Seven String recommendations ?

stratamania

stratamania

Fractal Fanatic
I am thinking of perhaps getting a seven string towards the end of the year.

I have been doing some research and although a Vai Universe, or a John Petrucci 7 string may be nice I don't want to pay so much for what may turn out to be an experiment. The Ibanez S7420 looks to be what I may go for. Does anyone have one or have any experience of them ?

Also feel free to recommend any interesting 7 string music worth a listen, particularly more in a progressive vein.

Thanks in advance...
 
Used Universes can go for around 1k, don't know if that's too much for you. I got mine for that much, and I love the action on it, the pickups on the other hand aren't heavy enough for everything I want to play.
 
I had a universe...sold it.

On my list to get :

Ibanez RGD2127Z

Ibanez RG2228 Prestige 8-String Electric Guitar

Dean USA Rusty Cooley Signature RC7 Mahogany

(Camera pic) - Got the RC7 in July...it is AWESOME!!

RC7-2-web.jpg
 
If you don't want to sink a ton of money into it, then you could go the Schecter route. Good, intermediate quality stuff. I used to have one back in my 7-string days.
 
if your not into the strat style stuff ltd just came out with a 7 string version of their ec series, looks like thats probably the one im getting. or a lower grade rusty cooley one that guitardojo has. still 900 bucks though, blah.
 
shemihazazel said:
If you don't want to sink a ton of money into it, then you could go the Schecter route. Good, intermediate quality stuff. I used to have one back in my 7-string days.
Click to expand...

Very different feel to Ibanez though. I don't mind Schecter's nicer 6-string stuff as I'm less picky with 6-string necks, but their 7s are just awkward for me.

If you like Ibanez stuff, an old RG7620 can be a great deal. If it has the stock pickups, which are fairly rubbish, slap some Dimarzios in there and you're good to go. My main guitar is an RG2127X, my 2nd for the band is an RG7620, and at some point I'll get around to re-wiring my UV777 and will possibly use that for the band too. All three of them I picked up 2nd hand, although the RG2127X wasn't particularly cheap (a somewhat rare model).
 
A student of mine has a Schecter 7 string guitar which is a very good instrument especially for the price range.

Jens
 
I think it is likely that it will be some sort of Ibanez. I have a Jem7VWH which is a 6 string of course, and also a 6 string RG, which isn't quite as good, but still has a similar profile neck. I also would like a tremelo and most of the Schecters seem to be fixed bridges.

Other than Ibanez, I have Fender Stratocasters.
 
I playa lot of 7 and have gone thru 14 of them since 2004 so I'll add to this conversation.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money, as you are testing these waters
used Ibanez 7620/7621 trem/no trem:
great playing 7's with a pickup upgraade good solid 7. I've had 4 of them the thing with Ibbys is they are very inconsistant
with their wood choices. 3of mine sounded fine the 4th sounded like crap no matter what pups I put in it.

ESP LTD M-207
this was my first 7 as I 'tested the waters" very easy to play also needs PUP upgrades, the frets are a little smaller on these than the 7620's but
otherwise very good "beater 7s'

Schecter hellraiser/blackjack 7's:
Both decent but the Schecter necks are more "les -Paulish" much thicker thatn the Ibby/LTD necks.
I thought the 2 I had felt cheap, my least favorite.
Schecter Loomis:
better than the orther Schecter offerings, neck is still bigger than the ibbys but these are pretty cool 7's
I really liked mine, but did not like the EMGS (that's a personal thing though)

Used Carvin DC727:
if you can find one on the cheap ,very good 7's necks are super comfy and thye sue great looking tops.
Every other 7 I've had has been more High end
I've had J-customs , RG7CT, I currently have a Green dot Universe (great neck)
and my fave my custom Bernie rico Jr Hesperian (my avatar pic)
the best 7 I've ever played by far , actually one of the best guitars I've ever owned (I'm in my 40's I've been thru a lot of gutiars)
too bad Bernies business model has gone down the shitter.
good luck I love playing 7's , I started with the nevermore,Dream Theater Planet X stuff but now I write more swinging "heavy" fusion type of stuff
and use the lower B string a lot more creatively than I did when I first started.
chugging can still be fun though :)
 
kmanick, thanks all good information for me and anyone else reading the thread. For music I will probably check out playing some Dream Theater riffs as I have a copy of Systematic Chaos sheet music somewhere.

I play a lot of stuff with arpeggios and harmonic minors, so I will probably use the extra string for that more than for chugging. Vai is a few months older than me, so if he can still play one I think its about time I tried one.
 
I am in my 40's and play heavier stuff now than I did in my 20's :lol:lol
for me 7's changed the way I approach playing, I defintely play differently on my 7's than I do on my 6's (in a good way)
 
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