Looking for my first 7 string

[cemges]

Hey guys, new to the forum. I suppose we can make threads about deciding between guitars can we not? Anyways, I want to buy a new 7 string guitar, and have limited options. I want versatility, and clean tones must be just as good as distorted. I am using software amps with an irig HD. The models I am between are, Ibanez RG1527Z, Schecter KM7 and JL7, or something like C7 Custom.

I remember back in the day that people really hated korean guitars, because they were just cheap, low quality stuff, though I don't know how things changed. I don't know if I am dishing out some amount around 1000$ that I would buy something sub par. In that sense I feel more confident with a MIJ ibanez, but the pickups on that are a problem and I would go some time without changing pickups If I spent that much money.

I have found a rather nice deal on a used jeff loomis NT7, but it has EMG 707, and I did not own any EMG pickups but from the ones I tried on stores, I don't quite like their characteristics, because I love the strat like, chimney clean tones, as well as strumming. If not for that, I can buy a new KM7 or JL7 with new EMG pickups which are told to sound more vintage. And I again don't know how sentient & nazgul combo like, but I like the ability to turn off the volume and get a classic rock sound at times, and I hope it can deliver that.

Or maybe should I just go past 7 and buy a C8 No not seriously.

 

[LTigh]

^

It depends on the Korean stuff.

What you want to look for is if the instrument was made in the World Musical Instruments factory. Right now they're putting out top-notch instruments for ESP/LTD, Schecter, Paul Reed Smith (the regular SE series, not the new "SE Standards" what are made in Indonesia), Chapman, Higher-end Deans, .strandberg* (Boden OS), and a couple of others.

I think it were the Cort (Ibanez, Squire, G&L Tribute, etc.) and Samick (Epiphone, Squier, Washburn, Hohner, Silvertone) factories what got Korea the bad rep back in the day.

Also, it was Cort what gave the Koreans a bad rep for mistreating and exploiting workers. WMI seems to take care of its people much better.

 

[cemges]

^

It depends on the Korean stuff.

What you want to look for is if the instrument was made in the World Musical Instruments factory. Right now they're putting out top-notch instruments for ESP/LTD, Schecter, Paul Reed Smith (the regular SE series, not the new "SE Standards" what are made in Indonesia), Chapman, Higher-end Deans, .strandberg* (Boden OS), and a couple of others.

I think it were the Cort (Ibanez, Squire, G&L Tribute, etc.) and Samick (Epiphone, Squier, Washburn, Hohner, Silvertone) factories what got Korea the bad rep back in the day.

Also, it was Cort what gave the Koreans a bad rep for mistreating and exploiting workers. WMI seems to take care of its people much better.

I am quite surprised Boden is made in that same facotry. Aren't those strandbergs 2500$+ models?

 

[chaneisa]

I am quite surprised Boden is made in that same facotry. Aren't those strandbergs 2500$+ models?

The OS's are a little less, between $1500-2000. They're the production ones.

 

[LTigh]

I am quite surprised Boden is made in that same facotry. Aren't those strandbergs 2500$+ models?

More like $1500+, but they're more specc'd out than, say, a KM7 or a Banshee.

Also, shows you that they're trusted to put out quality stuff (and even then, they're QC'd by the company what contracted them after they're shipped out to the mothership). That being said, Schecters are the only guitars I'd ever buy sight-unseen since the QC on them is spectacular (got a fairly low-end new Omen 7 still hermetically sealed from the Sun Valley, CA Schecter plant and sitting in the central Missouri GC warehouse from GC and it came perfectly set up and in tune after getting shipped halfway across the continent).

Although, occasionally you get hiccups like what happened with the one dude and his Dean guitar, but that one was mostly on the dealer.

 

[Aymara]

... I did not own any EMG pickups but from the ones I tried on stores, I don't quite like their characteristics, ...

I absolutely hated EMGs in the past, but after I tried a Schecter Hybrid, I couldn't resist to buy it ... the EMG 57/66 set is the first one, where I really like the clean tones, especially with the Hybrid's wood selection.

I strung my C-1 with Gibson Brite Wires (similar to D'Addario XL) and I love the achieved sound ... somewhat a mixture of the low end and punch of a Les Paul combined with the clarity of a Gretsch Falcon.

Check the clean tones in this video at around 2:00



And now some C-7 high gain stuff:



If you should like that sound, you might be interested to know, that new Hybrid models will be shown at NAMM, especially a C-7 in Ultraviolet, a multi color lacquer.

It's also worth mentioning, that the Hybrid has much more body resonance than the KM7, which for my taste felt a bit cheap in comparison.

 

[cemges]

I also saw that new JL-7 Comes with 57-7H /66-7H, and doesn not have finish on the back of neck, which would make it perfect for me

 

[Aymara]

I also saw that new JL-7 Comes with 57-7H /66-7H, and doesn not have finish on the back of neck, which would make it perfect for me

Yep, the 57/66 is by far the best EMG set ... not only for my taste, though some people seem to prefer the Hetfield set.

And the Hybrid has a satin neck too

For my taste the more beautiful Schecter ... don't like those crosses on the light colored maple ... and the ebony fretboard on a maple neck adds a bit more clarity.

I highly recommend trying them both yourself to find out, what you prefer.

PS: But in case you plan to order online, be aware of the fact, that all European Schecters now seem to be made in Indonesia, no longer in Korea. Musik Produktiv in Germany clearly state that in their shop (Made in Indonesia) and when you examine the headstock photos in Thomann's shop, you'll notice, that the "Made in South Korea" imprint is now missing on all Diamond models. I don't now, if this is an advantage or a downside. I found one forum discussion, where someone compared one model from both origins and in that case the Indonesian was the winner.

 

[LTigh]

PS: But in case you plan to order online, be aware of the fact, that all European Schecters now seem to be made in Indonesia, no longer in Korea. Musik Produktiv in Germany clearly state that in their shop (Made in Indonesia) and when you examine the headstock photos in Thomann's shop, you'll notice, that the "Made in South Korea" imprint is now missing on all Diamond models. I don't now, if this is an advantage or a downside. I found one forum discussion, where someone compared one model from both origins and in that case the Indonesian was the winner.

Hmm... for the Tomann site, it seems to be a marketing thing, since both the allegedly Korean models and the Indonesian models have their manufacture country of origin photoshopped out.

The serial number convention seems to be consistent with whatever are either Korean (serial numbers beginning with "W" for World Music Instruments) or Indonesian ("IW").

 

[Aymara]

Hmm... for the Tomann site, it seems to be a marketing thing, since both the allegedly Korean models and the Indonesian models have their manufacture country of origin photoshopped out.

I guess they photoshopped the origin out, because that are old photos from Korean models, which they don't get delivered anymore. And some photoshop is less hassle, than new studio photos.

Musik Produktiv clearly state Indonesia even for the Hybrid, that on my C-1 still has Korea imprinted. And some months ago this shop also mentioned Korea and Thomann showed the Korea imprint on the headstock photo.

And as mentioned above I found a discussion somewhere comparing two Schecter from both origins ... same model ... where was told, that Schecter would move it's whole Diamond Series production to Indonesia due to quality issues in Korea and rising prices.

 

[LTigh]

And as mentioned above I found a discussion somewhere comparing two Schecter from both origins ... same model ... where was told, that Schecter would move it's whole Diamond Series production to Indonesia due to quality issues in Korea and rising prices.

I find this interesting.

Link?

 

[Aymara]

Link?

I needed some time to find it ... and guess what ... it's from SSO

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...n-hellraiser-special-c8-photo-comparison.html

But I didn't remember it correctly ... they said Schecter would move more and more to Indo, but not completely ... time will tell. As I said MP in Germany claims, all now come from Indo. Schecter's website though still mentions Korea and Schecter Germany doesn't mention an origin at all.

 

[LTigh]

I needed some time to find it ... and guess what ... it's from SSO

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...n-hellraiser-special-c8-photo-comparison.html

But I didn't remember it correctly ... they said Schecter would move more and more to Indo, but not completely ... time will tell. As I said MP in Germany claims, all now come from Indo. Schecter's website though still mentions Korea and Schecter Germany doesn't mention an origin at all.

Oh, that one. Yeah, the great Late-Aughts/Early Teens Shuffle.

Schecter was bouncing its stuff from Korean to China to Indonesia back to Korea year-to-year. Chinese C-7s, Korean Damiens, Indonesian Hellraisers-- fun times, fun times.

(Nearly pulled the trigger on a 2011 Korean Damien Elite 7 after A/B-ing it with the current Indo Damien Elite 7-- Korean came out slightly ahead price-wise, everything else being damn near equal. Pulled out last second thanks to what will be posted in a NGD thread later).

I think a lot of it had to do with Schecter pulling out Korea thanks to the bad press from the Cort factory after the big Foxconn-tier labor/QC kerfluffle. They seemed to be happy going back to WMI for the high-end stuff (lots of vids on youtube showcasing the factory and the better working conditions), although thanks to the QC in Sun Valley, the Indonesian gear is spot-on (so far, most of the Schecter lemons and dogs I've come across have been the result of dealer neglect or floor-model abuse. Even the factory seconds are pretty solid).

Things seemed to have stabilized sometime around 2013/2014.

I'd go with the official site for specs, although they sometimes mess up (that thing with the Schecter Locking Tuners vs. Grovers, or having old specs from a different model year). I'm pretty sure deliberately misrepresenting place of manufacturing origin is a big legal no-no in most places.

 

[Aymara]

I'm pretty sure deliberately misrepresenting place of manufacturing origin is a big legal no-no in most places.

Yes, that's why I find the Indo hints in the Musik Produktiv shop quite trustworthy, especially when I visit their special pro guitar shop and see besides Gibsons and other high end guitars a single Schecter Hybrid C8, which is clearly from Korea.

What I really find strange is this Thomann Photoshop issue.

 

[dancegavindance]

FWIW, I had a used Ibanez seven string for a while. Forget the model type, but it was about $280 used and was a great guitar.

 

[naliuj]

I got my first 7-string, a Chapman ML-7S for 700 USD two weeks ago. It's really fantastic.

 

[cemges]

So It has been a while. Hey guys, thanks for the replies. Since I posted this, I had the chance to look around for a number of other guitars. I have not had my chance to try KM7 or JL7, but I've found a 1527 that has been sitting in shelves for quite some years now. I really liked the neck a lot. Tones were good, though I was using a roland modeling amp is it does not say a lot. I would have bought it if it didn't retail for the same price as brand new schecters, the hardware had started to wear off it's color, frets and areas near frets on keyboard somewhat stained, just as much as my rg1570 I bought used. It was the guitar I was looking for but now I am kinda sad because there is no new ones around. I also played a the new RGDIX7MBP with dimarzio's new fusion edge pickups. I can say that for that same price, it felt much worse. Tones were ok, and hardware was mostly good but when I held the neck I understood what prestige is about. I think it might be cause by the finish of it, but the neck felt so slow and sloppy. I couldn't like it really. One other was jackson slattmg something, neck thru with emg 707. It really had a good sustain, and the neck was better than that nitro wizard, though I felt a general sloppiness in everything else that just kinda felt off right after playing a prestige guitar, even with old strings and wear. I will have the chance to test a jl7 probably next week, though they said they are all out of KM7 and have no idea when new ones will arrive. I hope I will be happier with JL7 and its neck, because the 1527 is so tempting even though it is far away from all the specs and the cleanness of new gear I want.

 

[Aymara]

I got my first 7-string, a Chapman ML-7S for 700 USD two weeks ago. It's really fantastic.

So far I only read positive comments of the Chapman, so it seems to be a top candidate below 1000 bucks.