In search of the elusive 7 string

[MissingLynx]

Hey all --

First post. I've enjoyed reading others.

I'd would be deeply, deeply grateful if someone could help me out.

I'm trying to find a snappy, clear-toned, single coil (hopefully ceramic) pickup-ed, tremolo-ed, low A seven string for electric blues, soul, surf, singer-songwriter and, to a much lesser extent, jazz.

Everything I find seems to be built for one of two styles: low A jazz guitars(usually hollow-bodied, built for chordy stuff ala Van Eps and Pizzarelli), and low B hard rock / metal guitars (usually loaded with humbuckers and built for heavy distortion).

Can anyone suggest a reasonably-priced guiatr that might have what I'm looking for?

Much gratitude.

[Jim Soloway]

I was with you right up to the words "reasonably priced". Add that to the equation and I think the answer probably becomes "no". We could do exactly what you're after, but it would be about $2700 and I don't know of anyone building what you want for significantly less.

[7stringofablick]

Call up carvin, buy some seven string single coil pickups (ie rio grande, or dimarzio blaze), tell them you want those instead of humbuckers, ship them to Carvin and hopefully it will work

[Paul Secondino]

What 7 strings have you played so far and what did you like/ dislike about them? Without knowing these things, I doubt that anyone can really give you good suggestions

[Polaris20]

Carvin does do 7 string single coil pups.....They also do a 6 string 3 SC neckthru.....so if you call and ask, they may do a 3 SC 7 string for you.

[Allen Garrow]

Missinglynx,,, yeah check out carvin. Also would you mind adding your location to your profile? Thanks and welcome aboard!

~A

[jim777]

Any 4 wire humbucker can be coil split, allowing you to go back and forth between hum and single in less than a second, so find something that's comfortable to play and then either get a push-pull pot or a mini toggle. I have a Carvin, and it's got a bigger neck than an Ibanez 7. They're both nice, but you'll need to try at least one of them to see if you want thicker/thinner. Also, a good tech can setup any 7 to be intonated properly with a low A or B, though a longer scale (like an Ibanez XL or a Soloway) might make that easier.

jim

[MissingLynx]

Thanks for the input, everybody. I called Carvin -- I should have mentioned that -- and they won't do 3 single coil. It looks like I still have some learning to do, much food for thought.

[Drew]

Um... Grab a 7620, pull the pickups, have it routed for three singles (basically, add a middle), and slap on a pickup? $400 or so for the guitar, maybe another $100 for routing and $200 for pickups. That or just do what I did - a coil tap and a three way. It won't look the same, but I can tell you the Air Norton 7 sounds DAMNED good tapped...

-D

[Kontalonis]

He could always slap a custom RG guard on there routed for three singles to give it kind of a strat vibe. (and would allow him to put the single coils in there) That would make it look better also.

[jim777]

Originally Posted by MissingLynx

Thanks for the input, everybody. I called Carvin -- I should have mentioned that -- and they won't do 3 single coil. It looks like I still have some learning to do, much food for thought.

They kinda do already, and stock. The 747 has a hum/single/hum, and you can get single coil switches for the humbuckers.

jim