7 string for recording, also VGS Soulmaster 7 owners welcome

[sacredl]

Hello guys, I'm selling my EC-1000 and looking for a new 7 string for recording purposes. I have RG1527 which is absolutely fabulous, but even detuned cents make me not content about recording's quality - and well - I'm a bitch for perfectionism . So things I'm looking for right now are a non tremolo-bridge, lots of stability and passive pickups if possible (but not a dealbreaker).

I remember Keith's and Fred's videos, so my most obvious pick was getting a new VGS Soulmaster 7 and later switching pickups, but I'm actually concerned as I've already read quite a lot of people complaining about getting lemons, not just some minor quality things. So how is it with them?

My other choice was going for a used AW-7 but it might be hard to catch one in good state and price.

oh, and ofc budget is something like 550-800€

 

[sacredl]

anyone ?

 

[Zalbu]

I have the Soulmaster 7 and I'm not a huge fan of it, but that's mainly because of the specs. It plays pretty decently for the price and the coil split is neat but it weighs a shitload and I'm not really a fan of the scale length but that's all subjective.

The pickups as you said are pretty muddy so changing them is a good idea and while the Evertune bridge works as intended I have to constantly readjust the bending sensitivity. I have it set so bends works as on a regular guitar but then I have to change it again after like 30 minutes. I don't know if this is a problem with the bridge or the guitar itself though. I also have some bad frets on mine.

I don't know if I can recommend it or not, it should work out for you if you get a non-lemon guitar. I'd recommend trying it out beforehand if you have the opportunity to unless you know that you're going to like the specs.

 

[BearOnGuitar]

I own a Soulmaster 7 and apart from the loose tone knob my guitar doesn't have any flaws or problems. It doesn't feel overly heavy at all and the neck is very comfortable to play. I couldn't get the action as low as on my Schecter Loomis, frets appear to be fine though (I couldn't detect any flaws). The stock pickups are usable but I would recommend a pickup swap. Properly set up it definitely feels like a quality guitar.

A friend of mine has a Soulmaster as well and while his looks like the finish turned out nicer and has nicer looking fretboard and neck woods (it's most likely from a different production run), it doesn't sustain too well on the higher frets on the high strings. We suspect it to be from the neck not sitting tight enough in the neck pocket.

We also ordered Soulmasters through EverTune and only very few guitars had problems. If you decide on purchasing one be sure to check if you can intonate all strings precisely and that all strings also sustain well at the higher frets right away.

Should you be set on getting an EverTune equipped 7 string guitar you might also want to check out the ESP LTD KS-7 or Washburn Solar guitars as an alternative.

@Zalbu bend sensitivity should not needed to be readjusted every 30 mins. I find myself re-adjusting the bend sensitivity once about every one week or two weeks. Feel free to send us a mail at any time if you want us to help troubleshoot your problems: Contact | EverTune Bridge

 

[sacredl]

Thanks guys, now I think I should be calmer about potential quality. Unfortunately I can't try the guitar as my only way of buying it is to import it from Germany (thomann) so that's why I'm cautious about it. Or does Evertune ship to all countries in EU?

Should you be set on getting an EverTune equipped 7 string guitar you might also want to check out the ESP LTD KS-7 or Washburn Solar guitars as an alternative.

well, both KS-7 and Solar with ET cost like 1200-1400€ so it's unfortunately out of question. Hence I'm considering Soulmaster as it's really cheap and good, where the only thing it fails in are stock pickups.

 

[BearOnGuitar]

I understand. Ordering from Thomann is perfectly fine. Just make sure to check the guitar on arrival. You have a 30 day period of returning or exchanging the guitar should it have any flaws.

 

[sacredl]

Okay, thanks. I have one question yet. If I'd like to mount new pickups then unless I'd get soapbars, I guess the routing would be inevitable?

 

[BearOnGuitar]

I would suggest using soapbar pickups. EMG, Seymour Duncan and now even Bare Knuckle all offer soapbar pickup versions. The stock SM-7 pickups are passive so it's not required to replace all electronics with a pickup swap if you want to stay with passives.

It would be possible to also mount a standard pickup set but it would not look as nice and require modification. Alternatively you could also mod any uncovered humbucker pickup set by adding aftermarket soapbar covers or installing specific pickup rings used to convert soapbar routes for standard humbuckers. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of those pickup rings.

 

[Nyxic]

Unfortunately I don't remember the name of those pickup rings.

Suppose you mean these? Frets On The Net

 

[Spectivum]

Hi, did you get one in the end?