[Drew]

Hmm. Maybe a Jackson Stars imported from Japan, then? Noodles, do they offer a trem'd version of yours?

I'd love to try a JP7, too. Fuckin' GC and their 7-string bias.

[Cancer]

Originally Posted by noodles

Except he wants a seven, and the DK-2M isn't a seven.

If you like EMGs, the COW7 is a great guitar for the money. Where else are you going to find an ebony fretboard and a mahogany body, short of a custom shop order?

2007 Agile Interceptor Pro?

[Drew]

Originally Posted by psyphre

2007 Agile Interceptor Pro?

...will not compare favorably to a $1500 Jackson Stars. Sorry dude. Good guitar for the price, maybe, but if he's interested in Jackson after playing a USA Custom Shop model, there's no way that an Agile WON'T be a step down.

[jacksonplayer]

Originally Posted by Drew

Hmm. Maybe a Jackson Stars imported from Japan, then? Noodles, do they offer a trem'd version of yours?

The only neckthru non-custom Jackson Stars sevens are a few small runs that the Ikebe chain in Japan has ordered, which includes Noodles's Stars. As far as I know, none of them have trems.

I had an American friend of mine living in Japan buy the guitar Noodles has now and ship it over to me. He bought it at an Ikebe store in the Akihabura district of Tokyo, but I think it was used, based on the price. That same store had a KV7 that they were asking a LOT more for.

Jackson Stars will do "semi-custom" guitars that cost a lot less than something from the USA Custom Shop, but I think a 7-string might be over the line of what they consider semi-custom, since it isn't just a modification to a regular model.

[noodles]

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/free_sear...&start_index=0

I really would love to own the SL7-J2B on that page. It appears to be a nicer model than mine. Ebony fretboard, too.

[jacksonplayer]

Originally Posted by Chris

However, I really like Mike's Jackson, and the overall Division tone. Thus, convince me, bitches!

Even as a "Jackson guy," I find it hard to be convincing on the merits of Jackson sevens, since the company has done a really half-assed job with its production sevens. If you can't or don't want to spend $3000+, you might be better off looking elsewhere. The COW-7 isn't horrible, but I don't think it compares that well to a C-7 Hellraiser, and I was considering both recently. Jackson could have done the right thing with the COW-7 and made it neckthru, but they chintzed out.

Originally Posted by noodles

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/free_sear...&start_index=0

I really would love to own the SL7-J2B on that page. It appears to be a nicer model than mine. Ebony fretboard, too.

I want that one, too. Don't have the bucks to bring that over, though, especially given all of the hassle and fees that Ikebe imposes.

However, that has a "striped" ebony board, the same as yours. I'm still not exactly sure what the hell "striped" ebony is (a fancy name for rosewood?), but I think it may simply be a browner variety of ebony. The grain on your board looks too rough to be ebony, but it is identical in color to the striped ebony boards in the various Jackson Stars pictures, and definitely darker than the rosewood you see used on Japanese guitars these days. You have to step up to the J1 series guitars to get a 'regular' ebony board. Big jump in price, too.

[noodles]

Originally Posted by jacksonplayer

The COW-7 isn't horrible, but I don't think it compares that well to a C-7 Hellraiser, and I was considering both recently. Jackson could have done the right thing with the COW-7 and made it neckthru, but they chintzed out.

I completely disagree with your comparison. To me, the Hellraiser feels clunky and unfrefined, like a Gibson Les Paul. The Jackson feels much sleaker in comparison. I will agree that they should have made it a neckthru, though. I guess that is what the artist wanted, since they tend to make their sig models the same as what the artist plays. How else can you explain the hideous Mark Morton model, the stupid inlays on the Keven Bond, or that dumb Kahler fixed bridge on the old KV1 and KE1?

However, that has a "striped" ebony board, the same as yours. I'm still not exactly sure what the hell "striped" ebony is (a fancy name for rosewood?), but I think it may simply be a browner variety of ebony. The grain on your board looks too rough to be ebony, but it is identical in color to the striped ebony boards in the various Jackson Stars pictures. You have to step up to the J1 series guitars to get a 'regular' ebony board. Big jump in price, too.

Mine doesn't look anything like the fretboard on that black Soloist. My fretboard is much lighter, unless they are playing tricks with the lighting. Maybe mine is a lower grade of rosewood?

[jacksonplayer]

Originally Posted by noodles

I completely disagree with your comparison. To me, the Hellraiser feels clunky and unfrefined, like a Gibson Les Paul. The Jackson feels much sleaker in comparison.

Ah, but I'm an old Les Paul guy, so the heft of the Schecter sevens is a good fit for me. My Carvin is sleeker still compared to the COW, and has mega resonance and decent tone, to boot. The COW I played just felt cheap and uninspiring.

And to answer the unspoken question you and eaeolian both probably have--no, I'm not getting back into the 'guitar of the week' thing. I love my Carvin and it's staying. But there are a couple of other guitars I just haven't been playing that I'm going to sell to pay for the Hellraiser. The Carvin sings beautifully but it doesn't do rhythmic brutality as well as the Schecters do, and I'd also like a seven that I can tune down a half-step and still use my girly-man .008 strings with.

I wish that SL7-J2B wasn't in Japan, or I'd probably have snagged it instead of the Hellraiser. Heck, maybe even if it was at Ishibashi rather than Ikebe, since Ishibashi is a lot better about foreign sales and doesn't rape you on the wire transfer fees and shipping.

Originally Posted by noodles

Mine doesn't look anything like the fretboard on that black Soloist. My fretboard is much lighter, unless they are playing tricks with the lighting. Maybe mine is a lower grade of rosewood?

I think it's the lighting. If you go to the Jackson Stars site, the guitars with the striped ebony boards look a lot like yours. But I thought the way you do back when I owned your guitar, so maybe it's just my aging memory playing tricks on me.

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by jacksonplayer

I think it's the lighting. If you go to the Jackson Stars site, the guitars with the striped ebony boards look a lot like yours. But I thought the way you do back when I owned your guitar, so maybe it's just my aging memory playing tricks on me.

Dave's is definitely rosewood - it doesn't have the ebony tight grain. The "striped" ebony doesn't look as nice, but apparently sounds the same as the dark kind...

Chris, I can't convince you to buy a COW7 unless you get a smokin' deal on it.

Hmm....

[Sebastian]

Well i know djpharoah is selling his DR7 , You can always mod it...