Help me choose my first 7 String

[Philippe]

Hello everyone,

I am a 17 year old guitarist who loves playing guitar and after a year of wanting to try a seven string guitar I finally had the oppurtunity recently in Paris to try a Cort 7 string and I loved it. (Trying guitars for me is a major issue due to the fact that where I am currently staying at now is definately very under developed in the sense of the music scene and shops.) Since it was the only 7 string that I ever tried I couldn't compare it to anything therefore I didn't know wether or not I should buy it and the fact that it was a inexpensive guitar by a company such as Cort made me come to the decision that I would wait until I move to California.

Luckily for me, I stumbled upon this forum and was amazed by some of the great support that people seem to be giving each other on here and that there are many experienced musicians on this website. Going straight to the point, and sorry about giving you guy's some background history, I'm hoping that you guys can guide me on the right path about choosing the right guitar for me and based on your comments I will order the guitar which is the most praised around Christmas time.

I have no particular price range set, im leaving this all up to you guys and I would really appreciate it if the suggestions where guitars that could be ordered directly online and that I wouldn't need to wait for to order and that have a fixed bridge and not a tremolo system which I discovered is a royal pain in the ass. I currently own a ESP-Eclipse, a Dean Razzorback, a Gibson Ultima, a Fender Custom Tele and im into heavy metal as I'm guessing most of you guys are.

Thank you so much guys, Im really looking forward to your replies and I will die if I have to wait 7 months to go to California before buying a 7 string. x)

 

[vhmetalx]

Well if you want a fixed bridge then go for maybe a ESP LTD mh-417 or any of the schecter hellraisers that are fixed bridge.
But ofcourse it also depends on if you like thinner or thicker necks. and depends on what woods you like.
If you want thicker neck, go for schecter. You like thinner? Get the esp or get a used rg7421 or 7621 (MIJ Ibanez made around '97-'00).
if you like mahogany then either the esp or schecter has them. If you dont mind basswood or want basswood then the 7621 or 7421 is where its at.
theres a lot we (as a community) would need to know about your preferences in a guitar to help nail it down to a couple of choices.
then theres also always Agiles, (Rondomusic.com). Dont know if theyll ship out to where you are though.

Gives us some preferences as to what you like in a guitar, then we'll be able to help out alot more.

 

[Philippe]

Alright hopefully this will provide some better insight of what my preferences are:

I like thin necks but I have really big hands so many times I find that my fingers are bigger than my frets past the 16th fret. (I am 6 foot 7)

So far a couple of my guitars are made out of mahogany and I like them however I'm not sure of what sound qualities can be attributed with basswood.

As for pickups I'm looking for very dynamic pickups that are great for intense rythms like Born of Osiris but that also have a very good clean tone which I find are what lack my EMG pickups on my Eclipse.

Something that I am also very critical on is strings staying in tune, tuners are a very big deal and I'm looking for something of higher quality and better lockage than my Gotoh magnum lock tuners.

My knowledge about woods and pickups is not so great, but knowing that you guys have way more knowledge than me im hoping you can tell me exactly what's best and that price is not a matter of cocern.

Thank you

 

[max-streich]

hi guys,
I´m looking at those 2 guitars. the ibanez rg 1527 (1000&#8364 and the jackson slat3 7 (1180&#8364. i own a ibanez rg 2550z and love it. bridge neck body and so on.
I want to ask which one you guys think is the better guitar.
greetings max

 

[Ghost40]

Welcome Philippe!

I am fond of the Ibanez 7s. I own the 1527 and a 7421. The wide flat necks of the Ibanez seem a little faster to me than most. But I have only owned the Schecter and Ibanez. The Schecter felt a bit more bulky, like an older "C" shape. Lately I have been gravitating towards PRS 6s though. I would have to say the Ibbys are where its at for 7s. As far as the pickups, both of my 7s still have the stock pickups in. I love the sound of the 1527. However I have used the EMG81x, EMG81, and the SD AHB2s (Mick Thompson signature) and by far, I like the EMGs.