[Drop-A]

Hia, long time lurker here.

I'm ordering my first sevenstring in a couple of weeks, the Apex2, and I was wondering what kind of upgrades I should order in the same batch?

I know the bridge and the pickups are top notch, but what about the tuners? Also, what kind of cleaning items should I throw in? I'm thinking in the lines of lemon oils and stuff like that. I have no idea what to buy.

I'm basically gonna order a full kit for making the guitar sound and play as good as possible, and all the stuff necessary for maintaining and taking care of it.

I'm ordering everything from musiciansfriend.com. The exchange rate is so low that I'm paying almost half as much as I would if ordering from norwegian shops :D

And the last question. Kinda clichè, but what string gauges would you guys recommend for standard A-tuning? I love tension, but don't want to sacrifice playability with too thick strings.

I hope you can help out an aspiring seven-stringer :)

[Dr. Von Goosewing]

Hi!

For fretboards i like to use Fretdoctor: Bore Oil for the Fife and Fret Doctor that seems to keep fretboards in great condition. For cleaning the rest of the guitar I use a planet waves cloth to dust it down, it's very similar to a car chamois leather cloth.

As for string gauges I use 9-42+56 for A standard, that's pretty slack though. Maybe try 10-46+60 gauge for starters.

[MF_Kitten]

eg tror ikkje du hadde trengt å skifta ut ein ting, dei gitarane e bra nok som di e

[budda]

upgrade the tuners if and when you find they're not doing their job well enough.

as for polish, I'd just get the ernie ball polish kit, some fret doctor, a spare cloth and away you go.

[Mattmc74]

Gerlitz USA Guitar Care Products, guitar cleaner, wax, polish

I have been using this stuff for years and I love it!

[guitarplayerone]

get bore oil for clarinets vs lemon oil. lasts and hydrates much better.

[Blood Tempest]

Stain the fretboard ebony! It will look siiiick!

Black Fingerboard Stain at Stewart-MacDonald

[Drop-A]

As for string gauges I use 9-42+56 for A standard, that's pretty slack though. Maybe try 10-46+60 gauge for starters.

On my current six string I'm using 10-60 for drop-C, so I would like about equivalent tension on a seven string tuned to A.

eg tror ikkje du hadde trengt å skifta ut ein ting, dei gitarane e bra nok som di e

Det tviler jeg ikke på :P Men tenkte det var noe småtterier som kunne vært kjekt å bestille i samme slengen. Er ikke hver dag jeg gidder å bestille fra USA.

So, I'm gonna order new tuners, and oils and stuff for the fretboard. But what about the nut? Should it be replaced?

[TMM]

The nut isn't bad, though you could get better.

Definitely upgrade the pickups. Even though they're nice, in my opinion, the PAF7s just don't fit the tone of the guitar. Maybe something a little richer sounding would work, like a Duncan Jazz 7 (neck) / Duncan Custom 7 (bridge). You should be able to pick this up pretty easily, since the pickups will be brand new and you'll be able to sell the PAF7s for almost as much as the Duncans would be new.

[Sentient]

Originally Posted by Drop-A

And the last question. Kinda clichè, but what string gauges would you guys recommend for standard A-tuning? I love tension, but don't want to sacrifice playability with too thick strings.

The guitar will come to you already in standard A-tuning, and I think you'll like the strings that are already on it. I disagree with those that say you need to swap out the pickups, because I think the PAF7's sound great in this axe. But pickups are like colors when it comes to people's opinions; everybody likes something different.

Congrats on your purchase. You're gonna love it.