[TedEH]

I have several guitars and only one of them is a 7 string. My axe of choice right now is an Ltd EX-400 /w the active emgs, and I love that thing. I tried to dive into 7 strings and I found a Dean ML X7 at a pawn shop, took it home, cleaned 'er up, checked all the wiring, did the setup, plugged it in... and...

It's decent, but thats it....and a bit of a stretch... actually kinda crappy sounding. The low B string is really flabby, and doesnt always stay in tune when you play it rough. (Although the others strings are fine.) The neck pickup was too low to pick up sound but I adjusted it to sound okay. And the worst parts: the bridge pickup distorts when my amp is as clean as I can get it, and all the low end sounds (anythig using the B or low E) sound really crappy, distorted or not, to the point of barely hearing what your playing.

So, oppinions anyone? Is this guitar always crappy or did I find an odd one, or set it up wrong maybe?

I do have to note tho that I didn't change the string after I bought it (yeah I know, I should have), and they're not very heavy strings. My thought is, if I replace the strings with something heavier, and get a new bridge pickup, would that work well enough to be worth the time and a bit o cash? Might the strings alone do it?

And if I lucked out and you all know it crap, what would you recomend as another guitar? I really like my EX-400 but getting a custom 7 version would be way to expensive for me. Any alternatives?

[Metal Ken]

Eh, if its anything like the Dean Vendetta 7, i personally would have passed.
Its an alright guitar but nothing more. Putting a bigger string on the low B might help you for the time being -- like a .058 or .060 or higher. A nice bridge pickup would definately help.

If you're looking for a good budget 7 (in case you dont want to put the money into that guitar) check out a RG7621 or a RG7421... they can be had for around 300$ usually on the 'bay and they're badass guitars. You can also find the Conklin Groove Tools in the same price range.

[Shawn]

Welcome! I actually played one of those ML X7s a while back and I didn't care for it. Not only did it play badly but it sounded bad and it felt very uncomfortable, it also looked like it was made really cheap. You should sell it and get a nice, used RG 7620 or 7621.

[TedEH]

I've also been trying to build a couple o guitars, but I cant make necks. Does this look worth it?
eBay.ca: Ibanez 7-String AANJ Neck, RG 7621 7 String JEM 2550 NR (item 260126801255 end time 13-Jun-07 09:31:57 EDT)

[Metal Ken]

If you can get that for a good price, it would be, yes.

[yevetz]

Welcome man!!!!!!

[Rusty_cooley702]

dean kinda pisses me off with their quality
i dont like it their tremolos especially

budget 7?? try the ibanez 7321
it has one of the nicest necks ive ever played

[Sebastian]

Well... i does not suck.. just change some things in it like Metal Ken wrote.. you dont have to buy a new one...

At least its a nice ML and no "no name 7 shit".....

[Naren]

I would recommend buying a different guitar if you want an actual "good" guitar instead of a "meh, I guess it doesn't totally suck " kind of guitar.

I agree with what a lot of people have been saying. A good cheap seven would be a used RG7621 or RG7421.

[TomAwesome]

New strings, new pickups, and a setup will probably get it into the range of decent as long as the neck feels good enough to you. A 7X2X probably would be a lot nicer, though. Also, welcome!