# [Tech] 7 String Pickup Comparison



## Ryan (Mar 5, 2007)

Ok, so it's a very common question around here: "What pickup should i buy?" or "What does this pickup sound like?"

I took the liberty to help out a little. 

I made these clips by copy/pasting the same drum track over and over again in my multitracker. Then, I simply changed guitars in between without messing with the recording settings. This way, you can hear the differences between the guitar PUs.

All of these guitars are Ibanez 7s (basswood), so they should be too far off from eachother. In the process i used a RG7421XL, RG7620, UV777PBK, RG7620, and a S7420FMTW (yah, i know, it's mahogany). To my surprise, i actually could hear a great deal of difference between the clips.

Check em out:






RG7421XL w/ Blaze 7
[MEDIA]http://www.sunino.us/Blaze 7 Clip.mp3[/MEDIA]







RG7620XMAS w/ Blaze Custom lol: Leon)
[MEDIA]http://www.sunino.us/Blaze Custom 7 Clip.mp3[/MEDIA]







UV777PBK w/ Evo 7
[MEDIA]http://www.sunino.us/Evo 7 Clip.mp3[/MEDIA]







RG7620BK w/ X2N7
[MEDIA]http://www.sunino.us/X2N 7 Clip.mp3[/MEDIA]







S7420FMTW w/ Stock Ibby 7
[MEDIA]http://www.sunino.us/Stock 7s Clip.mp3[/MEDIA]

I also learned my UV plays about 10x smoother than most of my other guitars.
_[plug]The drumtrack is a clip from one of my Abominodium songs. [/plug]_


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## ibzrg1570 (Mar 5, 2007)

AARGH!!! Damn my cheap computer speakers! Can't hear the differences between the clips. Also, I'm assuming these are all in the bridge position, right?

Oh well, this is a good resource. I'll get my headphones and relisten to them again sometime.


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## Leon (Mar 5, 2007)

sticky worthy!


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## Ryan (Mar 5, 2007)

i can hear the difference between the first 2 in the bathroom with the door shut..


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## playstopause (Mar 5, 2007)

neat idea.


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## ibzrg1570 (Mar 5, 2007)

Ryan said:


> i can hear the difference between the first 2 in the bathroom with the door shut..


Sounds like shit to me!


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## Chris (Mar 5, 2007)

Workbenched!


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## Rick (Mar 5, 2007)

Those Ibanez stocks suck.


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## D-EJ915 (Mar 5, 2007)

Cool clips! The way it sounded like, the Blaze custom and X2N sounded like "huge" versions of the Blaze and Evo respectively.


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## Brord (Mar 6, 2007)

I liked the evo7 best, by far... more articulate and more midrange oriented. Gives a far nastier growl then the X2N7 imho!


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## johnw (Mar 6, 2007)

That was really cool. I liked the Blaze 7. That post deserves some rep.


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## plasticface (Mar 6, 2007)

thanks a ton 
coincidentally, i was about to ask which pickup should i pickup for my RG7321. how much of a difference will it create sound wise, since you have a better arsenal of guitars
this clears it all. i have no idea about how to thank a post
but thanks again


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## Stretchnutz (Mar 6, 2007)

Dude! Do you realize how much you helped me(let alone many others) this is a great post, speically for someone new to 7s as i am! One question though, what are you tuned to?
Thanks again

Stretchy


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## Ryan (Mar 6, 2007)

I like the Evo 7 too. You can hear picking dynamics a little better than the others too.


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## Stitch (Mar 6, 2007)

Hurrah for Ryan!

Thanks for looking after my S7420 so well!  [/joke]

Should be a great help to everyone that asks which to get - now we can just say "check this link, or buy a Bareknuckle. "


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## metalfiend666 (Mar 6, 2007)

Good work Ryan! I really like the sound of the X2N7, and the clip of the RG7421XL with the Blaze is really making me wish I hadn't sold mine, it really is a killer combo.


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## Ryan (Mar 6, 2007)

Thanks guys! Glad to help out 

@ James - Yah the X2N7 has a fat assed rythym sound. It really should be in the XL though cause it needs the definition. lol

@ Simon - lol you wish! *caresses the S7*

@ Stretchnutz - Im in A standard for all of my Abominodium songs. ;D Glad to help man


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## Stretchnutz (Mar 6, 2007)

Although you made it a bit harder for me.
I'll ask you personaly, which do you perfer the Evo 7 or the X2N7?
It's gunna be going into a RG7231 and my playing style is very similer to yours.


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## Ryan (Mar 6, 2007)

Depends on the music youre gonna be making with it. I like the Evo 7 for my faster more articulate riffage and the X2N7 for beefed out slower powerchord riffage. One must have different tools for different jobs ya know? ;D (half the reason why i have so many different dimarzios too hehe)


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## Stretchnutz (Mar 6, 2007)

Ryan said:


> One must have different tools for different jobs ya know? ;D (half the reason why i have so many different dimarzios too hehe)



I can see that.I read somewhere that this site gives you lots of GAS, and it is soooo true. I now have a million dollar list(not really but you get that point)
lol......i think Im gunna bite the bullet and get the Evo 7 put in...


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## Ryan (Mar 6, 2007)

If you do get it at american musical's website, they have the cheapest price on it anywhere plus free shipping. Mine got here in 2 or 3 days.


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## Stretchnutz (Mar 6, 2007)

Im actually have the place im buying my guitar from install the pickup and everything, cause i never put one in and i dont wanna fuck up my new guitar, so i can just bring it home and plug her in


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## Michael (Mar 8, 2007)

Very nice work man! As far a passives go, nothing beats the X2N7 IMO.  Although they all sound really good.


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## Korbain (Mar 8, 2007)

X2N-7 sounds godly. As always  good idea


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## Adamh1331 (Mar 8, 2007)

EVO and Blaze Custom stand out for me


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## TMM (Mar 8, 2007)

Blaze custom definitely does it for me. It sounds great in my USA Bich-7 too.

... on another note, want to sell me your S7420 w/waves? ::


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## zimbloth (Mar 8, 2007)

Did you use a Pod or something? The clips are cool but they all sound somewhat similar. I think i like the Blaze in the RG7421XL most though.


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## Ryan (Mar 8, 2007)

TMM said:


> ... on another note, want to sell me your S7420 w/waves? ::



I think imma hang on to this one for a bit ;D Unless a UV7BK pops up somewheres..


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## HolloW (Mar 9, 2007)

Awesome post bro! 
IMO the X2N-7 crushes the others, alot more body and presence.
Though I would love to know how you recorded the tracks, sounds like a POD (kudos if it is, Line6 rulz!) I would be very impressed if you got that sound using mic's, it's not an easy task to get crushing guitar tracks with mics. I have thousands of dollars in mics just to get crushing guitar sounds, and I still blend in a couple tracks of my POD pro to fatten them up lol. 
(though for my 7-string friends, use a Sennheiser MD-421 up close on a bottom speaker, an LDC a few feet in front of the 4x12 "don't forget to time align!", and a small diaphragm mic on a top speaker close up, if you want crushing 7-string sounds with mics) In my experience a Shure SM57 is worthless on a 7-string, they roll-off around 80-90hz and depending on the tuning we're anywhere between 50-75hz on our low B string. The math just isn't there, and after trying to record with a 57 the sound isn't there either. I even tried it through an API pre-amp and it still sucks! lol. I will state that, your mic selection may differ depending on the cabinets you use, and what volume you record at, but that is the best set-up I have found at this point for my rig.


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## Ryan (Mar 9, 2007)

I use a samsonn studio condenser when i attempt to mic lol
I actually haven't given it a fair shot though.. One of these days, im gonna sit down and master that dark art. But yah the PU comparison was made with a PODxt with some pretty neutral settings (b/c the POD is know for making everything sound the same).. But even if you can hear that much of a difference, then you know with a more responsive tube amp, it'll be exaggerated. ;D

And welcome to the forums


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## g3rmanium (Mar 9, 2007)

Any way to hear only the guitar signals without the drum track?


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## Ryan (Mar 9, 2007)

Well, you could use your imagination...


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## g3rmanium (Mar 9, 2007)

Ryan said:


> Well, you could use your imagination...



Well, you could use your audio editor...


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## Jongpil Yun (Mar 25, 2007)

I think the Evo7 takes the cake over the Blaze7 by a narrow margin.

Anyways, throw an Air Norton7 and Tone Zone7 in there and it'd be like the ultimate resource.


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## Ryan (Mar 25, 2007)

Im thinking about making another one with a mic'd amp instead of the PODxt soon.


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## Michael (Mar 25, 2007)

That'd be pretty cool man.


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## AngelVivaldi (Mar 26, 2007)

Maybe I'm a novice and I should come back to this in a few years when I've learned a thing or two....

But I barely hear a difference in any! lol. The overall tone is killer though- my god. *What ampage are you using to get such a fugging massive tone?!* I'm jealous  haha

I actually had an Evo7 and a Blaze, (Neck) installed in my 7 String (RIP) about 6 months ago. The Blaze didn't sound so bad, but the Evo7 made my RG sound 100% like a strat. Totally twangy.... it sincerely hurt my soul. Sounded nothing like the version that's listed about. I had to get my old stocks put back in there. For me- stocks sound just fine.

Sold those pickups on ebay as a matter of fact.


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## Ryan (Mar 26, 2007)

I think you'd probably be able to hear a bigger difference if i mic'd the amp instead of using a PODxt. I'm working on making a new one. Im also gonna incorporate more riffage styles and some clean tones. And a lot of the times, the way a pickup "feels" or handles your particular style makes that difference too.


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## Groff (Jul 11, 2007)

None of these samples work for me.

I'm really eager to hear the diffrences. I can't decide between an Evo 7 and a Blaze 7


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## Ryan (Jul 11, 2007)

TheMissing said:


> None of these samples work for me.
> 
> I'm really eager to hear the diffrences. I can't decide between an Evo 7 and a Blaze 7



I'm making new clips with a mic'd amp instead of the PODxt. The old samples are no longer being hosted ;D


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## g3rmanium (Jul 11, 2007)

Ryan said:


> I'm making new clips with a mic'd amp instead of the PODxt. The old samples are no longer being hosted ;D



If you need some space to host them on, let me know.


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## Groff (Jul 12, 2007)

Can't wait to hear them!


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## Haunted Cereal (Jan 18, 2008)

haha i was wondering why they weren't working. eagerly looking forward to the samples.


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## Ryan (Jan 18, 2008)

This will be postponed until i get my hands on some BKP's.


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## loktide (Jan 18, 2008)

nice....

(loktide subscribes to thread)


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## FireaL (Jan 19, 2008)

Damn, please get them up as soon as you can man!


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## Varjo (Mar 7, 2008)

C'mon baby make it happen... yeeeaah...


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## FortePenance (Mar 8, 2008)

^that's what she said.

and my sentiments exactly.


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## PanzerJag (Feb 20, 2009)

im beggin for it, dude ^^
would be really helpful for me


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## Masadar (Feb 21, 2009)

I aswell cannot wait but i can if i have to.


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## Ryan (Feb 22, 2009)

Guys, i don't have half of those guitars anymore.  Sorry!


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## Wookieslayer (Apr 29, 2009)

Yeah I would love to hear new clips! Especially since i didn't hear the first ones.. :0


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## Soubi7string (May 24, 2010)

AngelVivaldi said:


> the Evo7 made my RG sound 100% like a strat. Totally twangy.... it sincerely hurt my soul. Sounded nothing like the version that's listed about. I had to get my old stocks put back in there. For me- stocks sound just fine.
> 
> Sold those pickups on ebay as a matter of fact.



you wired it wrong then
I did the same damn thing but whiddlywaa helped me out


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## astm (Aug 13, 2010)

Hi! can somebody upload those clips again? I would really love to hear the comparison

thanks!


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