# [SCORE!] Squier Stratocaster VII



## darren (Dec 28, 2006)

I've been looking for one of these for a while. I have an eBay alert for "Stratocaster VII" and every one that comes up for sale i check out, but i very specifically wanted a sunburst trem model. This one came up on eBay today with a very reasonable BIN. Score!

I'll post a full review when it comes in.

I'm already thinking of a tortoiseshell pickguard and maybe cream pickups and knobs, something like this.


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## Leon (Dec 28, 2006)




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## playstopause (Dec 28, 2006)

It would have been mine a long time ago if it had a maple fingerboard...

Nice score!!!


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## Scott (Dec 28, 2006)

The only guitar I might ever consider Hendrix'n.

If it had a reverse headstock, i'd buy one and use the neck for a "proper" lefty 7 string strat.


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## ohio_eric (Dec 28, 2006)

NICE!!!!!!!!!!
That's actually pretty sweet. I'm a sucker for sunburst Strats with black pickguards and that's why I own a Carvin Bolt T like that.


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## Mr. S (Dec 28, 2006)

nice, i wouldnt mind picking up one of those if the price was right... and well if i ever see one


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## darren (Dec 28, 2006)

I would have preferred a maple fretboard, but i don't think these were ever done in anything but rosewood. At least now i have one and can use it as a template if i decide to make (or have made) a replacement neck or body.


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## Vegetta (Dec 28, 2006)

wow thats clean 

Nice score Darren


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## nyck (Dec 28, 2006)

those things play surprisingly well! have fun with it :]


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## technomancer (Dec 28, 2006)

Nice score 

+1 on the 'if only it had a maple board'


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## darren (Dec 28, 2006)

So i'm well on my way to having a really awesome 7-string collection that spans a lot of different "types" of guitars:

- Dean EVO Special 7 (my 'Les Paul' type guitar)
- Danelectro MOD 7 (my 'gnarly retro surf' guitar)
- EBMM JP7 (my piezo-equipped 'shred-o-matic multi-tool' guitar)
- Squier Stratocaster VII (my 'strat')
- Ibanez AJ307CENT (my steel-string acoustic)


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## OzzyC (Dec 28, 2006)

darren said:


> So i'm well on my way to having a really awesome 7-string collection that spans a lot of different "types" of guitars:
> 
> - Dean EVO Special 7 (my 'Les Paul' type guitar)
> - Danelectro MOD 7 (my 'gnarly retro surf' guitar)
> ...



sounds like a nice collection 

only thing i could really think of to add to that would be a sevenstring jazz guitar


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## ohio_eric (Dec 28, 2006)

darren said:


> So i'm well on my way to having a really awesome 7-string collection that spans a lot of different "types" of guitars:
> 
> - Dean EVO Special 7 (my 'Les Paul' type guitar)
> - Danelectro MOD 7 (my 'gnarly retro surf' guitar)
> ...




That is a pretty sweet collection.


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## The Dark Wolf (Dec 28, 2006)

Nice find, Darren. I love Strats.

My  - white pickguard, white pickups, white (or chrome?) knobs. That's my favorite Strat combination, along with the Sunburst finish, and you have that already.


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## darren (Dec 28, 2006)

This is my favourite combo:






I like pearloid pickguards, too. I may get a tortoise and a pearloid pickguard from Jeannie's and maybe some white and cream bobbin toppers.


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## Shannon (Dec 28, 2006)

Kick ass, dude! I've always wanted to try those.


darren said:


> I would have preferred a maple fretboard, but i don't think these were ever done in anything but rosewood. At least now i have one and can use it as a template if i decide to make (or have made) a replacement neck or body.



Maple, you say? Aria has had red and blue Strat 7 knockoffs available.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aria-STG-004-7-...oryZ2384QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## ibzrg1570 (Dec 28, 2006)

i didn't even know fender/squier made 7s. looks pretty nice, how much did you pay for it?


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## Mark. A (Dec 28, 2006)

I think it looks great dude, I hope it plays awesome too.


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## Nik (Dec 28, 2006)

I've always wanted to try one of those. Nice score, congrats!


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## scott from _actual time_ (Dec 29, 2006)

darren said:


> Score!


nice! i got one of the hardtail version of those right before they quit making them. it's a solid guitar, after you replace the tuners. mine has a thick midrangy sound, but not a ton of sparkle or spank. i'm planning to build an ash body for it someday. fyi, the neck heel is longer than stock strat specs, so keep that in mind if you have custom work done.



darren said:


> I'm already thinking of a tortoiseshell pickguard


like this one i made? 





i made some pearloid ones too, mostly to use on the black Strat VII i also had at the time. btw, i heartily recommend the Rio Grande Muy Grande 7-string single-coils, for that gritty texas single-coil tone. 



Shannon said:


> Maple, you say? Aria has had red and blue Strat 7 knockoffs available.


i actually snagged one of those last month too. the neck is solid, as good as the Strat VII, but the tuners are much worse and finish on the body is pretty crappy. no big deal for me--i'm going to use the neck to build a 7-string Tele. mine was a blem model, so i don't know if non-blem ones are better.


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## technomancer (Dec 29, 2006)

The Dark Wolf said:


> Nice find, Darren. I love Strats.
> 
> My  - white pickguard, white pickups, white (or chrome?) knobs. That's my favorite Strat combination, along with the Sunburst finish, and you have that already.



+1 on the white guard, pups, and knobs on that


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## darren (Dec 29, 2006)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> i made some pearloid ones too, mostly to use on the black Strat VII i also had at the time. btw, i heartily recommend the Rio Grande Muy Grande 7-string single-coils, for that gritty texas single-coil tone.


Oooh, very nice! I really like the tortoise with the black! It's a shame there are only a couple of manufacturers out there that do single coils for sevens.


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## Jason (Dec 29, 2006)

ibzrg1570 said:


> i didn't even know fender/squier made 7s. looks pretty nice, how much did you pay for it?



http://cgi.ebay.com/Fender-Squier-S...ryZ47070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## scott from _actual time_ (Dec 29, 2006)

darren said:


> Oooh, very nice! I really like the tortoise with the black! It's a shame there are only a couple of manufacturers out there that do single coils for sevens.


thanks! i would've done white with the tortoise, but the Rio Grandes have a built-in bobbin-top plate so black was the only choice. now you've got me thinking about bobbin toppers as well.

yeah it is a shame about the rarity of 7-string singles, but those few manufacturers do make good pickups. the Rio Grandes sound great, and the one Tom Anderson 7-string single i have is really crisp and clear.


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## darren (Dec 29, 2006)

It looks like the Rio Grandes are available in white and fancy colours as well now.


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## scott from _actual time_ (Dec 29, 2006)

darren said:


> It looks like the Rio Grandes are available in white and fancy colours as well now.


the 6-string ones were back when i ordered, but i don't think the 7-string ones where--maybe they are now. and i don't like getting pickups in permanent colors--what if i want a new color scheme later? but bobbin toppers i think would be perfect.


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## Shawn (Dec 29, 2006)

Congrats, Darren, that's a nice one. I played one not too long ago at a local music store and it was the same as that one, it was pretty nice. Nice score.


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## ohio_eric (Dec 29, 2006)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> like this one i made?




 Wow!! That is sweet. You do awesome work.


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## darren (Dec 29, 2006)

I think i'm definitely going to have to buy a sheet of tortoise material from StewMac and cut myself one of those. How hard was it to bevel the edges? I'll have to see if i have a Dremel bit that will do the job.


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## scott from _actual time_ (Dec 29, 2006)

darren said:


> I think i'm definitely going to have to buy a sheet of tortoise material from StewMac and cut myself one of those. How hard was it to bevel the edges?


it was not trivial--i made templates, then did it all including beveling with a router. i'll e-mail or PM you about the details.


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## Leon (Dec 30, 2006)

scott from _actual time_ said:


> it was not trivial--i made templates, then did it all including beveling with a router. i'll e-mail or PM you about the details.



or, do a fancy write-up for the How-To Workbench area of the site


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## darren (Dec 30, 2006)

Heh... if i sent you a sheet of tortoise material, could you make me one with your template? 

By the time i get the material, buy router bits and make a template, it's probably not worth it for what will probably just be a one-off. I might as well just pay someone who's already set up to do it.


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## Sebastian (Dec 30, 2006)

Nice score man


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## scott from _actual time_ (Dec 30, 2006)

Leon said:


> or, do a fancy write-up for the How-To Workbench area of the site


i hadn't thought of that. but it's more a DIY/builder person sort of thing, more projectguitar.com than sevenstring.org. darren's right that buying router bits and making a template just for one pickguard isn't worth it unless you really love building things. i sent him a long e-mail and would happily share it with anyone else who wants, but i don't think it'd be of interest to most of the folks here.


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## skinhead (Dec 30, 2006)

darren said:


> I've been looking for one of these for a while. I have an eBay alert for "Stratocaster VII" and every one that comes up for sale i check out, but i very specifically wanted a sunburst trem model. This one came up on eBay today with a very reasonable BIN. Score!
> 
> I'll post a full review when it comes in.
> 
> I'm already thinking of a tortoiseshell pickguard and maybe cream pickups and knobs, something like this.



I played that on tuesday, the fretboard it's thick, i like that, but the pups are shit, you have to change them.

I'm going to buy the stagemaster 7, because i need a "cheaper" guitar to play on some "places".


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## Ken (Dec 30, 2006)

Very nice score. I must say that is the most comfortable, well-proportioned looking 7-string strat I've ever seen. Most of them look like spandex on Rosie O'Donnell to me.


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## darren (Jan 11, 2007)

Just got a call from my wife... it has arrived! (and amazingly, no COD was due!)

I should have an unboxing picstory later this evening.


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## ohio_eric (Jan 11, 2007)

darren said:


> Just got a call from my wife... it has arrived! (and amazingly, no COD was due!)
> 
> I should have an unboxing picstory later this evening.




Very cool!! Nothing quite like the excitement of a new guitar.


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## metalfiend666 (Jan 11, 2007)

Sweet score Darren, I used to have the Stagemaster version. They're solid guitars but the pickups are average cheapo stuff and the controls are really cheap and nasty. The tuners are ok but could do with upgrading. They're very playable and solid feeling nut the neck is a bit thick if you're an Ibanez fan. I'd say around halfway between ESP and Schecter, but not total baseball bat territory.



Scott said:


> The only guitar I might ever consider Hendrix'n.
> 
> If it had a reverse headstock, i'd buy one and use the neck for a "proper" lefty 7 string strat.


 
You need to find a Squire Stagemaster then, they have reverse headstocks with a choice of plain or locking nut depending on the guitar having a Floyd or not.


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## darren (Jan 11, 2007)

I noodled on one briefly when they were first on the market, and quite liked the neck profile. The one i played had some sharp fret ends, but a quick file should take care of that if it's on the one i bought.

I really like cheap, playable guitars, because even if the electronics and hardware are crap, it's easily remedied. Even my Dean came with decent-sounding pickups... i mainly replaced them because they were microphonic and i wanted four-conductor wiring for series/parallel switching.

But i'm also not like a lot of you guys... i like all my guitars to be unique and different, and even if the pickups are "substandard", i should be able to coax usable tones out of them. Quirky guitars are fun. 

Or maybe i just have low expectations. 

At any rate, i'll probably be doing some minor mods to it, like:

- tortoiseshell pickguard
- GraphTech piezo system
- Tremol-No
- new pickups (if necessary)
- new tuners (if necessary)


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## milnersXcoupe (Aug 5, 2007)

Pickguard Heaven: Materials


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## yevetz (Aug 5, 2007)




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## milnersXcoupe (Aug 5, 2007)

109 Red "Reissue" Tortoise shell 3-ply .090

-or-

130 Matte White/Black/White 3-ply .090


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## Stitch (Aug 5, 2007)

The last reply to this thread was in January. WHy did you bump it?


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## ZeroSignal (Aug 5, 2007)

for why?


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## playstopause (Aug 5, 2007)

milnersXcoupe said:


> Pickguard Heaven: Materials



Dude, you gotta stop bumping old threads like that. 
It's not the first one.


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## milnersXcoupe (Aug 5, 2007)

Purely from the standpoint of providing closure to
the lacking pick guard options sub_theme.


Any new reader looking for Strat VII information 
will now have a source for Strat VII pick guards
rather than leaving the Thread believing they
have to make their own at considerable expense.


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## playstopause (Aug 5, 2007)

Hope you had fun posting this.


EDIT: Looks like you changed your previous post... for the better.


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## Fred the Shred (Sep 3, 2010)

Dude, you replied on a thread started almost FOUR years ago. I don't really think Darren kept the guitar in a case waiting to have something done to it...


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## clouds (Sep 3, 2010)




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## gunshow86de (Sep 3, 2010)

Fred the Shred said:


> Dude, you replied on a thread started almost FOUR years ago. I don't really think Darren kept the guitar in a case waiting to have something done to it...



Come on now, the last post was only 3 years and 1 month ago.


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## Fred the Shred (Sep 3, 2010)

Good point. 3 years and a month is in fact a good timeframe in which to decide which bridge to use!


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## Emperoff (Sep 3, 2010)




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