Rg7321

[StpDrpRckAndRll]

Has anyone else had total dissapointment with this guitar? I was in a shop the day after it opened and played an RG7321 with obviously brand new strings through a full crate setup that sounded like a dream on a Jackson Soloist (lesser model) and it sounded like crap. There was just so much fuzz and now clarity. it felt like it was made of crappy wood and was just overall bad. Am I the only one who has this opinion?

[lyconxero]

It's weird that you mention that because I had a similar experience at Guitar Center with the guitar. The bottom two strings sounded like total crap and I couldn't really get into playing it. But the other day I spotted a used one in a local guitar store and it sounded pretty damn good and played very well. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I just got a bad guitar like you got that one time or if the guitar that I played had upgraded pickups. It's hard to say because there's nothing written on the pickups' exteriors to indicate if that's the case or not but I will say that the guitar is soon to be mine.

[learningtolive]

Mine's quite good, at least for the money. The pups aren't amazing, but I find they are very usable. My only gripe is the action on the higher frets (about 14 and above) as it is quite high. I need to get it set up really, but I'm in the midst of saving for a new amp and don't really have the £40 to spare yet. Great on the lower frets though.

By the way, you might be able to tell if they're stock pickups by looking at them. Mine have one coil of the bucker with the pole pieces in dimarzio allen wrench adjustable style, the other coil with the pole pieces as just sorta flat black magnets. I know my description isn't very good, but what I'm saying is you can tell they're not Dimarzios. Duncans would have writing on I think, so that's the two major brands out of the frame.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Look at the 7 string pups on Dimarzio's site. Some of them have a humbucker similar to what I describe being on the 7321, but with a coil of screwdriver adjustable poles instead of allen wrench, and a coil of magnet poles just like on the 7321, but chrome instead of black.

[lyconxero]

An easier test would be to just look for chrome pole pieces. I was looking at the 7 string pickups on Dimarzios website and noticed that all of them have chrome pole pieces and I believe that the RG7321 has black pole pieces. I figured the pickups were probably stock because they're output isn't all that high. I'm trying to figure out what Dimarzios I want to upgrade them to. I was thinking about getting Blaze pickups since they seem to be readily available in different colors.

[gunkungfu]

honestly I cant tell the 7321 apart from my 7621 they both play great depending on how they are set up

[7 Dying Trees]

The 7321 I played a month ago made me want to buy one. Simple as that, playability was superb (this one had been setup) and sounded great with EMG's in it. With the bound neck and great playing feel once setup, this guitar is a winner with the stocks replaced, and even then i've heard the stock aren't as bad as the ones that came with the 2027 which was a high end axe!

As for the pickup, don't go for a full set of blazes. The Blaze neck pup is nice I find, but I've just swapped the Blaze in the bridge in my UV for a Blaze Custom, which sound a hell of a lot better and has been making me play all day. I'd recommend a Blaze Custom for the neck if you can find one, it has actually bought my universe to life. very metal \m/

[lyconxero]

I looked at the stats for the Blaze and the Blaze custom and the biggest difference I saw was that the regular Blaze has the scooped mids. I honestly have no idea how that woul effect the tone but I know that I need a bridge pickup that's not going to be muddy at all and that will be very articulate and scream with pinch harmonics.

[7 Dying Trees]

Originally Posted by lyconxero

I looked at the stats for the Blaze and the Blaze custom and the biggest difference I saw was that the regular Blaze has the scooped mids. I honestly have no idea how that woul effect the tone but I know that I need a bridge pickup that's not going to be muddy at all and that will be very articulate and scream with pinch harmonics.

It does make a lot of difference. The bridge pickup sound went from fairly muffled and slightly muddy (fuzzy as it were, really blurry and not very defined) to a much tighter sound, pinch harmonics come easier and it just has a way more powerfull sound and presence. Really did just bring the UV alive.

[lyconxero]

Definitely sounds like the kind of bridge pickup that I want. Thanks for the info!

[timi_h]

which is more harmonically rich, Blaze custom or Tone zone 7?

[rty13ibz98]

Originally Posted by timi_h

which is more harmonically rich, Blaze custom or Tone zone 7?

give me about a month...i've got a tz7 now with an an7 in the neck. i am going to get a blaze custom and another an-7 for my backup 7620 when i get my new body for my main 7620. but right now, i can tell you that the tz-7 is really bassy, but has good cut. my technique has a tendancy to be pretty low end heavy, but with the low b and tz...massive. my harmonics come out like crazy, not like the evo shrill type pinch harmonics, but they cut through well. i am hoping the eq specs on dimarzio's site are right for the blaze custom, because that is exactly what i am looking for in a 7 pickup for basswood.

btw,most of the crappy rg7321's out there are based on setup. i have owned over 70 guitars in my life so far...being 27, and i can say that a good setup can make or break a guitar. for example: 3 of my students had 3 nice guitars between them.
2004 jem7vwh
2004 js1200ca
2004 jackson soloist sl-1

all smoking axes over $1000 a piece...all played like crap. i have an rg520qs that is my beater to keep the miles of of my rgt3120 and rg2120x. my rg520 absolutely killed their guitars. why? because i set it up. they could not understand why a little $500 axe smoked ones they paid over $1000...hell $1500-2000 on. so being the nice guy i am, told them for $20 and a pack of strings for their guitars, i would set them up to shred. which i did.
the same goes for the factory setups on almost every guitar, not just ibanez. fender is pretty notorious, gibson being at the top of the heap for a non shredder type setup. but the 7321 is especially bad. the one here at GC in LR,AR is horrible. it makes you not want to play it. whereas both of my rg7620s rule, but that was through meticulous bridge tweaking, filing down knife edges, new pickups, tweaking pole piece height, and truss rod adjustment. it can get pretty hairy for a setup, depending on how screwed up it is initially, but typically in about an hour or two, a guitar can go from sleeper to screamer. that amount of time and expertise, most people/music store employees just don't want to invest in retail equipment. me personally, i would. this due to the fact that it is a selling point. if a guitar wants to be played and is easy to play, one would be more inclined to purchase it. also, for me i charge $20 to do a complete setup...which is dirt cheap no matter how you cut it, and a great setup would in effect get me more business on the side. this should hold true for most stores, but i can see why larger retail outlets don't setup guitars: volume. GC has several hundred guitars and basses on the walls. the time and effort to setup each individual instrument would be overwhelming. since the pay system is commision based, why spend the time you would be using to generate revenue, ie. selling, on something with less financial productivity? it doesn't make sense: monetarily.

just a bit of insight.

rich

[timi_h]

cheers man, my pinchies are very important to me as a big dime/zakk fan.
i would put EMGs in but i aint got the balls to reroute plus i never liked the idea of havin my guitar running on a battery! i have a TZ7 on its way for my birthday so i guess my next 7 (dont worry this is in keeping with the thread as i think its gonna be a 7321 cos i think its well worth the money!!!) will have a Blaze custom put into it and then ill judge which i prefer after that!!!

[7 Dying Trees]

For basswood the Custom, possibly for mahogony the TZ. In any case, I have a TZ7 in my 2027, and the blaxe custom just smokes it in terms of pure agrression and chunk, I've found myself purely recording with the UV and leaving the 2027 in the corner...

[lyconxero]

I totally agree with the comments about setup. The RG7321 that I'm about to get is set up pretty badly right now but it's nothing that the store owner can't fix in like 5 minutes. As for pickups, I'm totally sold on the Blaze Custom. It sounds like exactly the kind of bridge pickup that I want. I'm also going to go with a Blaze neck model for the neck simply because it comes in the same colors as the Blaze Custom and this IS my next project guitar so I have plans for how I want it to look.