# Jackson DR7



## jacksonplayer (Jul 31, 2004)

Just got my Jackson DR7 that I won off of eBay:

eBay auction 

I cleaned her up and dropped in a real Duncan Distortion-7/59 set to replace the Duncan Designs. Nice!

I was a bit surprised, actually. The other Jackson 7 string I played at a store recently had a fairly chunky neck. This one has quite a thin neck by comparison--about the same profile as a normal 6 string Jackson neck. Nice feel to it. The hardware is pretty crappy, though. The guitar is no more than four years old, and the tuners are already wearing out. I'll probably have to replace them with a set of Gotohs pretty soon. The wiring job wasn't the best, either--the Korean guitars I've owned almost all had better soldering jobs. At least all that stuff is easily fixed. The guitar has a very nice fretjob, and the maple neck/alder body combination really sings.


----------



## Metal Ken (Jul 31, 2004)

thats cool, i heard the DR7 wasnt that great? but apparently you seem to dig it..


----------



## jacksonplayer (Jul 31, 2004)

I guess it depends on what you are going for. A lot of people probably diss it because of the Duncan Design pickups that it came with. If you replace those, it sounds like a whole different instrument. And the fact is, the hardware is cheap. Basically, I like it because of the neck and the tone but admit that it is probably a "handyman's special".

The only real problem that I've encountered so far is that the nut might not have been cut exactly right--the high E string sits slightly too low in the nut, but the low B is slightly too high. Almost like the bottom of the nut is slightly crooked. I'll probably have to have a pro fix that. I know my way around with a soldering iron, but any fret or nut stuff I leave to the pros. Shouldn't be an expensive fix--and it's only a problem because I like neck relief very flat and the action very low. It probably wouldn't be a problem for most folks.


----------



## Digital Black (Jul 31, 2004)

Nice axe!....


Ever think of Dimarizo?......


----------



## Chris (Jul 31, 2004)

DR = Dinky Reverse? Or just a common Jackson product number?

I had a Jackson Dinky Reverse a few years back and loved it - if that's the seven string version of it, I'll have to pick one up.

In any case, at that price, looks like you got a great deal on a sweet axe bro. Congrats.


----------



## jacksonplayer (Aug 1, 2004)

Sephiroth000 said:


> Ever think of Dimarizo?......



Yeah, I like the DiMarzio 7-string pickups, as well, but the Duncan Distortion is kind of "my sound", since I've been using it almost exclusively in my six-string guitars for a couple of years.

However, I have a Blaze Custom/Blaze Neck in my Schecter V-7, and those pickups also rock hard. 

I just got a used Ibanez 7620 today at Guitar Center for a price I couldn't pass up, and I'm going to put the Blazes from the V-7 into that guitar to make myself a little 'fake Universe'. 

The folks at GC thought this guitar was a 7420--and priced it accordingly--probably because it is a year 2000 guitar with the bubinga-striped neck. But it is indeed a 7620 with the Lo-Pro Edge bridge and triangular-shaped pickup-mounting routs. The DiMarzio "New 7" pickups in it are crap, but the Blazes should take care of that. 

Interestingly, GC also had a used UV777BK in stock, so I got a chance to test that against the 7620 through the same setup. The Universe clearly benefits from more careful choosing of the woods--it was scary how resonant and punchy the Universe was, while the 7620 has a much darker and dense sound. I loved the Universe's neck, but this 7620 is also quite nice as it has the thinner Wizard neck w/bubinga strip. Truth be told, I would have gone with the Universe if money were no object, but I don't want to have to sleep on the couch for the next six months, so...


----------



## jacksonplayer (Aug 1, 2004)

Chris said:


> DR = Dinky Reverse? Or just a common Jackson product number?
> 
> I had a Jackson Dinky Reverse a few years back and loved it - if that's the seven string version of it, I'll have to pick one up.
> 
> In any case, at that price, looks like you got a great deal on a sweet axe bro. Congrats.



Thanks!

You're correct--DR stands for "Dinky Reverse." In Jackson model numbers, DK stands for "Dinky non-reverse", SL for "Soloist", RR for "Rhoads model," KE for "Kelly model," and KV for "King V model." On the really low end, they have the PS "Performer Series," and the DX "X Series" guitars. Most of the 7-strings that Jackson made in 2000-01 were Japanese made guitars--the DR-7, RR-7 and KE-7 (which is pretty rare). 

However, if you want to get a DR-7, be careful, because Jackson during those years also made a cheapo DX-7, which looks exactly like the DR-7, except that it has shiny chrome hardware, rather than the satin-finish chrome used on the DR-7. The DX-7 came out during the period when Jackson was making the DX series in India, and they are truly awful instruments. The quality control on the India guitars was so bad that the company was forced to switch production of those guitars back to Japan after only a couple of years. The newer X guitars are made in Japan, but all of the DX-7's were made in India--and should be avoided. Like I said the easiest way to tell is the shiny vs. satin hardware, but many of the guitars will still have "Made in India" or "Made in Japan" stickers on the back of the neck.


----------



## Prophecy420 (Aug 2, 2004)

A friend of mine owns a DR7, with a PAF/TZ in it (I believe). It's a very nice sounding and good playing guitar. Looks like you got a great deal.


----------



## XIEmperorIX (Aug 8, 2005)

HateBreeder said:


> thats cool, i heard the DR7 wasnt that great? but apparently you seem to dig it..




All in a matter of personal taste of course..I have a DR7-T (the floyd version) and it's a pretty decent guitar..I wanna replace the pups though and lead playing (on mine at least) can be a little rough sometimes but it's an awesome rhtyhm guitar.


----------



## The Rx Elite (Aug 9, 2005)

I tried one out once. I thought it was cool. Im used to the Ibanez necks and the floating tremolo though. Those Duncan p/u's sound pretty good too.


----------



## Shawn (Aug 9, 2005)

HateBreeder said:


> thats cool, i heard the DR7 wasnt that great? but apparently you seem to dig it..


Well, a friend of mine had one and he absolutely hated it. The high e string was almost off the fretboard as the low b was way into the fretboard so it was off and looked as if it was manufactured poorly. Maybe it was just that one though. I seem to hear some great things about the DR-7.


----------



## Drew (Aug 9, 2005)

My UV's nut is actually slightly out of alignment, with the low B closer to the edge of the fretboard. It's actually not bad, once you get used to it - it's the only 7 I've played I can comfortably play "Little Wing" on.

-D


----------



## Metal Ken (Aug 9, 2005)

jacksonplayer said:


> However, if you want to get a DR-7, be careful, because Jackson during those years also made a cheapo DX-7, which looks exactly like the DR-7, except that it has shiny chrome hardware, rather than the satin-finish chrome used on the DR-7. The DX-7 came out during the period when Jackson was making the DX series in India, and they are truly awful instruments. The quality control on the India guitars was so bad that the company was forced to switch production of those guitars back to Japan after only a couple of years. The newer X guitars are made in Japan, but all of the DX-7's were made in India--and should be avoided. Like I said the easiest way to tell is the shiny vs. satin hardware, but many of the guitars will still have "Made in India" or "Made in Japan" stickers on the back of the neck.



Those are the guitars i was thinking of. I knew there was some indian made ones...


----------



## Makelele (Aug 12, 2005)

Hello, new here

I've actually got a Jackson DX7 and i think it's ok. Maybe I just got lucky though,cause I haven't got any problems at all with it. It stays in tune quite well and sounds ok, too.


----------



## Emperoff (Aug 12, 2005)

I tried one in a music store over here and liked it, but the neck was nice, but nothing compared to Ibanez's necks, the pickups were just crap too.
I guess that with a pickup change the guitar should rock!


----------



## life-it-aint-worth-living (Oct 31, 2005)

I like my Jackson its one of my fav guitars. I recently took out the pickups in it and installed a Dimarzio Tone Zone 7 in the bridge and a Air Nortan in the neck and i love it even more now. I recommend it for someone looking for a 7 string as long as you change the pick ups in it......otherwise it would just be another alright sounding guitar instead of a COMPLETE FACE MELTING SHREDDER..........WOOP WOOP IM OUT!


----------



## jacksonplayer (Oct 31, 2005)

Wow, total thread resurrection!! I started this thread last year, but I sold my DR7 a long time ago (I only had it for a little while). Ultimately, it was ok, but not quite good enough to use as my main seven. I've toyed with the thought of getting the version with the tremolo for awhile, because I really do like the Jackson neck shape, but it's not a priority. Anybody looking for a Jackson bolt-on seven should look at the new DK7 Christian Olde Wolbers signature model. That's a much nicer guitar than the old DR7, but it will also set you back a lot more $$, also. A DR7 isn't a bad way to get into a cheap 7, but the quality control seems pretty hit-and-miss, even on the real Japanese DR7s.


----------

