[kentheterrible]

Go with an Ibanez s7. super light. super fast. super sick.
rock on.
ken

[zimbloth]

I know people will groan, but the Ibanez K7 has the best tone ive heard in a 7-string in my long long history with owning high end 7-string guitars. It has a mahogany body and direct-mounted pickups, amazing combination... extremely rich and toneful - NOT muddy.

[Papa Shank]

Personally I think the K-7 could do with different pickups, on cleans they're great but I just can't get a good tone with distortion.

Everything else though is pretty amazing, easily the best guitar I've ever played.

[zimbloth]

I have to wonder what kind of amp you're using. Are you using a tube amp? I'm used to high output pickups, but I was able to get a HUGE brutal sound from the K7's PAF pickups. I use all-tube Peavey/Mesa/Laney heads though. The key to getting a good sound out of the K7 is making sure the pickups are fairly close to the strings. If theyre too far away the sound is weak and bland on distortion, you've got get them close enough and then its tone heaven!

[Papa Shank]

I'm thinking it's at least partly my amp, it's a line6 flextone III you see. It could just be I haven't spent the time to dial it in, I'll spend this afternoon fiddling with the amp I think.

[zimbloth]

Well, I don't like digital amps really, but I've used those and those should have enough punch...but yeah the amp is definitely partly responsible. The problem with solid-state and digital amps, is that they seriously lack in dynamics. With tube amps, you can drive the amp in so many more ways like by how you pick or how hot the tubes get, etc. Still, the Flextone's Soldano and Mesa models should be fine. I think the bigger issue is probably the pickup height. I ended up having to lower the bridge a bit to get the pickups closer to the strings (since the DiMarzios are direct mounted and cant be adjusted to my knowledge), and that solved ALL THE PROBLEMS.

Pickup height is seriously one of the most overlooked aspects of getting a great sound, 99% of people I've encountered never even think to adjust it. They just assume the pickups suck and then move on. I'm not throwing you in with that group, just making a general statement.

[Papa Shank]

The pickup height is around 5mm away from the strings, tbh I just really want to put a Lundgren M-7 into one of my 7s but I don't think I'll be putting it in this k-7.

Might be an idea for me to start building that ADA rack setup I was going to do though.

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by theboatcandream

Alright.
www dot ibanez dot com/guitars/guitar.asp?model=AX7221
AX7221

They're cheap - and the mahogany is decent - but they're short-scale, and the neck redefines the word "clubby".

[eaeolian]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Pickup height is seriously one of the most overlooked aspects of getting a great sound, 99% of people I've encountered never even think to adjust it. They just assume the pickups suck and then move on. I'm not throwing you in with that group, just making a general statement.

Agreed. I spent a lot of time playing with pickup height on my Jackson - the JB's got a "sweet spot" where the low b and e are fat without being wooly, and it took me a while to find it...

However, this is more of an "it's almost there thing. If the guitar's not even in the ballpark tonally, and the PUs aren't doing something crazy like sitting 1/16" away from the strings, then you probably don't like the PUs.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by Papa Shank

The pickup height is around 5mm away from the strings, tbh I just really want to put a Lundgren M-7 into one of my 7s but I don't think I'll be putting it in this k-7.

Might be an idea for me to start building that ADA rack setup I was going to do though.

Ahh. 2-3mm is what I've been told is the recommended distance when fretted at the 24th - 5mm is pretty far back. Bump 'em up a little and see what happens.

Of course, some people like the sound of a pickup pretty far back, so don't be afraid to experiment.