# NGD: Ibanez SR7VII



## rozetta (Apr 28, 2012)

Hi all!

I've been reading this forum for quite a while and decided to join up, finally. I got this new guitar a few weeks ago and finally found time to take some photos. I know this is officially considered a bass, but I'm thinking of it more as a guitar, and as such am posting it here in the ERG forum instead of in the bass forum. Before buying this, I found very little information on the guitar and not a single post on any forum from someone who actually owns one, so I thought I'd share this with you all and open this up for questions.

I proudly present my new Ibanez SR7VII:










































I won't post specs, since they can be found from here: Ibanez.com | Basses |

I'm really happy with this purchase. The guitar plays very nicely, sounds great and is extremely versatile. I've been trying various tunings with it and have burned a hole in my pocket with all the string purchases recently. Some interesting information:

- the guitar can take both bass strings and guitar strings, except for the 4th string position where the tuner is just a little too far away compared to the length of a regular guitar string

- when I got the guitar, it was tuned as follows:
A3 .015 pl == 22.95#
E3 .020 pl == 22.9#
B2 .030 xs == 24.66#
G2 .045 xs == 32.9#
D2 .060 xs == 33.43#
A1 .080 xs == 31.42#
E1 .105 xs == 26.41#
total == 194.65#

Since then I've tried a lower tuning, where I moved all the strings up one and put a .135 in the B0 position. Currently I have it tuned as:
C4 .012 pl == 20.77#
G3 .016 pl == 20.72#
D3 .025 nw == 24.13#
A2 .036 nw == 27.58#
E2 .050 nw == 28.88#
B1 .065 nw == 28.07#
F1# .090 nw == 28.71#
total == 178.88#


I'm next thinking of trying:
Low tension bass (0.014 -> 0.013)
A3 .013 pl == 17.24#
F3 .017 pl == 18.57#
C3 .028 nw == 23.87#
G2 .040 nw == 26.84#
D2 .052 nw == 24.67#
A1 .070 nw == 25.7#
E1 .095 nw == 24.9#
total == 161.78#


The lower tension actually plays pretty nicely in addition to the higher tension, so you can really swap between having a more bass guitar feel and sound and a more regular guitar feel.

- despite how it looks, the strings do not even get close to touching each other near the tuning pegs, even with much heavier gauge strings. I tried to show this in one of the photos.

Anyway, if you have any questions or comments, go ahead and reply! I can provide additional photos if you want to see something specific, too!


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Apr 28, 2012)

Man that thing looks so cool. I'd love to try one but I haven't seen them in any stores around here.


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## MikeH (Apr 28, 2012)

I've always wanted to try one of those. Looks awesome!


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## SpaceDock (Apr 28, 2012)

That bass is ace!


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## simonXsludge (Apr 28, 2012)

MikeH said:


> I've always wanted to try one of those. Looks awesome!


+1

Awesome find! I'd love to hear a clip of it. Record something, dude!


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## iron blast (Apr 28, 2012)

I would have bought one but I couldn't cope with the 30" scale. Congrats tho it looks sexy man.


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## Michael T (Apr 28, 2012)

What the #@*! that's crazy. I wouldn't know what to do with that. 

Killer man. Very cool, Congrats.


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## Shannon (Apr 28, 2012)

If you EVER want to sell it, let me know! 
I've wanted one of those since they came out. It's a shame these didn't become a production model. Congrats!


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## Necris (Apr 28, 2012)

I loved those things when they came out. I wish I had picked one up.


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## GhostsofAcid (Apr 28, 2012)

Holy crap that is cool. I have no idea what I would do with it, but I want one


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## broj15 (Apr 29, 2012)

I really want one of these. I love playing guitar but ever since i picked up a bass 4 years ago i've always been kind of torn between being a guitarist in a live situation and being a bassist in a live situation. I like being able to have the low end covered but i just feel so confined when i'm doing it with only 4/5 strings. Feel free to do whatever you want (it is you very nice instrument after all) but have you considered tuning it BEADGbe? as in The same as a standard 7 string but 1 octave down. Since it looks like Shannon already has first dibs if/ when you decide to sell this then i feel like i should claim seconds


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## Hollowway (Apr 29, 2012)

I love those things! Never played one, but I'd love to. And I have HUGE respect for Ibanez for making the thing, and pushing music in a new direction.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 29, 2012)

I know somebody in the Melbourne band circles that owns one of these, and I'm mighty jealous of him....

Congrats mate, I'm jealous of you as well now.


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## Cremated (Apr 29, 2012)

I never knew about these. That's sick. I want two.


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## DjentDjentlalala (Apr 29, 2012)

I'm searching for this one since a year.


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## rozetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Thanks all for the feedback. Shanon, you get dibs if I sell this!

I decided to restring it a little to show you all how it looks with a heavier string. It's now like this:

length 30.3"
G3 .016 pl == 20.72#
D3 .026 nw == 25.99#
A2 .036 nw == 27.58#
E2 .050 nw == 28.88#
B1 .065 nw == 28.07#
F1# .090 nw == 28.71#
C1# .128 nw == 27.44#
total == 187.41#

Essentially, I opted for the one lower string from a "standard" 8 string tuning. I tried to also get a better picture of the custom bridge system, but it's getting dark and my camera decided it wanted to use the flash. Here's some pictures:
















The low C# feels good at that tension. Unfortunately, I didn't have a .135 on hand, but this particular string seems to work okay. Due to the tapered end, it sits very close to the pickups and is very responsive.

I don't have very good recording equipment on hand, but I'll see if I can get something together to show how this sounds with different settings from the various onboard electronics. The pickup system is pretty nice, since the volume knob has and up/down configuration which switches the pickup settings in addition to the selector switch. There's some info here:

IBANEZ RULES!! NAMM 2009 SR7

If you have any requests on what sort of effects you'd like to hear, let me know.

Naturally, I picked this up second-hand and it was quite a find. I get the feeling they didn't end up making all that many of these guitars - it would be nice to know how many. It is a shame that nobody is making anything like this as a production model at the moment - I could imagine that with all the downtuning going on that it would be quite popular to have such a configuration with the bass string tuners and this particular bridge.

Edit: Any suggestions on how you think I should tune this, or how you would tune this if you had one and I'm all ears! I'd love to experiment more


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## Cremated (Apr 29, 2012)

I'd probably have the low string at B0. That's just me though. That way you get the octave down from a seven string guitar. But it may not be what you're going for. I'm sure you've thought of this anyway cuz it's pretty basic.

Edit: you could go B0 E b e a d g low to high


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## Djent (Apr 29, 2012)

Cremated said:


> I'd probably have the low string at B0. That's just me though. That way you get the octave down from a seven string guitar. But it may not be what you're going for. I'm sure you've thought of this anyway cuz it's pretty basic.
> 
> Edit: you could go B0 E b e a d g low to high



It's only a 30" scale. You'd need a 34" or 35" scale for that tuning with good tension and reasonably-sized string gauges.


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## eventhetrees (Apr 30, 2012)

I was about to comment on the C# being a .128 but I realized the scale length. a 115 is perfect on my bass...cause it's a bass.

Congrats, This is a real unique looking instrument. Post a samples or a demo video. Real interested to see/hear how this plays!


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## Durero (Apr 30, 2012)

Sweet instrument! 

Very cool that you're trying out so many tuning schemes with it.




rozetta said:


> except for the 4th string position where the tuner is just a little too far away compared to the length of a *regular guitar string*



A suggestion: I've found that there isn't much of a standardized length for guitar strings so you might find that other string brands reach the length you need for that 4th string.


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## rozetta (Apr 30, 2012)

Durero said:


> Sweet instrument!
> 
> Very cool that you're trying out so many tuning schemes with it.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the advice! I was wondering if there is a standard length for guitar strings, and I guess there isn't. I have been buying single DR strings from a local shop, but I'm not sure if the string I tried was one of those or a GHS. The limitation of the bass string on that 4th position makes it difficult to get a proper gauge in there, since bass strings, unless ordered custom, usually come in a much smaller variety of gauges.

Would anyone here know which guitar strings are on the whole a little longer? They would need to be literally an inch or two longer than what I've tried in order to fit.

About the 30" scale length - yes, the heavier gauge strings are a little floppy and getting a decent tension is also quite hard. The .128 I have in there feels a little floppy even though it's of roughly the same tension as the other strings, but that's the nature of those heavier strings. The heavier strings also have fret buzz issues. This is why I've been preferring to take this down to a .105 maximum on the lowest string. The default factory stringing used a .120 for low B. I didn't try that myself, but the guy I bought this from said that he immediately removed the factory strings, since the tensions were all out of whack.

I try to think of this guitar as more similar to the new M8M, but a seven string that is set up to more adequately take heavier gauge strings. I've tried the B0 tuning and it works, but it's not as comfortable or fun to play as the higher tunings I've tried, such as the F#.


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## 77zark77 (Apr 30, 2012)

HUGE piece of history !
The Ibanez unique attempt to make a 7-string guitar with 30" scale 

Congrats Mate ! keep it like a treasure


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## Rick (Apr 30, 2012)

Shannon said:


> If you EVER want to sell it, let me know!
> I've wanted one of those since they came out. It's a shame these didn't become a production model. Congrats!



Surprise surprise.


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## skeels (Apr 30, 2012)

Okay I'm very intrigued ...

Got any sound clips?


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## Durero (Apr 30, 2012)

rozetta said:


> Would anyone here know which guitar strings are on the whole a little longer? They would need to be literally an inch or two longer than what I've tried in order to fit..



I'd very highly recommend Circle K strings for both guitar & bass. Fantastic sounding strings and the length specs are available on the website.


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## troyguitar (Apr 30, 2012)

If I played bass for more than an hour a month, that is exactly what I would want to buy. I'd be tuning it the same as my 7-string guitar down an octave and dealing with the lower than normal tension. Awesome instrument.


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## Cremated (May 1, 2012)

Djent said:


> It's only a 30" scale. You'd need a 34" or 35" scale for that tuning with good tension and reasonably-sized string gauges.



I forgot about the shorter than normal scale. Still, it shouldn't be out of the realms of possibility to tune it it B0. It probably wouldn't sound too good though with the monstrous string it would need to get there.


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## DjentDjentlalala (May 17, 2012)

Anyway i feel like it's more an ERB than an ERG.Actually it is a Soundgear=BASS SERIES.


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## AwakenNoMore (May 18, 2012)

DjentDjentlalala said:


> Anyway i feel like it's more an ERB than an ERG.Actually it is a Soundgear=BASS SERIES.



And a Bass is a type of guitar so why are you splitting hairs? This thing is just to nifty.


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## therapist (May 18, 2012)

Can you play it accurately with fingers? Or is it made for picking?


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## broj15 (May 18, 2012)

therapist said:


> Can you play it accurately with fingers? Or is it made for picking?


 

I would assume you could do either. People use fingers for guitar and picks for bass all the time.


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## rozetta (May 19, 2012)

You can play with fingers, although the string spacing is pretty similar to normal guitar (11mm). You can also slap and use thumb techniques, but again, it's a tad different to the 17-18mm string spacing of a normal bass. I've always played with a pick, but I've been trying out some other techniques recently after seeing Tosin Abasi explain how he does his thumb playing techniques. Remember that he does those with a regular 8 string.

As far as this being more of an NBD than an NGD, that's technically correct. Having tried some 7 and 8 string guitars (a local shop finally got in an RGA8) since getting this, I can wholly attest to this being a bass guitar. I'm using this as an in-between, since the band I'm currently in already has a bassist. This is why I've been tuning from F#. 

I'm so happy with the way this instrument is that I'm going to likely undertake a summer project of creating a new 7 string bass with similar string spacing, but slightly longer scale, with fanned frets. I am forming a plan that involves modifying a cheap 5-string fretless, if I can get my hands on one. I'll keep you informed.

I still haven't gotten around to getting some sound samples, but it's on my list of things to do, so stay tuned!


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## Shannon (May 19, 2012)

Durero said:


> I'd very highly recommend Circle K strings for both guitar & bass. Fantastic sounding strings and the length specs are available on the website.



Agreed. I use these strings on my Dingwall.


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## rozetta (May 20, 2012)

I'm still playing around with various turnings and tensions. I have narrowed down what sets I want to just a few now, so I'm totally planning on hitting up circle k strings for a set in the near future. What I have on there right now is a mix of guitar and bass strings, and that's one reason I still haven't been happy enough to record, since tonally, the strings from different manufacturers are different enough to make things sound a bit off.


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## DjentDjentlalala (May 21, 2012)

AwakenNoMore said:


> And a Bass is a type of guitar so why are you splitting hairs? This thing is just to nifty.



just sayin'  it seems a real guitar-bass hybrid.i've been searching for it,and seeing it pop up here feels like  hahaha


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## Tom Drinkwater (May 21, 2012)

This type of instrument is kind of like a 7 string Bass VI with a little more bass in the design. Tobias made something like that for Garry Goodman in the 80's. The first four 8 strings that I made between 2007 and 2008 were along the same lines as this, a hybrid that serves as guitar or bass individually or both at the same time for tappers and fingerstylists. 

For strings I can recommend Labella. I have tuned their .120 with guitar ball end to B0 at 30" and for me it felt absolutely perfect. They are inexpensive, quick and wound for your instrument so length won't be an issue.


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## Jedi_Ekim (Jul 4, 2012)

I'm still wanting one of these puppies too. I've come to really like the sound / tone of a short-scale bass. I need to save up some serious dough in case a chance to snag one pops up.

Congrats...


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