I play mostly high end restaurant and reception type gigs as a solo performer and I was a little worried how the 7421XL would be received. These are not exactly the sort of places where a metalic-grey pointy headed guitar fits in really well. I also wanted to wait until I felt really comfortable with the longer scale length. Last night I decided to give it a shot. I was really happy with the sound I was getting from it at home and I figured it was time to try it out for real.
Very simply, it was the best sound I've ever gotten on a 7 string. It's a restaurant that I play ever week, so I know exactly what the room sounds like. The only variable was the guitar and I was amazed at how much the sound blossomed given a little space for it to open up. There was not one negative comment on the appearance of the guitar, but lots of positive comments on the music it made.
I've owned a ridiculous number of 7
string guitars, well over a dozen, and many of them were/are much higher quality than the 7421XL, but none of them sounded as rich or full as the XL did last night. I attribute that entirely to the extended scale length. That extra 1.5 inches adds a clarity to the attack that is almost piano like. I was concerned that it would sound cold but nothing could be further from the truth. It was warm, round, and full. Thumbs up on a great concept.
