[Xoiijin]

Hey all. i was glad to do a search today and hit this website. A little about myself. I am 36. I started playing bass and singing in '86. I had a good run of playing all different types of music and playing with a lot of talented people. About 4 years ago i decided to move away from the bass and play guitar (the start of me getting burned out). I spent 3 years working on playing (fumbling) and I enjoyed my progress. I always think that i have one more thing to learn. Well for mental health reasons i put my guitar down last November and have not played since. I just recently walked into a music store and picked up a guitar and decided that i wanted to get back playing. I also decided that since i wanted to approach playing from a new view i decided to go and pickup a 7 string. I thought that the 7 string would breathe a new life into something that i love, playing guitar.

Now with all that history in place, i am looking to pick up a 7 string from a music shop but i have no clue what i should be looking for and what i should be staying away from. My first thought is i have never had a floyd rose type tremelo and thought i would look for one. it may not be the best idea to get one but i figured i would get some opinions. I hope to maybe get a 7 string from a local shop so i can trade in a few items i have towards purchase (MKIII 4 track, Bass collections 5 string bass, Fender CHampion amp 30W).

Thanks for reading.
X.

[Chris]

First off: Welcome!

You hit the nail on the head - the seven will definitely breathe new life into your playing. The downside ( ) is that it might suck a little life out of your six string playing - or at least force you to dust them more often.

What's your price point?

I'm sure I'm not the only one that will mention the RG7620, and for good reason. It's a solid guitar, and with the right pickups can sing like a high end - while all the while being a great, floyd equipped, durable 7 that'll last you a long time. I think about 50% of the guys on here own one or have in the past.

If you're looking non-floyd, I recommend the Schecter C7, or for a slightly longer scale, the Schecter blackjack. I own a C7 and it's my main seven string now and I'm absolutely in love with it.

If you've got ~1k or more to spend, it opens up a pile of options that I'd be happy to get into. Good luck!

Here's a shot of my 3 Sevens - the Schecter, an ESP M-207, and my 7620.



The rule of thumb around here is as follows:

Whatever you buy, you are required to post pics at once, or Sephiroth will come to your house and light bags of poop on fire on your porch.

[Digital Black]

That's the truth!

Never owning a Floyd rose will make it a lot harder to deal with on a 7. Not that you shouldn't get one and learn to use and adjust it. The learning Curve is steep but once you know what your doing, the skill applies to all FR's trems. PLUS you have all of us experts here to guide you through any prob's.
RG7620 if your looking bang for your buck. ( I would mention the Halo BH-7 also )
If money is no option, a Ibanez Universe or any of the cottage industry builders-I.E. LGM or Soloway.

[Xoiijin]

I think my price range should be around $300-500. so i will be looking around all the guitar shops in my area looking for a used 7 string. i see from a lot of posts that the 7620 seems to almost be a standard here.

i did stumble onto the Halo site and the BH-7 looks really nice too.

what would be the pro's and con's of having the tremelo system?
i just thought i would ask because i believe that it might be easier finding a shecter than an ibanez. i dont think many of the music stores like to stock them and i would love to try soemthing out before i bought it.

X.

[Drew]

Yeah, the 7620 is sorta the best bang-for-the-buck guitar, period, in that price range, six OR seven strings.

Every once in a while you'll still find a 7620 in a Guitar Center, generally used and way overpriced. If you want to get some playing time on one, that's probably a good way to start, but don't buy unless you can talk them way down (which may be possible, as it's probably been sitting there for a while- demand for 7's seems to have dropped a bit again, after what had appeared to be a slight resurgence).

The advantages of a trem? Well, there's the overt stuff- divebombs, harmonic shreiks, strings rattling limply on the fretboard, Jimi-isms, etc- although I've been hugely influenced by George Lynch's use of the bar, myself- slight accents and slurs, slipping into notes from slightly above and below, etc. It gives his playing this very slippery, exotic, "loose" feel that I've always dug. They're also, once the strings have settled, virtually impossible to knock out of tune.

The disadvantage is lack of tuning stability during compound bends (fixable with a tremsetter or Tremol-no, if Kevan Geier can just finalize this stuff and get 'em on the market) and pain-in-the-ass string changing, so it evens out.

-D

[Vince]

I agree and disagree with Chris. The RG 7620, IMO, is one of the finest if not the finest 7-string guitars around. My RG7620 is the best guitar I've ever played, and I've played a ton of guitars. I've even owned some "higher-end" Ibanez guitars than the 7620, and they didn't compare to it either (or maybe I just got lucky with how my 7620 turned out).

I disagree with his statement about the pickups, though The stock pickups are DiMarzio Blaze pickups, which are good pickups. Dream Theater's Awake album and Change of Seasons were recorded with these pickups in Petrucci's 7-string, and he had one of the biggest sounds of all time. For rhythm, the pickups, IMO of course, can't be beat (this sentence needs one,more,comma ).

I can see his point when it comes to lead work, however, as the Duncan JB is far and away the best pickup I've ever played for leads.

[bobthemerciful]

Originally Posted by Chris

The rule of thumb around here is as follows:

Whatever you buy, you are required to post pics at once, or Sephiroth will come to your house and light bags of poop on fire on your porch.

Wondered what the smell was!!! Will post pic soon as able.

Welcome Xoiijin. Good luck with finding a 7

[Digital Black]

Originally Posted by desertdweller

I agree and disagree with Chris. The RG 7620, IMO, is one of the finest if not the finest 7-string guitars around. My RG7620 is the best guitar I've ever played, and I've played a ton of guitars. I've even owned some "higher-end" Ibanez guitars than the 7620, and they didn't compare to it either (or maybe I just got lucky with how my 7620 turned out).

I disagree with his statement about the pickups, though The stock pickups are DiMarzio Blaze pickups, which are good pickups. Dream Theater's Awake album and Change of Seasons were recorded with these pickups in Petrucci's 7-string, and he had one of the biggest sounds of all time. For rhythm, the pickups, IMO of course, can't be beat (this sentence needs one,more,comma ).

I can see his point when it comes to lead work, however, as the Duncan JB is far and away the best pickup I've ever played for leads.

It is general acceptence that the RG7620 pip's are not Blaze's but Dimarizo made pickups called "NEW 7 ". Check Jemsite for this info. The neck pickup on a stock RG7620 is a three wire and the bridge is 4 wire. Not typical Aftermarket Dimarizos..

[Xoiijin]

What a P.I.A. it is going to be to find a 7 string. a lot of stores dont have the selection be it xmas time or when they look at me and say " o a 7 string, Hmmmm". i have been to about 5 places to check out 7 strings. I did try out a K-7 but it didnt really gel with me and i certainly am not going to spend the $1300 they want for it. I tried out a Brownsville and it was ok, but it didnt sing out to me. I did find a 7420 (with Floyd) and a 7621. i played them both (not plugged in) and they felt pretty good. they were both $299 and the price was firm. how do these models differ from a 7620? is it worth considering one of these two models or searching out for a 7620 to try out?

thanks for the help.
X.

[Digital Black]

The 7420 is pretty good and almost identical to the 7620. Some 7420's even have the same neck from a 7620. An enigma much discussed. My 7420's neck is stamped 7620 and the body 7420.
the pickups in the 7420 are pretty poor quality, but not the absolute worst. The trem on the 7420 is a big point most people have with the axe. It a lesser quality Ibanez "LO TRS".
Not as bad as a "TRS 2" which is found on most entry level Ibanez's; but not a good as the "Lo pro Edge", found on the 7620 and other high end Ibanez's.
Personally, my Lo TRS works pretty well and it has a pop in bar like the LP Edge.

Otherwise the 7420 and 7620 are pretty close, both are Japanese made ( a good thing), have direct mount pickups , and jumbo frets. If I found a 7420 in real good shape and needed a 7 string, I would not hesitate to spend 300. A little work and it's a real contender.