the death of the 7 string - why 7 string popularity is falli

[ryan]

Jeffrey,

It's not a sunburst - it's a stain. *The finish on the top is even from edge to edge. *It doesn't get lighter in the middle like a sunburst. *So far, the only Ibanez finish I like better than the VV is the TB on the RG2020.

Lgascoig,

The DiMarzio 7n & 7b pickups are the same as those which come on the US RG7. *No RG7 comes with Blaze II (or Blaze of any sort, for that matter) pickups. *The RG7 pickups are much hotter than the Blaze and the extra winding results in a big midrange boost.

[jeffrey]

Hrm.

Well in the Ibanez catalog and on their website, it really looks like a kind of sunburst. Check it out, you'll see what I mean.

I'd ditch the stock pickups anyway, I always do.

[steve]

Late running reply, but I've scalloped the top four frets on both my UV7BK and my RG7-620GN - I always favoured that on the Jems. In fact, I had a Fernandez bolt-on Soloist replica that I scalloped top-to-bottom, and that was a great experience to be sure.
I have thick fingers, and the scalloping at the top end helps me get a grip on those smaller frets - and I use 'em quite a lot, too.

[alienx]

Hi everybody,

I don't think that 7-string guitars are death or dying. Just look around there is so much after merket stuff available for them: pickups, bridges, trems etc. Almost every guitar manufacturer has now 7-string guitars in their program. The 7-stringers have survived...

[lgascoig]

Well I tried a 7621GN at Guitar Center today unplugged (it was real crowded so I just wanted to get out). *It had a small chip on the top edge of the bottom cutaway that went to the primer and of course they were still trying to sell it for 999$.

I had never played a seven string before but the neck felt good to me, not bulky or anything. *If the finish didn't seem so cheap I would have been into it. *Also the pickups didn't say Dimarzio on them even though they are supposed to be Dimarzios. *

From 2 different sources now I have seen that the 7621 has Blazes in them but the only response I had here was negative. *Does anyone have one of these? *How is it?

[jeffrey]

My UV supposedly came with Blaze II's or something (well it did, at least that's what it says on the back of'em).

What they are is OEM pickups made for Ibanez by Dimarzio.

For some reason, I never like stock pickups. Changing the Blaze II's out of my UV was a huge improvement.

The stockers just sound so vanilla to me.

[lgascoig]

Ahhh... *I have changed out the V7/V8's on an old RG570 I used to have but I have been more than happy with the Dimarzios in the high end Ibanez like the Evolutions, FRED, and PAF Pro.

I was hoping to not have to change them out since it adds considerable expense and effort to the guitar. *I guess if they sound good to me then there's no problems. *The difficulty is that things normally sound better in the store, once you get it home it's a different story.

[jeffrey]

"Considerable expense"?

Hehe. I paid about $120 for both pickups for my UV, in the big picture (ie: cost of the guitar) I wouldn't call that 'considerable'. *

It's worth investigating for sure.

[dwswift]

On the topic of detuning 6 strings to sound like 7, I thought it was interesting to note that Ty Tabor (of King's X) has a new signature model out with Yahama. *The guitar comes in a "Drop-6" version with a longer scale length. *Ty tunes this guitar A E A D G B ...that's some heavy stuff.

For more info:
http://www.kingsx.net/band/articles/7232000.html

[fenson]

Hello. I am new here because I just bought my first 7 string guitar. I bought an Ibanez Universe. The reason I say that this is my "first" 7 string guitar is because I have gone from saying that this would be a specialty guitar that I would only use on 2 or 3 songs in a set on Saturday when I bought it to saying that this is the ONLY guitar I ever want to play on Wednsday! I have been playing guitar for 38 years and this has been the most important week of my life as a guitar player. I have found my "thing". The 7 string guitar is not going to die anytime soon. Not as long as Fenson is playing one! It is an honour and a pleasure to be a part of this forum and I hope to learn a lot about my new instrument from all of the seasoned pros who participate here. Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

[bob oakman]

Fenson, Welcome to the 7-Lovers club, a division of Jemsite International, and welcome to another “old guy”.

My first (and so far only) 7-string is a UV777PBK. Why after so many years of guitar I finally tried a 7 is a mystery, but I’m glad I did. *At the time I said to myself, ”bob, you’ll like having a low b and if you don’t you can always just play the other 6.” Within a few days it was much more than that. I had fallen in love with the axe. Even when I don’t use the big string, it’s ambient vibration or mass or something about it, though subtle, does something to the over all tone that I like. Maybe it’s just in my head.

No matter…. I sure hope Ibanez keeps making them forever.

[jeffrey]

I'm trying to figure out how to get myself a 2027 now.

[rbjammin]

Fenson, welcome to the forum! *Glad to hear it only took you 38 years to find your "thing". *:biggrin:

Seriously, it's always great to hear from another person that is excited about the 7 string.

[tagg 7]

sorry guys this one is really late, but for the record the 2027 has a burst. It may be really light but on the edges it is more orange.
Hey it still rocks.
buzz

[lgascoig]

When I said considerable expense I meant that since the 7621 can be had for ~$720, $120 for new pu's is almost 20% of the discounted price of the guitar then factor in that I wouldn't do the work myself (add in 50 bucks at least) and you're up to 25% of the sale price to add the pu's.

I would rather buy a guitar that already had good pickups (especially since the local shops normally don't have the Dimarzios I would want in stock) and pay more initially (so I get some value back for the pu's they would have put in there in the first place) so all I have to do is change the strings when I get it.