Let’s talk 7 Strings
- Thread starter Whizzinby
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I have one of the first run Iron Labels that I'm not necessarily in love with but is overall a good guitar after a bunch of upgrades. I'm just not into thin wizard necks but I've sank enough money into it to keep it.. for when I need to scratch that itch.
I've played some of the more modern Schecters and they seemed really top notch. I remember wanting to try out a Powercab in the amp room at a GC near me so I grabbed a Schecter 7 string (dunno the model) with a single bridge pickup and it played like butter and felt great in the hands. Didn't really know how I felt about the PC but the guitar was great. I almost bought a Schecter 8 string in 2013 and kinda wish I did, the one I played then felt so smooth and was set up so
and I used to laugh at Schecters in the early 2000s...
Yeah I was kinda looking at that Iron Label Ibby in that way. Maybe not something that will blow me away, but solid enough for when I want to do the 7 string thing. (Though I have an Axion Label 6 string that is ace, and love the wizard necks)
The Banshee looks like the better guitar though, and generally seems well thought of from what I’ve read. (As with most of the Schecter 7-strings tbh)
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I like everything except the Roman Numerals, but I can overlook that. Otherwise, the Fallout Bursts are pretty sharp and mean looking. (Without giving off the vibe of a guitar one would play in the back of a pickup at a tractor rally.)
dbagchee
Roadie
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- 256
I still really dig my Schecter KM-7 (1st version in Lambo Orange!). Just a really streamlined meat & potatoes guitar with the right upgrades to make it feel premium (SD Nazgul and Sentient pickups, coil tap, hipshot hard tail, glow in the dark fret markers, etc. I did have the push/pull pot go out and I then proceeded to make a mess of the wiring when I "repaired" it, but it mostly works properly when I jiggle the toggle switch - I need to take it in to a proper guitar tech for some TLC! The newer versions seem to have changed quite a bit though and wow the price is up there now!
yeky83
Roadie
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- 811
Turn into a vegan, excuse me?
Body type? My b-stock Boden Standard NX 7’s great, really just as good as the higher range Strandbergs, no need to spend more. I find the Strandberg neck works better on the 7 string than the 6 string, worth a try!
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FWIW, so far I've owned:
Jackson JS22-7 (five)
Jackson JS32-7 (two)
Jackson Pro Series HT7
Jackson Misha Monsoor HT7
Schecter KM7
Schecter C-7 Apocalypse (sustaniac)
LTD M7
LTD H7 Anniversary Edition
Solar A2.7FR
Solar A2.7+
Played a few Ibanez, Schecter, Legator and others, none of which were worth paying for. Not to say those brands don't make good 7s, just the ones I tried didn't do it for me. Oddly enough I was a diehard Ibanez guy for a very long time but have yet to touch an Ibanez 7 string that didn't give me bitter beer face and make me put it down within a few minutes.
The Jackson's and Solar's are the best bang for the buck, from what I've tried out.
The Jackson JS line is a quality control lottery. I've owned 5 of them, 2 punched WAY above their weight class, 1 was so bad I'm not sure it could even play firewood right.
The Jackson Misha Monsoon was an overall nice guitar with horrible fret sprout that I was unable to fully clean up, so while I liked the guitar, I ultimately sold it.
The Jackson Pro HT-7 is my all-time favorite 7 - bought it brand new in 2020 and was just playing it a few days ago and thinking "Man, I LOVE this guitar". Sweet neck, killer fretwork, looks gorgeous, comfortable to play sitting or standing. I wasn't a Fishman fan til I got this one - it has Classics in it, which are voiced different than the Moderns and get me everywhere I want to go, tonewise. Oddly enough there are 3 or 4 of these on Reverb right now for stupid low prices.
The Schecter KM7 was the trans white and while I liked the guitar, the finish had yellowed so badly it looked like butter-teeth and that drove me nuts, so away it went. Keith mentioned over on Strictly7 that they had top coat issues on the early trans white models, so seems I got one of those. I'm also not a big fan of the (to me) massive feeling volute on Schecters and LTDs - it's a "loose tooth" thing where once my thumb hits it I can't not think about it.
The Schecter C-7 was an awesome guitar, but it was really heavy and for some reason I just didn't gel with it. Nothing wrong with the guitar, but sometimes you just don't click with 'em. @Desertdweller has one and should get paid by Schecter for all the wonderful things he makes it do.
The LTD M7 might be the worst 7 string I've ever touched. Felt like it was made from leftover construction lumber, piss-poor fretwork, garbage pickups. It's in the same price range as the Jackson JS22-7s, but the worst Jackson was light years better than this thing. Think I owned it for about 21 hours...
The LTD H7 was very nice. Came with a set of EMGs that I replaced with Duncan Customs. Played and sounded great, but the aforementioned volute started bothering me, so it got sold to fund the Jackson Pro HT7 and I've haven't regretted it for a second.
This brings us to the Solars. The comment about having too many models is a bit off-the-mark, but totally understandable. They really only have a few, but 11ty billion finishes, so that makes it seem like they have a ton of models. Really there's the A line, the E line, the S line, the V line (and the new X line) and the grandpa guitars. In all the lines, they have the 1 series and the 2 series. The 1s have "higher" feature sets (Evertune bridges, Fishman pickups, etc.). The 2s offer lower level Floyds or Solar's version of the Hipshot fixed bridge. Hope that helps you sift thru.
Like @DrewJD82, I'm a huge Solar fan. I have two Solar A2.6s and wouldn't give either up unless the return on the deal was double or more value, then I'd likely sell whatever, buy another Solar and pocket the profit.
My first Solar 7 was an A2.7 with a Floyd. Since I don't play leads, I have about zero use for a Floyd, and I hate restringing them. But, I won a ridiculously low eBay auction on it. The guitar was dead mint except some weird surface discoloration that almost seemed like someone drew on the guitar with a crayon. It came right off with about 5 minutes of effort and then it was like having a brand new guitar for 1/3 of what they cost new.
Then, Solar released the green Canibalismo A2.7 with the Solar Hipshot style bridge and Duncan Solar+ pickups, so I bought it and sold the Floyd version. So far I've bought 3 Solars directly from the company and this one was the only one that had anything even remotely close to the quality control issues you read about on Facebook that seem to be more urban legend than truth. I've also bought three others second hand and each of those was amazing as well.
I am absolutely in LOVE with my new Solar bass, too.
And, just for #Dadjoke laughs:
Jackson JS22-7 (five)
Jackson JS32-7 (two)
Jackson Pro Series HT7
Jackson Misha Monsoor HT7
Schecter KM7
Schecter C-7 Apocalypse (sustaniac)
LTD M7
LTD H7 Anniversary Edition
Solar A2.7FR
Solar A2.7+
Played a few Ibanez, Schecter, Legator and others, none of which were worth paying for. Not to say those brands don't make good 7s, just the ones I tried didn't do it for me. Oddly enough I was a diehard Ibanez guy for a very long time but have yet to touch an Ibanez 7 string that didn't give me bitter beer face and make me put it down within a few minutes.
The Jackson's and Solar's are the best bang for the buck, from what I've tried out.
The Jackson JS line is a quality control lottery. I've owned 5 of them, 2 punched WAY above their weight class, 1 was so bad I'm not sure it could even play firewood right.
The Jackson Misha Monsoon was an overall nice guitar with horrible fret sprout that I was unable to fully clean up, so while I liked the guitar, I ultimately sold it.
The Jackson Pro HT-7 is my all-time favorite 7 - bought it brand new in 2020 and was just playing it a few days ago and thinking "Man, I LOVE this guitar". Sweet neck, killer fretwork, looks gorgeous, comfortable to play sitting or standing. I wasn't a Fishman fan til I got this one - it has Classics in it, which are voiced different than the Moderns and get me everywhere I want to go, tonewise. Oddly enough there are 3 or 4 of these on Reverb right now for stupid low prices.
The Schecter KM7 was the trans white and while I liked the guitar, the finish had yellowed so badly it looked like butter-teeth and that drove me nuts, so away it went. Keith mentioned over on Strictly7 that they had top coat issues on the early trans white models, so seems I got one of those. I'm also not a big fan of the (to me) massive feeling volute on Schecters and LTDs - it's a "loose tooth" thing where once my thumb hits it I can't not think about it.
The Schecter C-7 was an awesome guitar, but it was really heavy and for some reason I just didn't gel with it. Nothing wrong with the guitar, but sometimes you just don't click with 'em. @Desertdweller has one and should get paid by Schecter for all the wonderful things he makes it do.
The LTD M7 might be the worst 7 string I've ever touched. Felt like it was made from leftover construction lumber, piss-poor fretwork, garbage pickups. It's in the same price range as the Jackson JS22-7s, but the worst Jackson was light years better than this thing. Think I owned it for about 21 hours...
The LTD H7 was very nice. Came with a set of EMGs that I replaced with Duncan Customs. Played and sounded great, but the aforementioned volute started bothering me, so it got sold to fund the Jackson Pro HT7 and I've haven't regretted it for a second.
This brings us to the Solars. The comment about having too many models is a bit off-the-mark, but totally understandable. They really only have a few, but 11ty billion finishes, so that makes it seem like they have a ton of models. Really there's the A line, the E line, the S line, the V line (and the new X line) and the grandpa guitars. In all the lines, they have the 1 series and the 2 series. The 1s have "higher" feature sets (Evertune bridges, Fishman pickups, etc.). The 2s offer lower level Floyds or Solar's version of the Hipshot fixed bridge. Hope that helps you sift thru.
Like @DrewJD82, I'm a huge Solar fan. I have two Solar A2.6s and wouldn't give either up unless the return on the deal was double or more value, then I'd likely sell whatever, buy another Solar and pocket the profit.
My first Solar 7 was an A2.7 with a Floyd. Since I don't play leads, I have about zero use for a Floyd, and I hate restringing them. But, I won a ridiculously low eBay auction on it. The guitar was dead mint except some weird surface discoloration that almost seemed like someone drew on the guitar with a crayon. It came right off with about 5 minutes of effort and then it was like having a brand new guitar for 1/3 of what they cost new.
Then, Solar released the green Canibalismo A2.7 with the Solar Hipshot style bridge and Duncan Solar+ pickups, so I bought it and sold the Floyd version. So far I've bought 3 Solars directly from the company and this one was the only one that had anything even remotely close to the quality control issues you read about on Facebook that seem to be more urban legend than truth. I've also bought three others second hand and each of those was amazing as well.
I am absolutely in LOVE with my new Solar bass, too.
And, just for #Dadjoke laughs:
- Messages
- 4,223
Turn into a vegan, excuse me?
My b-stock Boden Standard NX 7’s great, really just as good as the higher range Strandbergs, no need to spend more. I find the Strandberg neck works better on the 7 string than the 6 string, worth a try!
#dadjokes Ive actually hovered over the buy button with a Boden a couple times, but know it will be one of those guitars that I’ll love or hate within 5 seconds. They are intriguing for sure.
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- 2,983
Holy shit. I forgot I had an M7 for about that long too before I got the Iron Label. The body wood was so soft it was laughable.
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- 3,684
Gregory also worked with Hamer to produce a couple of prototype 7 strings called "Maestros":
The birth of the Alex Gregory 7 string Stratocaster
Alex Gregory is a multi-instrumentalist who was awarded the title "Maestro" by the British government in 1983. He is a renowned musician and, thanks to a couple of patents, he is considered the inventor of the seven strings electric guitar.www.fuzzfaced.net
See also his "inventions" page. (The guy's a bit of a trip.)
INVENTIONS
Official Website of Maestro Alex Gregory, shred guitarist, musical inventor and composer. Biography, new releases Bach On Steroids! and 13 Jokes For Heavy Metal Mandolin. Inventor of 7 String Guitar.
maestroalexgregory.net
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- 3,684
All of these guitars need a "no tramp stamp" option. This one isn't bad, but at the end of the day, what does that symbol have to with me or any other potential buyer?Not sure if this is ugly or beautiful... but I kinda like it.
Nevertheless, beautiful guitar.
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Yeah a lot of 7 strings have a certain aesthetic that is tough to get past. (Says the guy who has a purple burst RG)
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It’s a logo. Not like other brands don’t do it. I’ll take that symbol any day over LTD’s block with the model number on the fretboard. And it sure beats the Abalone Encrusted Frets on the new BC Riches.
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Inlays and logos are a tough thing to get everyone to agree on. I'd have one of the t-style grandpa guitars in natural finish if it had traditional inlays and no Solar Gears inlay on the 12th fret
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Yeah, I fully acknowledge that I can be pretty arbitrary about this. I don't mind a logo on a headstock, and it's not like there aren't certain flashy inlays that I do like (e.g. Jem.) I think the reason I take issue here is because I love nothing more than a nice dark ebony board with no inlays, and so many of these guitars have gorgeous black boards apart from the crap all over the 12th fret region. It just looks/ feels like a waste of good wood (to me, personally, YMMV, etc.)It’s a logo. Not like other brands don’t do it. I’ll take that symbol any day over LTD’s block with the model number on the fretboard. And it sure beats the Abalone Encrusted Frets on the new BC Riches.
(P.S. I also hate the LTD crap on the 12th/ 24th/ whichever fret.)
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Totally get it. We like what we like, no reason to ever apologize for it. I'm super picky about headstock shapes. Does it really matter? No. Does it bug me if I don't like how it looks? yes.
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- 3,832
You know, I hated the inlay at first but it's kinda growing on me. Same goes for 'lizard' bursts. I agree it would be a cool option to have no inlay -- but it's their brand.
mavrick102000
Shredder
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- 1,435
This Kiesel would be interesting, but no returns.....at that price it's a nope.
Looks good though.
Looks good though.
