Is Ax7 capable of sounding good?

[VaLDeZ]

Because stock it sounded sh!tty, and now i have changed bridge pup for blaze neck & it still sounds sh!tty

should i sell the thing or try some other pickups for it

im using it with pod xt live, and a cheap ibanez grg170 stock sounded better than ax7 upgraded(and better than grg170 with tone zone in bridge.. i dont know why)

[txDETH]

maybe you should go with EMG 81-7's or 707's for it. I own an AX7521, which is a better version of the AX 7 string out now, and it has a Duncan '59 in the bridge, which remarkably works well. but of all 7-string guitars i've ever heard, EMG always sounds best on them. i know i'm gonna upgrade sooner or later.

[VaLDeZ]

i dont know , all the bands i like use passive pickups, and i kind of dont like the sterile(imo) sound. i like kind of a meaty fat sound like les paul, or limp bizkit in chocholate starfish album

[txDETH]

i'd probably go with some Duncans then. Maybe a Duncan Custom 7-string pickup. i just find that the EMG 7-string pickups are the best for 7-strings.

What amp are you playing through? or are you just using the pod?

[Demiurge]

It could also be the scale length that's the problem. The AX series is 24.75", which really doesn't flatter the low B string.

IMO, EMG's only sound as "sterile" as you let them sound. Fear not the midrange knob.

[Labrie]

The scale length is really what makes the guitar bad. I mean I love mine just because its comfortable to play and I think it looks pretty cool. But even with a tonezone in the bridge its not the best sounding guitar. I would never sell it because I love it so much...it was my first 7! Maybe I'll put some emg's in it later and see what they can do for it.

[txDETH]

Try thicker strings. I was talking with Rusty Cooley about my own Ax7 on Thursday and he said the best thing to do as far as making it sound better despite the short scale is to put on thicker strings. I play with pretty thick strings on my 6, and when I first made the change, it did indeed have a lot more bite and punch. So give that a try.

[ibanez2005]

A shorter scale length will kill your tone IMO, its the same with basses, you lose alot of the bottom end articulation, id sell the thing and get an RG1527, mine is the dogs.

[Wound]

I have an EMG707 in my ax7221...it sounds awesome

[VaLDeZ]

hmmm , i tuned it to sharp C and it sounds a lot better so i guess i do need thicker strings for higher tension for standard tuning.. hmm if C# sounds good with 54 what should i put in for standard or drop a tuning?

[Algiman]

Originally Posted by VaLDeZ

i have changed bridge pup for blaze neck

Putting a pup designed for the neck position in the bridge position isn't going to do the tone many favours either.

[VaLDeZ]

This is the model originally designed for the neck position of the Ibanez® Universe. The neck position needed to be warm, but not too fat (nobody wants the low “B” sounding like a tuba, right?), so DiMarzio® scooped out some of the mids to brighten up the low notes and kept the power down to a reasonable level to avoid unnecessary sludge. You can get everything from a good jazz sound with a clean amp to a wall-of-sound with heavy overdrive. Many players have discovered this is also a very good bridge pickup when playing with a serious amount of distortion—power chords retain more openness, and single notes have a lot of clarity.

Korn's guitars for some time were equiped this way -blaze neck in bridge pos. I knew that i didnt like the sound of a tonezone,blaze bridge and, from descriptions, other dimarzios too... but i have a korn vid rock am ring in 2000 and i loved sound from it so chose blaze neck...

[Algiman]

I stand corrected!

[VaLDeZ]

heres how the ax7221 sounds in c# w blaze neck in bridge with pod xt live. the file is 1,2mb

http://www.jasondaunt.com/download/a...od_xt_live.mp3