain too bad.
Ibanez rip off shape.

It could be made to be awesome. Ive seen 7's wayyyyyyyyyyyyy cheaper than 155 Euro. I believe the cheapest 7 i have seen was on ebay (Buy it now) for $75 AU. Strat shape, One single coil pickup, hardly any specs. Damn that was bad,

But yeah, if you wanna try that one out.. It'd be awesome!! DeathCS reccomends Invaders in alder guitars. Hell. Its got better specs than a Platinum BC Rich.
Give it a shot man!