NGD: Just get an used UV777P (A timeless classic)

[Emperoff]

I've always loved this one, ironically not because of Vai but because of Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). It always got me the vibes. I never had much luck with Ibanez necks, so I decided to give them another chance after all these years. So here she is:

That one scractch in the back is one of the few cosmetic issues on the guitar

Older single maple piece neck. It has been darkened on the sides due to age, giving it a nice vintage vibe.

Frets are almost new. Plenty of life ahead:

Some small cracks on the left side screws of the pickguard. Not surprised considering the fragility of those things.

Some wear on the bridge, but nothing to worry about. Knife edges are intact as the guitar was always blocked with a Tremol-No.

So all in all, plays great out of the box. My initial reaction has been a bit weird, though. Maybe I'm too used to Jackson necks but it feels huge due to the big "D" shoulders (when in reality it's thinner). I remembered Ibanez necks as ultra thin and flat, and this one didn't gave me that feel. It sounds great, of course. The Blaze bridge on an Ibanez is just classic 7-string tone as hunders of albums were recorded with them.

Overall is a pretty darn solid guitar. The price was fair on this one, so if I don't bond with it I don't think it will be hard to move it. We'll see. Since I can't spend USA Jackson money on 7s I'm on a road of worthy alternatives.

 

[ThunderUnderground]

Mate, I absolutely love Akira Yamaoka 👌

Congrats on the new guitar!

 

[odibrom]

Cool! Welcome to the UV777P club. When I got mine, I was actually hopping to get the one with the Edge Pro trem, so I could eventually convert it to carry some piezos, but I do like mine and it's price was more than reasonable compared to today's values.

If you need a new pickguard, PERLE's template has it complete, just make sure you open the template file with Adobe Illustrator...

 

[Shawn]

Nice score! I often miss mine a lot. I had a 1998 that I sold a decade ago.

 

[ChrispyFinch]

great, clean example of an iconic 7. Happy new guitar day!

 

[xzacx]

UV777P is my least-favorite Universe variation, and I'd still take it over.....99.8% of all other 7s.

 

[groverj3]

Very nice! Enjoy it!

 

[Kwert]

Awesome score! I would love to own one of these some day.

In regards to the neck, that's interesting to me! The only 7 I ever played until this year was an SLAT3-7. I picked up a RG7421 and an APEX1 this year. The 7421 neck felt a bit alien (but still ok) to me, but the APEX1 neck felt really familiar and comfortable, and I've heard it's very closely based off the Universe neck.

 

[ZXIIIT]

Always wanted one of these, jam some "Angel's Thanatos" before selling it!

 

[Leviathus]

Big congrats! Love this model.

 

[Tom odd 7]

Nice you taken the step into 777.
Congrats!

 

[Surveyor 777]

Congrats! UV777's are great guitars - I love mine.

Good to see all the life left in those frets. There's just something about the frets on that UV - they make playing it just so comfortable and effortless.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

congrats...hngd
miss mine, should never have sold it. enjoy it

 

[aesthyrian]

Sick! Single piece necks for the win!

 

[gh0styboi]

Congrats and happy NGD, man. The UV777 is a bucket list guitar for me. One day...

 

[hamoftruth]

Here's the down-low on Ibanez 7-string necks from the 90s thru mid 00s - they're not all the same.

The Universe necks from the early 90s were always very thin early on, and got ever so slightly thicker as years went on, but especially more noticeably with the model you have and with the other initial MIJ 7-string RG models (RG7420, RG7421, RG7620, RG7621).

In the early 00s, those MIJ 7-string RG models and some of the models that replaced them got a Bubinga stripe down the middle for added stability - this enabled Ibanez to revert to a neck profile reminiscent of those early Universe guitars, IE overall much thinner and with less shoulder. Around 2005 the neck joints were widened by about 2mm, and got two parallel wenge stripes. I have much less experience with these.

A good while ago I asked on this forum about which Ibanez 7-string necks were chunkier and which were thinner compared to each other, and got a bunch of BS about how if you want a chunky neck you don't want an Ibanez. Hopefully this info is helpful to those curious. When it comes to your Universe model and the MIJ RG 7-strings from the late 90s to mid 00s, one-piece maple = chunkier and bubinga stripe = thinner.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

Excellent score. The 777P is what put me on the extended range path and set the standard. Excellent guitar.

 

[KentBrockman]

HNGD!

 

[Viginez]

edge pro and one piece neck, rarest 777 i think, only made in 2003

 

[penguin_316]

I’ve played Ibanez forever. When I played a UV777 a few years ago I was very shocked. One reason I stopped playing Ibanez and my JP7 was constant hand cramps from such thin necks after long playing sessions. As far as Ibanez goes, those are an absolute baseball bat neck….personally I’d sand it down a couple mm’s.

This was my dream guitar for years, so I guess it was a “don’t meet your hero’s” moment. I felt like it hampered my ability to play the instrument.

When I went to Austin a few months ago, a local guitar shop had a minty uv777 for the modest price of $4k I didn’t even ask to play it.