Well, I wasn't really happy with the current Ibanez 7 String lineup, so I made my statement with my dollars and picked me up a nice Agile Interceptor Pro.
For those who haven't heard of Agile guitars, they're a relatively unknown brand ran by Rondomusic.
They make some VERY nice guitars for great prices.
For $599 new, this is a neckthru, EMG707 equipped, ebony fretboarded, reverse headstocked 7 string, with basically an RGA body. Just about what you guys seem to want from Ibanez.
I got it used for $500 and am VERY happy with how it plays. Here's what I said about it from sevenstring.org
The only other issues with the Agile (and this is for their 7 strings in general, not this particular guitar, or even model) is that I'm not a fan of their string set which I believe is 9-52. The 52 is simply too thin a string in my opinion, and being that I tune to drop A, cannot intonate correctly with the 25.5" scale, even with the saddle all the way back it's too sharp. I much prefer a thicker low string, using a .059 for the low A on my Universe.
Not having any spare .059's at the moment I slapped a .054 on the low string and the intonation is now almost perfect, and when I get a .058 or .059 I expect to be able to make it spot on.
So now, time for a review! Once I tuned up the guitar, replaced the low string, set intonation, and tuned up again, I tried this bad boy out. The neck, while thick, was quick for me to get used to and for some reason the fretboard itself felt a lot like my Universe, not like the Schecter 7's (which I've never liked). I'm a big fan of the ebony fretboard as well, something I've always wanted to have on a 7 string.
The EMG's compared to the Dimarzio Blazes sound better in my opinion, I feel like the 7th string really stands out more with the pickup and even with the .054 string (which is still a little thin for an A in my opinion). My ideal choice would be Blackouts, since there's no room for a 2nd 9v battery to try out the 18v mod, but for now I'm content.
And now, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
For those who haven't heard of Agile guitars, they're a relatively unknown brand ran by Rondomusic.
They make some VERY nice guitars for great prices.
For $599 new, this is a neckthru, EMG707 equipped, ebony fretboarded, reverse headstocked 7 string, with basically an RGA body. Just about what you guys seem to want from Ibanez.
I got it used for $500 and am VERY happy with how it plays. Here's what I said about it from sevenstring.org
The only other issues with the Agile (and this is for their 7 strings in general, not this particular guitar, or even model) is that I'm not a fan of their string set which I believe is 9-52. The 52 is simply too thin a string in my opinion, and being that I tune to drop A, cannot intonate correctly with the 25.5" scale, even with the saddle all the way back it's too sharp. I much prefer a thicker low string, using a .059 for the low A on my Universe.
Not having any spare .059's at the moment I slapped a .054 on the low string and the intonation is now almost perfect, and when I get a .058 or .059 I expect to be able to make it spot on.
So now, time for a review! Once I tuned up the guitar, replaced the low string, set intonation, and tuned up again, I tried this bad boy out. The neck, while thick, was quick for me to get used to and for some reason the fretboard itself felt a lot like my Universe, not like the Schecter 7's (which I've never liked). I'm a big fan of the ebony fretboard as well, something I've always wanted to have on a 7 string.
The EMG's compared to the Dimarzio Blazes sound better in my opinion, I feel like the 7th string really stands out more with the pickup and even with the .054 string (which is still a little thin for an A in my opinion). My ideal choice would be Blackouts, since there's no room for a 2nd 9v battery to try out the 18v mod, but for now I'm content.
And now, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!