Well, I've been toying with the idea of selling this one for rather a while now, and I hate to let it go, but ultimately I'm just not playing it, so...
The guitar in question is a 1999 Ibanez RG7CST. It hardly needs an introduction, but it's a 2nd generation Ibanez J-Custom piezo-equipped seven string guitar. Think of it as the granddaddy of the 2027, but with a few twists, a flamed maple top and an ebony fretboard cheif amongst them.
Not counting this one, I've seen three others of these up for sale (out of a best guess total of 15-18 based on serial numbers), and this one seems to be the cleanest. There's a small match-head sized ding on the top edge of the body that a prior owner tells me was caused by a whammy bar, there's a similar sized chip in the back that was apparently filled in at the factory and then cleared over (it took me a few days of staring at the thing before I noticed), and there's a slight imprint a little above it about 2-3mm long, and another tiny ding right behind the point where the top edge and upper contour meet,on the back. Aside from that, there's some very minor pimpling on the bass side of the trem (about three needlepoint dots you can see from a foot or two away, and about as many nearly invisible smaller ones), and a handful of hairline beltbuckle scratches right at the edge of the trem cavity (I recieved it without a trem cover). That's really about it - it doesn't even have much in the way of polishing swirls.
In terms of tone and feel, this thing strikes me as something designed to take down a PRS. The neck is a bit girthier than your typical Ibanez, but still fast, smooth, and comfortable - if any of you have played a 2027, they feel identical to me (although I haven't played one in probably 3 years, so take that with a grain of salt). Fretwire is heavier than my PWH (which, granted, has been through hell and back and could very well have been refretted), and about on par with a 7620's - jumbo frets, giving you plenty to grab onto. The pickups are stock, and I'm not entirely sure what they are, but they sound great. Like all mahogany guitars, it lacks the depth of basswood, but it's got a lot of lower-mid impact, and due to the ebony board and maple top, quite a bit more snap than one would suspect. Like I said, think PRS more than Gibson. Cleans are absolutely gorgeous, and in fact I hate to admit it, but that's really what I'm going to miss the most, through my amp's clean channel, it's just incredibly lush and complex. Distorted, it's articulate and defined, chunky without being bass-heavy or wooly in the low end, and exactly as powerful as you'd expect a mahogany bodied, maple topped guitar to be.
Pictures are available at
www.drewpeterson.org/CSTforsale.html, to guage condition, get a feel for the top, or whatever. I'm asking $2700 shipped in the continental US - I'd prefer to sell it domestically, but I won't rule out selling it abroad provided the buyer is willing to pick up shipping. Currently, it's in need of a fresh set of strings and a fret polish - I'll do this for the buyer if he or she prefers (I'm not a professional tech, but I've been doing my own work for years and consider myself quite competent) and set it up with the buyer's preferred guage (and, if possible, brand) of strings, but if you'd rather get it out the door ASAP and do the work yourself as sort of a "getting to know you" excersize with the new guitar, I can just give her a quick wipedown, check the tune, and pack her up and get her in the mail. She's currently strung up with Elixer 9-42's with an Elixer 56 B and action around the 2.0 mark, but the neck will take slightly lower before buzzing becomes an issue. She'll come in a pristine UV1000 case.
PM or e-mail me with questions or to express interest, although if you e-mail me, post here to say so, as I only check the address linked from my profile about once a day.
I'm not really looking for trades, but I suppose I'd consider a good player 7620 or a Schecter C7 as a partial trade.
And, just for the hell of it, one of the pics:
