7620 Upgrades?

[mazafaka]

My 7620 is basically bone-stock. I will be upgrading the pickups in the near future and buying a Tremel-no when they are available.

Besides the above, what other upgrades would you guys recommend? I am not so concerned with the cosmetic stuff, more the things that will make the guitar play/sound better and perhaps stay in tune better or be more reliable.

Any ideas?

 

[eaeolian]

That's about it. A good setup, and I'd think you'd be set - unless you want to explore switching/tapping/series/parallel options, which can be cool, at times.

 

[Doctor J]

Stock ain't too bad. I'd second the good setup. Getting the frets seen to by a real pro is the best upgrade you can do.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

A good setup, followed by pickups and then the tremol-no

THe good setup will make you want to play it more, then the pickups (and any wiring you decide to do) and the tremol-no will be the icing on the cake.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Locking stud mod? Or do the 7620's come with that?

 

[Shawn]

The only thing I did to one of my 7620s is strip it down, refinished it and put new pickups in (the same pickups just different color).
Pics are on my site. I must be the only guy here that hasn't upgraded any of my 7s as far as putting different pickups in. I like my 7s the way they are - stock.

 

[Ken]

I must be the only guy here that has not ever upgraded (as far as pickups go) any of my RG 7s to this day, I love 'em the way they are.

I second that. Kevan sent me one of the prototype Tremol-no's, and that's the only mod I would ever care to do. I like my 7620 more than any of the UVs I had.

You mention something in your post about staying in tune better and being more reliable. Mine has always been the most reliable, but the 7620's were hit and miss like other Ibanez guitars. If it doesn't stay in tune like you think it should, a tremol-no may not help that much. You may have a groove in your hardware that allows one or more strings to slip and catch at a different pitch. have it setup by a pro first. Once it's reliable on its own then you should wonder about enhancements.

 

[Drew]

7620's came with locking studs, although it's worth looking at Rich Harris' tutorial, in that depending on the year of manufacture a new set of studs might improve float by rather a lot.

I had my old 7620 done up like a JS series - three way, with a coil tap on the tone. It gave you the three main "humbucker" sounds, as well as single coil sounds for both the neck and the bridge, and an in-between straty sound in the middle. Great, flexible setup, IMO.

-D

 

[Shawn]

I second that. Kevan sent me one of the prototype Tremol-no's, and that's the only mod I would ever care to do. I like my 7620 more than any of the UVs I had.

Actually, I talked to Kevan about getting a Tremol-no for all my sevens.
I have multiple tunings going on and it messes up the trem every now and then.

My PWH was set up by Rich and that guitar is the BEST set up guitar I own.
That guitar stays standard. I still want one for that though.

 

[Ken]

Actually, I talked to Kevan about getting a Tremol-no for all my sevens.
I have multiple tunings going on and it messes up the trem every now and then.

My PWH was set up by Rich and that guitar is the BEST set up guitar I own.
That guitar stays standard. I still want one for that though.

I think All Parts is close to releasing the tremol-no. Some issues with manufacturing remained the last time I spoke with Kevan.

Rich is one helluva guy. I bought my RG7CST from him, and it played great.

 

[eaeolian]

The only thing I did to one of my 7620s is strip it down, refinished it and put new pickups in (the same pickups just different color).
Pics are on my site. I must be the only guy here that hasn't upgraded any of my 7s as far as putting different pickups in. I like my 7s the way they are - stock.

Well, my main 7 is stock.

 

[Shawn]

I think All Parts is close to releasing the tremol-no. Some issues with manufacturing remained the last time I spoke with Kevan.

Rich is one helluva guy. I bought my RG7CST from him, and it played great.

Great news about the Tremol-no releasing. I watched the video that he sent me. Pretty cool device. Drew had pics posted of his installation and that made me interested.

Rich is the man. We still keep in touch. I'll be buying another guitar from him in the near future.

 

[noodles]

Well, my main 7 is stock.

 

[Drew]

You have a curious definition of "stock"

 

[eaeolian]

You have a curious definition of "stock"

"Stock" would be how it came from the factory. The only thing that's been changed on that guitar is the strings...

 

[sepsis311]

With a 7620, the only thing i'd do is a bridge pickup change. Other than that it's perfect. When i owned one, i wanted a UV so bad, and thought of the 7620 as a lesser guitar, and i'd probably be better on a UV.

That was until i saw Morbid Angel open for soulfly at BB kings. Both guitar players used 7620's, and they were shredding like crazy. One of the best metal shows i've ever been too. They were doing whammy tricks, and very fast finger stretches up and down the neck. That's when i realized it really isn't a bad guitar, only cosmetically different from the UV.

I ended up selling the 7620, cause the reality is the UV actually does feel different, but the 7620 is good enough that it's no excuse for a guitar player to suck.

 

[Vince]

With a 7620, the only thing i'd do is a bridge pickup change. Other than that it's perfect.

+ 1

The neck blaze II pickup that comes stock on the guitar is actually pretty nice. Changing the bridge pickup to your preference of DiMarzio or Duncan (my favorites) makes the guitar 100% better.

RG7620s are great guitars.

 

[Iceblade]

Ummm... correct me if I am wrong, but I thought we had already settled this. The RG76xx series never came with the Blaze pickups. They are Ibanez New 7's, despite what all the Ibanez catalogs claim. The Blaze's only came stock on the Universe line.

Regs,
Jeff, RG7621 (stock so far) Owner