7 String Setup

[slugman]

Hi all,

I finally put the RG2027X I bought while in Japan back together (it was sporting a poor home refinishing job when I got it...). The guy who played it had it tuned to a low G rather than a B. I'm having a bastard of a time trying to set it up now. It seems I can't get the tremolo level, if I get it in tune it bends up at a 45 degree angle. The strings don't look or feel very heavy, maybe 10s. I tried screwing the claw screws in farther than with any of my six strings, but no luck.

Do Ibanez 7 strings use more than 3 springs? Did the original owners downtuning require him to remove two springs? Is there something else I'm missing?

I've set up my own floyd guitars plenty of times for several years now (in fact that's how I found jemsite). But I've never spent more than a few minutes with a 7 string before...

[ibanez2005]

Is that the xl version, my 7 string is standard scale and i use 3 springs, strung with 9's and a 54 or 56 as the low B (or whatever you tune it too).
As for the xl, it may need an extra spring if it keeps pulling the trem forward.
It depends really on the gauge strings your using, how many springs you have and the scale of the guitar.

[slugman]

It's not an extended scale, normal 25.5" scale but with an extra string Mahogany body and piezo.

Thanks for that bit of info on the springs. I googled myself silly trying to figure out how many springs there are in 7s. Ok, I'm gonna try cranking the screws down even more. I should probably get new strings too but I haven't got the time right now.

I'm guessing you string 7s by buying a six string set of strings then buying one heavy string? I guess then I can swap out everything but the B as I have plenty of strings lying about at home...

[King Nothing]

yeah I would get a 6-string pack and buy the B separetly. I really like 56-58 gauge for the B. I got 52 once and it was way too thin IMHO.

Yeah dude just crank the screws down more. You've only got a problem if you can't actually turn them anymore!

[ibanez2005]

I only found a 7 string D'Addario set, and i like ernie ball 9's so i just buy a Gibson 54 or 56. 56 is probly best for string tension. 3 springs should be ok, havent had a problem with mine.

[thadood]

Originally Posted by ibanez2005

I only found a 7 string D'Addario set, and i like ernie ball 9's so i just buy a Gibson 54 or 56. 56 is probly best for string tension. 3 springs should be ok, havent had a problem with mine.

Check these out if you haven't: http://www.juststrings.com/dms-2558a.html

And to the floyd problem.. I'm not too sure how many springs a 7 string will have in it, but I'm pretty sure that if you have the claw fully tightened in and the strings are still pulling the floyd up, you could use another spring (or two)

[slugman]

Ok, I bought more springs... but taking the plate off the bottom of the tremolo, there are no more holes to put springs in. I suppose I could still get 5 springs to work, but I went and bought a .54 and compared it to the other strings.

The E on this guitar is slightly lighter than the .54 I purchased... making the B something ridiculously fatter. I guess this makes sense since the guitar was tuned to G.

I admire they got this guitar pretty playable that low, but I haven't got a use for G tuning

The high strings don't look too off but then maybe this was a hybrid set, and I'm used to playing with 10s...

[ibanez2005]

If your using 10's then you would almost certaintly need 4 springs, maybe 5 i dont know cos i never use 10's. As for not having more holes (ahem) there should be two screws on the back of your tremolo block where the other 3 (?) springs attatch to. Remove this and use the screw holes to add more springs. A 56 may seem better, i recently tried one on my 7 and it was alot tighter and sounded better.

[ibanez2005]

G is a ridiculously low tuning, cant see how anyone could use a G tuning, A maybe but G??