Ibanez 7 Choices

TunedToB

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In the end, a guitar is as good as its setup for the player, when we're talking this tier, obviously.

If you dig the "fanboy" thing, either UV or K7 will serve you well. If that is irrelevant, do try the S. It is a newer guitar, it will have less things to worry about (like fret wear, cracked neck at the nut and so on, cracked heel, cracked body at the trem posts...).

If I'm not mistaken, K7 is mahogany, as well as the S, so if you like that wood, there's another argument. My preference goes for mahogany as it vibrates better with my belly and chest, but there are as different mahogany woods as there are socks.

If you value the resale option, forget the S. and go for the UV. If you don't want to spend much, then the RG may be the solution.

Now, imo, you should look for a guitar that pleases and inspires you to play. Old School guitars are cool and have lots of mojo, but they may also be "broken inside", or be already "dead". Be cautious on your decision and MAKE SURE to really test drive and inspect the guitar you'll take home. If possible, try to talk to the sellers and see if they can hold the sale until you try these 3 or 4 guitars...

In the end, you'll buy the S... :D

Thanks for the insight and I definitely agree. Either way I'm walking out of this situation with a MIJ Ibby so I can't complain too much ;) Just a matter of finding which one speaks to me the most.

It's less of a fanboy thing when it comes to the UV and K7, it's more of the fact that these 20 and 30-year-old guitars are still getting so much praise to this day. This is actually the first time I've heard of a pretty old guitar being "dead" or "broken" after such long use. The UV owner admits it's been heavily gigged with and has typical dings here and there which is something I'll consider. If I have a bit of time, I'll try plan a meet up with him in the coming weeks.

But man are you guys making me excited to try the S5527 this weekend :D
 

p0ke

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I'd also say UV or K7, but I'd specifically want one with trem and also I'm not that into the S shape, so there you go :lol: But yeah, I think the UV sounds like a good deal if it's in decent condition (I wouldn't mind dents and such as long as everything that affects playing is fine).

I've never played an UV, but I've pretty much only heard good things about them. I did try the original K7 back when I bought my RG1527, and the only reason I didn't buy it was the higher price. I don't remember how much more expensive than the RG it was though.
 
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@TunedToB

A guitar as old as 29 to 30 years may have been exposed to lots of humidity, abrupt weather changes, it may have been neglected some how, left outside its case for far too long (it does comes with a case, right?), which all of this breaks down to the wood, killing its resonance properties.

The other points on possible damages are hardware condition
  • are the tuners in order?
  • The Lo Pro, is it funcional? are the saddles clean or are they corroded?
  • screws and bolts,
  • pots, switch and jack,
  • fretwear...
  • pickups... (30 years old pickups do not sound the same way as brand new ones, even if they have the same specs)...
  • wood joints - heel, does it have cracks? neck to headstock joint, are there any visible cracks? Older 7 string Ibanez didn't have the volute newer ones have...
An old guitar may have lots of work and money to put in, in order to get into shape. A newer guitar won't have as many possible problems...
 

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TunedToB

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@TunedToB

A guitar as old as 29 to 30 years may have been exposed to lots of humidity, abrupt weather changes, it may have been neglected some how, left outside its case for far too long (it does comes with a case, right?), which all of this breaks down to the wood, killing its resonance properties.

The other points on possible damages are hardware condition
  • are the tuners in order?
  • The Lo Pro, is it funcional? are the saddles clean or are they corroded?
  • screws and bolts,
  • pots, switch and jack,
  • fretwear...
  • pickups... (30 years old pickups do not sound the same way as brand new ones, even if they have the same specs)...
  • wood joints - heel, does it have cracks? neck to headstock joint, are there any visible cracks? Older 7 string Ibanez didn't have the volute newer ones have...
An old guitar may have lots of work and money to put in, in order to get into shape. A newer guitar won't have as many possible problems...

Damn, now that those little issues add up it does sound like a lot more work and care than I expected. The owner says it's in good condition and sent me tons of pics, but he also admits he used to gig with it heavily. Screws are a bit rusty and the bridge is actually an original Edge 7 with some oxidation but he sent a demo showing that it's still smooth.

Surprisingly it doesn't have minor cracks or anything, just some crackling when the tone knob is turned, rusty screws, slightly rusty locking nut pieces.

I'll definitely take these into consideration especially because I got to try the 752 and S5527 today.

752 was great - solid, simple, sounded pretty good even though the stock PAF7s were too low output for my liking. Kind of similar to how the 7621 felt like workhorse except a different neck. Basically it's almost brand new and has been in its case since 2016.
However, that S5527...Lord Almighty that thing was fantastic :mf666:. Neck was slightly flatter than the 752's but extremely comfy, the body resonated like crazy, and even the stock pickups were better than I thought. Playing was pretty effortless. The only issue is some oxidation on the frets and bridge but that's an easy fix. It looks BEAUTIFUL in person. I'm half tempted to revisit the dude tomorrow and buy it, so i'll sleep on it.
 

77zark77

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why people can't accept a little amount of risk nowadays ?
You have more risk with today's guitars with a bad QC than with an old one with a bad life
 
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why people can't accept a little amount of risk nowadays ?
You have more risk with today's guitars with a bad QC than with an old one with a bad life

That's quite a stretch, really. At this level (we're talking prestige and above here) the guitars should be top quality out of the shelf. However, that quality goes downhill due to misuse from the players. Out of the shelf, all selected guitars in the original post should be on pair with each other, being just a matter of preference from the player to choose this versus the other, plus the "fan boy" thing over the sig models. In a blind test, they should all feel and sound great. Old guitars are cool, but are more of a gamble if they have been mistreated. Gigging is just a reference to what can go wrong, there's a lot of risk involved, however, a heavilly gigged guitar can be in better shape than a neglected home queen.

This all goes down to personal feel over this or that guitar. A great guitar with a bad setup may sound dull and dead. This is all so subjective that statements like those... don't really add up anything.

We're all here just talking about quality of guitars we don't know jack about, it's @TunedToB that has to decide. I pointed out some possible problems of very used old guitars might have and that those could overcome the hype the model might carry. There are guys gigging with out of the box Squiers and they dig them. So, as long as one feels cool with the guitar one is playing, "nothing else matters"...

To @TunedToB, I'm glad you liked to play the S. As I said, I'd have more if they had the specs I needed when I was buying. Then there's the other point of available money, when there is enough cash, there aren't any interesting models so I invest somewhere else and that's when Ibanez comes with a killer model... and cash is gone, and so is the model...
 
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same ...that "K" is the only flaw with the K7.
It's a major NO for me. There's a K7 in a local classified that is for sale for more than 2 years already, maybe 3 or 4. I think it was up when I bought my 2nd RG2027X, back in 2016 (there's a thread about it)... I do try to like the guitar, but it screams Korn all over it due to that "k" and it just gets lame feelings from me... it's a way big NO for me.
 
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NorCal_Val

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same ...that "K" is the only flaw with the K7.

It's a major NO for me. There's a K7 in a local classified that is for sale for more than 2 years already, maybe 3 or 4. I think it was up when I bought my 2nd RG2027X, back in 2016 (there's a thread about it)... I do try to like the guitar, but it screams Korn all over it due to that "k" and it just gets lame feelings from me... it's a way big NO for me.

I understand the issue with the “K”. Fortunately, everything about the guitar, besides the “K”, is excellent.
Also, I like that it is a bit darker sounding than my “silver dot” Universe.
Plus, I got mine for a low, low price of
$600. Thanks GC!!
 

sirbuh

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I understand the issue with the “K”. Fortunately, everything about the guitar, besides the “K”, is excellent.
Also, I like that it is a bit darker sounding than my “silver dot” Universe.
Plus, I got mine for a low, low price of
$600. Thanks GC!!

600$ is a steal; the guitar plays so well it offsets the "k" most of the time
well known shredder played my K7 for a bit and came to the same conclusion
also agreed on the darker voicing
 
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I understand the issue with the “K”. Fortunately, everything about the guitar, besides the “K”, is excellent.
Also, I like that it is a bit darker sounding than my “silver dot” Universe.
Plus, I got mine for a low, low price of
$600. Thanks GC!!

Yes it is, and the "U Bar" variation on the LoPro is quite interesting also... but you know, lameness doesn't suits my bill. The only "fanboyism" I have with my gear WAS about pickups that somehow I gravitated towards Vai's, Satriani's or Petrutti's models... but not anymore! I'm free! :D Well, for most of the 7s, my 6 stringer still has some Satriani in it and the fretless still has a bit of Dream also... Point is, I like my gear for its properties and not because it is used by this or that artist and this K7 screams Korn all over it. The new APEX with that "star" inlay is way less lame and I'd rock it without problem.

@TunedToB so, what's the verdict? is the S already in our hands? :D Are we to be presented with a NGD?
 
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TunedToB

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Yes it is, and the "U Bar" variation on the LoPro is quite interesting also... but you know, lameness doesn't suits my bill. The only "fanboyism" I have with my gear WAS about pickups that somehow I gravitated towards Vai's, Satriani's or Petrutti's models... but not anymore! I'm free! :D Well, for most of the 7s, my 6 stringer still has some Satriani in it and the fretless still has a bit of Dream also... Point is, I like my gear for its properties and not because it is used by this or that artist and this K7 screams Korn all over it. The new APEX with that "star" inlay is way less lame and I'd rock it without problem.

@TunedToB so, what's the verdict? is the S already in our hands? :D Are we to be presented with a NGD?

Hey, guys! Sorry for lack of updates, but here’s the latest news: The owner of the UV will be heading to a neighboring city on March 1 for work reasons and agreed to meet up that night so I can check out the guitar. This is way easier than prepping for a 5-hour drive across the country lmao.

But in case I’m not too into the UV, the owner of the S was kind enough to reserve the guitar until March ;)

So right now I’m simply waiting to try that UV then I’ll decide hehe
 
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