Ibanez K-7 Project

[finalstrike]

Hey guys, I want to make a guitar, the K-7 model by Ibanez more particularly. But I need to know if I should or not.

First of all, I'm 17 and I don't really know too much about guitars, or how to play them, but I want to learn, I blame that on KoRn :P. So I want to know a couple of things.

Is it legal to build my own guitar after the K-7 model?

Am I completely out of my mind doing this not knowing much about guitars and such?

And I also want to know if you guys can help me learn about some things the fast way by asking instead of researching, which I am willing to do.

Stupid or not... I wanna do this thing, because I really want to make a K7 (and its all basically because I looked a "little" bit and found out it would be cheaper to make one and I don't have much money, 1400 dollars is too much for me to afford).

If its even a bad idea starting out with a 7 string tell me, I need to know (I bought a squire strat pack ....)

[toshiro]

Not knowing anything about how to build a guitar, or how one works, I would say you'd be alot better served finding a used RG7620 on Ebay and living with that for the time being. Or modding it to be more K7-like.

The reason I say this, is by the time you count in the cost of the hardware, wood, truss rod, pickups, fretworking tools, videos on how to do all of this, powertools, finishing supplies, etc, etc.

[moro]

Originally Posted by finalstrike

Is it legal to build my own guitar after the K-7 model?

Yes.

Am I completely out of my mind doing this not knowing much about guitars and such?

What do you mean by "build your own guitar?" There are several different ways to do this:

1. Have a luthier build you a guitar to your specs.
2. Buy all the parts and assemble the guitar yourself.
3. Build it yourself from scratch.

#3 would be pretty close to impossible if you know nothing about guitars, imo. And you'd have to be a very skilled and well-equipped wood worker. #2 is doable but still pretty hard if you don't anything about guitars. #1 is most practical but I don't see how a custom built instrument is going to cost less than the Ibanez.

You said you already have a guitar--how long have you been playing? You might try playing for a while and seeing if you even enjoy playing guitar before making a big investment. Even if you do stick with it, you'll find that there are a lot of variables that go into a guitar (body wood, fingerboard wood, fret size, bridge, pickups, etc) and it'll take you a while to figure out what's right for you.

Like toshiro said, I think you're better off finding a cheaper 7 string used just to see if you like it.

Good luck.

[Dylan7620]

if you want a korn guitar then i say a used 7620 for sure. i always kind of felt it was their pre signature - signature guitar (does that make sense?) and they did use up quite a few of them on earlier tours.

[finalstrike]

w00t! I shall praise you! Oh mighty ones!

Thnx for suggestion on RG7620 on ebay, I think I can pull off getting it for 300 or so bucks in the next few days its up, don't you?

And if it comes down to it, I sure as hell look up the parts, can you get like a K-7 body and such?

[Two hands31]

Originally Posted by finalstrike

w00t! I shall praise you! Oh mighty ones!

Thnx for suggestion on RG7620 on ebay, I think I can pull off getting it for 300 or so bucks in the next few days its up, don't you?

And if it comes down to it, I sure as hell look up the parts, can you get like a K-7 body and such?

The only differences between the K-7 and RG-7620 are:

K-7 has mahogany body, RG has basswood
Necks are a bit different shape/size
K-7 has PAF7 pickups, RG has "New-7" pickups
K-7 bridge has an extra hole for the U-bar
K-7 has an angled jack (like on the JEM/UVs)

You can get the pickups from DiMarzio, I'm pretty sure EKG will make you a mahogany RG body with a angled jack, the neck you shouldn't bother replacing, though LGM can do a new inlay for you if you want something other than simple dots.

But when it comes down to it, I think you'll be very happy with the RG-7620 and won't need to change anything, except maybe the pickups if you feel like it.

[Dylan7620]

keep in mind they started using those (the k7) around the time of untouchables so if ur looking for the earlier korn sound they used uvs and rg7620s which are basswood.

[finalstrike]

Nice uh what do you mean angled jack? In comparison does the K-7 have a straight jack on the side instead of on the front of the body like my friends peavy milestone 3 bass?

Also I have been looking at RG series guitars on ebay for the last few hours and I was wondering what is so different from the RG7620 than from maybe an RG120, RG760, RG###, RG#### other than most of the ones I see are 6-string. Are RG7620 the only series of 7 string. Or does the 7 at the begining mean that its 7 string and that would be like the 7 string version of an RG620 or something?

[finalstrike]

Hey guys um I was also wondering if any of you know of a K-5 premodel that was molded into the K-5... also wanna check those out on ebay.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by finalstrike

Nice uh what do you mean angled jack? In comparison does the K-7 have a straight jack on the side instead of on the front of the body like my friends peavy milestone 3 bass?

Also I have been looking at RG series guitars on ebay for the last few hours and I was wondering what is so different from the RG7620 than from maybe an RG120, RG760, RG###, RG#### other than most of the ones I see are 6-string. Are RG7620 the only series of 7 string. Or does the 7 at the begining mean that its 7 string and that would be like the 7 string version of an RG620 or something?

the RG7620 has the Ibanez Edge 7 trem, which is the best of the best trem imo, and has the dimarzio new 7 pickups, which i guess are a different version of the Blaze... great guitar, i'd get one if i could afford it

[darren wilson]

Originally Posted by finalstrike

Or does the 7 at the begining mean that its 7 string and that would be like the 7 string version of an RG620 or something?

Ding ding ding! That's the correct answer!

The angled jack is unique to many signature models. Instead of the jack coming out of the edge of the body at a 90° angle on the lower curve, it's moved up just below the rear strap button and is angled upwards. You can kind of see it in this photo.

The bass model that the K5 is based on is the Soundgear (SR) 5-string series.

[Mind Riot]

Originally Posted by finalstrike

Nice uh what do you mean angled jack? In comparison does the K-7 have a straight jack on the side instead of on the front of the body like my friends peavy milestone 3 bass?

Also I have been looking at RG series guitars on ebay for the last few hours and I was wondering what is so different from the RG7620 than from maybe an RG120, RG760, RG###, RG#### other than most of the ones I see are 6-string. Are RG7620 the only series of 7 string. Or does the 7 at the begining mean that its 7 string and that would be like the 7 string version of an RG620 or something?

Yep. The 7 at the beginning means it's a seven string, although all the Ibanez seven strings I know of have four numbers (7620, 7420, 7321, etc.) If you're not dead set on a Floyd Bridge, they also made fixed bridge versions of seven strings, the RG7621, RG7421, and the newer Korean made RG7321. The fixed bridge models would be a bit easier to work with, better tuning stability.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by darren wilson

Ding ding ding! That's the correct answer!

The angled jack is unique to many signature models. Instead of the jack coming out of the edge of the body at a 90° angle on the lower curve, it's moved up just below the rear strap button and is angled upwards. You can kind of see it in this photo.

yeah well i got my own signature feature on my 7 i got my jack on the top of the guitar haha... i actually like it better there when i use a chord with a 90 degree plug thing

[Drew]

if you don't know how to play guitar or bass, but are really into Korn... Get a 7620 or 7420 to learn on. I'd take one instrument at a time and get the hang of 7-string guitar before you buy a bass, too- it's pretty overwhelming to try to teach yourself two instruments at once.

You can grab a K-7 later on down the road if you want, but I wouldn't drop a grand and a half on an instrument you don't know how to play- buy it once you're hooked.

-D

[finalstrike]

Wow, straight up awesome info, thats damn helpful.

No I don't wanna learn bass, I was asking for a friend, that I have established a "band" with. We are learning, so it's ok, don't have to make fun of me calling it a band over not knowing how to play, because we do simple things like play "Seven Nation Army" by White Stripes (which I don't personally like the white stripes, but its an easy song, for the 3 of us to play.)

I bought a strat pack so I have a squier with the bar thingy (U-Bar bridge is what its called?) So I guess I could say I am used to a guitar with no fixed bridge. And again I am assuming that the U-Bar means it has the whole whammy thing goin on? or could I be wrong?