7 string guitar thread

[Francois]

May I start a 7 string thread ?

I plan to get a PRS SE SVN "black red" (mostly red I would say) but we can discuss here any models... Neck scales... Tunings... String Gauge... Experiences... Likes and dislikes... and compare to the baritones.

I am interested in that 26"5 7 strings PRS mostly because the band I am starting now is baritone based, but I cannot play leads so easily on that 27"7 with 14-68 gauge (and all wounded except the last one.) I mean as easily as on a 25"5 with 10-46 strings.

How does it well to play a 10 gauge string on a 26"5 ?

One question is : Should one goes to 9 on 26"5 when you play with a 10 in 25"5 (for E or D#) I mean.

And any love for the Schecter km 7 mkiii ?
(My new drummer is a Keith Merrow fan which is funny for a drummer !)

[Mr. B]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I bought an inexpensive used Ibanez RG7421 for the students in my guitar club at school to bang around on, just for something different. They hardly got to see it, I liked it so much. I put Dimarzio Blaze Pickups in it, which is one of the best pickup sets for shred I have ever come across. Recently added a Prestige RG752 Ibanez because I wanted a really good 7 string with a trem. That used, and much cheaper, RG7421 still sounds just as good though, so I'm not letting it go.

7 String has caused me to think more about chords and scales than I think I would ever have if I had never tried one. 7-string actually makes more sense to me now than 6-string does. Your top two strings repeat on the two bottom strings. Its more symmetrical.

Maybe I should try to find a cheap used 8-string... just for the kids at school to bang around on of course...

[Demanic]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

The first guitar that I bought when I started playing again was a Schecter C+ 7 string. I got it because it was different from the guitars everyone else around me was playing and I wanted a challenge. That and it played and sounded fantastic.


Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

[Masta' C]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

The newer Schecter 7 strings are really great. I have been highly tempted by the Keith Merrow versions on several occasions. I don't think you can go wrong if you have the funds to spare.

Despite my lust for a Schecter, I ended up grabbing a mid-2000's, Indonesian-made Ibanez RG7321 recently for less than $100. After a quick polish and fingerboard cleaning, upgrading the nut to a Graphtech for $12, buying slightly shorter saddle height adjustment screws for $6 from my local hardware store and tossing in a lightly used DiMarzio bridge pickup I got for $40 on Reverb, I'm out less than $150 and it literally sounds and plays like a guitar that cost 8X as much! Great neck profile, familiar 25.5" scale and feels really good with 10-60 strings on it (it had D'Addario 10-59's on it when I got it and those were great, too)!

[Phantasmagoria]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

My Ibanez S-540Ltd is my fave guitar that I've had for 20+ years so when I was looking for a seven string (wanted one with a locking trem, which many don't have) I bought an S-7420.

Feels familiar, plays like a dream and sounds awesome (thick, deep & chunky..but also really articulate & sweet..) for not a lot of $$ ...Could'nt be happier

[devastone]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I've had quite a few and right now I have a 98 RG7620 that plays insanely good. I love playing 7 strings, you can do a killer version of Kashmir by holding a low D on the third fret through the progression.

[Gtrjunior]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I've had quite a few and right now I have a 98 RG7620 that plays insanely good. I love playing 7 strings, you can do a killer version of Kashmir by holding a low D on the third fret through the progression.

I’ll have to try that!
I’ve got a 7 hat I seldom play. I just really struggle to get used to it. I’ve been contemplating a baritone but again, not sure how much I’d really use it.

[devastone]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I got my first one years ago so I don't remember if I struggled with it, but now I don't really think about it much, in fact I love playing them, just don't have much call to do it outside the house.

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

My current 7 is a mutt Ibanez RG. 7321 body with a japanese 7621 neck. Has DiMarzio pickups in it, Imperium bridge/PAF7 neck, but I'm about to route it for an EMG 81-7/707 set I grabbed off Reverb for $75. It's a regular 25.5" scale, and I tune it all over the place.

I also have a 27" Ibanez 8 string. I like what the 27" does for the low F#, but not for the rest of it. I've had a lot of trouble finding a string gauge I'm happy with, that isn't so heavy that it sounds like a bass, but that isn't so light it sounds twangy. Right now it's 9,11,16,24,32,44,56,70 (standard tuning), and it's pretty good for the most part, but I still like the overall tonality of 25.5" better. It's also extremely difficult to get the low F# to sound clear and defined without making the E-E strings sound like there's a wah pedal halfway on.

Once I get the EMGs in the 7 string, I'm gonna string it up a little heaver, like 11-70 or so, and try tuning it down 3 semi-tones (C# on a 6 string), then do drop B and F# on the bottom two. Getting the low string 100% intonated isn't going to happen, but whatever. If it sounds and plays better, I'm in.

[devastone]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I'm not much of a down-tuner, mine us usually in standard (the trem floats, so changing tunings is a pain). If I was down tuning the Schecter 26.5" scale seems like it would work well.

[Francois]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

Thanks for all your posts. It is quite interesting for me.

But I prefer avoiding all locking trems (too long to change tunings and worse if you break a string live all other string go wrong. You cannot finish the song !)
For my 7 strings I require 24 frets (I have many 22 and several 21...)
I wanna try the 26"5 scale as all my attempts to tune lower than C with a 25"5 or 24"3/4 with big strings did not sound so well,
while on the 27"7 it sounds majestic in B and quite good in A#

But I am wondering how sounds and how tense is a 10 string in D# or E on the 26"5...


So I am still thinking of the korean PRS SVN (actually made of nafrican wood called Khaya labelled as Mahogany, as many current SE models).
But I am looking also at the hard to spell Schecters. But most propably a World Musical Instrument like the SE.

Some Ibanez are nice... But for some reasons I am not too attracted to the the RG shape

[Ascension]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

Had several 7's. The Green quilt top mahogany body and neck hardtail Carvin DC 747 I had for a while I should have kept as it made every other 7 I have ever played look like a cheap toy in comparison. And that includes a real Universe Ibanez and a USA PRS 7. If I ever go back to a 7 it will be a Carvin / Kiesel. You can find nice examples on Ebay and Reverb regularly for crazy low $ for what these are!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Carvin-DC727-US-Custom-Shop-7-String-Electric-Guitar-Flame-Maple-Book-Matched/312717236663?hash=item48cf6659b7:g:meIAAOSwIK9dNm8e

https://reverb.com/item/25668980-carvin-dc-747-w-ohsc

[LonePhantom]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I've got a Jackson Dinky JS22-7 for the occasional 7 string noodling. It's got a 26.5" scale length, 12-16 compound radius fretboard from memory, and a hardtail bridge. Bought it for a good price from a mate, and updated the terrible stock Jackson tuners with some cheaper Jin-ho locking tuners, removed the tone knob and added a blower switch in it's place. Pickups surprisingly good for a cheap guitar, but I've upgraded those too with an SD Alpha and Omega set. It's an awesome guitar now , especially for the money. I'd like to update the nut as the last thing, but I'm probably going to have to get one cut to match the guitar properly. For now I lube the nut with graphite from a lead pencil.

If you're not wanting to spend too much coin for jumping in the seven string pool, you could do worse than the Jackson. And that's coming from a traditionally Ibanez slanted player.

[nexion218]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

Not quite a response to OPs post, but right now I'm drooling over the Jackson Pro Series WR7. It is a Dave Davidson signature model. Even though I promised myself not to buy a signature instrument again (it was cool in high school, but these days I'd rather not have someone else's signature/name on my guitar), I'd make an exception here. Would be a 2 in 1 package for me: never owned a 7 string, recently fell in love with the Warrior shape and that grey ash top is just gorgeous to my eyes... Maybe someday...

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: 7 string guitar thread

I have Dave’s Imperium pickup in my 7. It’s the best passive bridge pickup I’ve ever used, totally lives up to the ad hype.