New Dean 7 String for 2014

[KJGaruda]

It looks so stubby...

 

[shupe13]

Yeah, not feeling this thing at all. They should do a 7-string Cadillac if anything. This thing has already been done by ESP and Epiphone. And probably better at that.

A 7 string Caddy would be bad ass!

 

[Shannon]

Epi Heafy 7 = Ltd ec407 = this.
Do we really need the same shit over and over?

 

[Zalbu]

I have enough trouble with 25.5 inch scale on seven strings, I'd probably become depressed if I played a 24.75 one.

 

[ScornEmperor]

The Dean RC7 is a fantastic guitar. The USA made custom RC7s are stellar 7 string instruments and beyond playable. Ultra deep cutaway, ultra thin neck, really well balanced, really well constructed. Dean's USA shop can make some great guitars. I'm not super excited by their production lines, though. They seem to have a bit of trouble finding a main line beyond the Dimebags that can capture broad interest. Where is Dean's Hellraiser? If I were them, I'd try to solve that problem.

 

[cardinal]

Epi Heafy 7 = Ltd ec407 = this.
Do we really need the same shit over and over?

Heafy and the EC407 are different scale lengths and number of frets. EC has additional bidy contours, etc. This thing is like the Heafy, except less like an actual Les Paul, so I don't get it. If some one wanted Les Paul specs on a 7 string, buying a Dean when a more accurate Epiphone is available doesn't make sense. The EC is more like a superstrat with bad fret access IMHO.

 

[Señor Voorhees]

Epi Heafy 7 = Ltd ec407 = this.
Do we really need the same shit over and over?

You're asking that from the people who froth at the mouth every time Ibanez releases another black super strat.

Seriously though, I'm not really digging this. This is one of the very few times I'll say that the single cut looks so absolutely ....ing goofy. I will, however, say that that I do actually like the headstock on this better than the MKH sig. Epiphone headstocks are pretty damn silly looking. Also, I really like the scale length on these things. 24.5 inch scales feel great to play on, and you can get perfectly acceptable tones out of them.

 

[Rotatous]

Dean really has created an awful image for themselves over the years, and rightly so - even though I'm sure they make some really nice instruments if you pay the price (as stated), but there's literally nothing they do that seems genuine to me outside of that, there's not a single product they make that I wouldn't rather have from some other manufacturer

 

[XeoFLCL]

Either wood matters in the sound of the guitar or it doesn't. It *might* matter less with actives - I really don't have the experience to say for sure - but I fail to see how wood could matter with a passive pickup but not with an active. And based on how big a deal players around here make about body wood even when active pickups are involved, I'm going to guess that I'm not the only one who thinks that.

The problem with actives in high end guitars is just the fact that they're EQed and compressed, which kind of sterilizes the tone of the guitar itself and gives it a very consistent sound. This is both good and bad, good because you can make guitars literally made out of laminate sound identical to a typical ~500 dollar guitar, but it's bad because a very small amount of the actual guitar quality will shine through (basically sustain and only some of the guitar's tonal quality itself as the tone is precolored by the active circuit's EQ and compression..) meaning with things built to rely on the build quality and it's materials simply won't shine through. With passives, while the priority in terms of tone still go player->amp->pickup->guitar tonewoods, it still will make enough of a difference to sound different in other guitars and give them unique characteristics, unlike EMGs which are designed to always sound the same regardless of the situation (the positive point of them, especially if you love that sound)

 

[Riffer Madness]

Im all for a short scale 7 except for one thing....

Seven string players obviously want more notes than what "normal" guitars offer, so why'd they make it with only 22 frets?

Its a satin black lespaul with emgs. Its a metal guitar. That genre where lead players go widdley widdley on the highest frets

I know 22 frets gets the neck humbucker in a different position, but so would chopping off the end of a 23 or 24 fret fingerboard and direct mounting the humbucker a little closer. Im sure you could squeeze an extra note in there without a problem on most body styles.

 

[Valennic]

Id like it with passives. I personally like tuning down with shorter scales, gives it a rather massive sound. There's a reason so many doom metal bands play with LPs

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Its a satin black lespaul with emgs. Its a metal guitar. That genre where lead players go widdley widdley on the highest frets

A lot of the metal Les Paul players seem to do fine with 22 frets.

I don't mind that it has 22 frets. In fact, it's my preference, it's just I wish the scale length were a wee bit longer. I've been spoiled so much by my 25.5'' guitars that for detuning, I don't like the sound or feel of 24.75''. The scale length is honestly my only complaint with the guitar, I like the other specs quite a bit.

 

[Riffer Madness]

^I just dont like less than 24 cuz ive run into things i couldnt play before when all i had was 22.

Yeah, down tuning on 24.75 would sound mellow and stiff probably. ive never owned a les paul to try it.

I like 25.5 best, but i wish one of these 'metal guitar' companies would make a 25.125" -right in between a les paul and a strat.

Sliding on small gauges for the high string cuts my callouses sometimes, and some big chords are already painful on 25.5, so im sure there's a market for something like that.

 

[mike90t09]

This is so bad I want to cry. Also it's really short.

What an eye sore.

 

[Hollowway]

Meh. Weird combination of specs. It's like they were going for the smallest possible overlap on a Venn diagram.

 

[HaloHat]

24,75" scale. Cue the whiners.

Wow, something that makes the 25" scale Warmoth suddenly seem desirable

The more 7's the better, whether I like that one or not.

 

[celticelk]

WARNING: rant ahead. Duck and cover.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for those of you complaining about the scale length and number of frets on this model. Assuming that you would play a non-superstrat to begin with*, you've had the model you want for years: the ESP/LTD EC and the Ibanez ARZ both have 25"+ scale lengths and 24 frets, and there are new models of both coming this year with those specs. Until the Epiphone MKH signature, there hadn't been a "traditional spec" Les Paul 7 (24.75" scale with 22 frets) available in new production since Epiphone discontinued the Les Paul 7 in the early 2000s. There are now two options for that niche, the Epiphone and the Dean, which means that *maybe* we'll still have one available in two years. So don't whine to me that this *one* model doesn't happen to cater to your specs, which are easily found in virtually every other production seven-string, when it's practically the only option for my preferred spec in an off-the-shelf guitar. You don't like it? Fine. Don't play it.

/rant

*Show of hands: how many of you actually own a non-superstrat 7-string? And how many of those are "traditional" LP or Tele types as opposed to pointy metal guitars like the Iceman 7? I have four: 1 Tele-style, 1 LP, and two in the thinline hollow/semi-hollow mode. There's not a double-cutaway to be found in my collection, in any string configuration. This isn't a fashion statement for me; these are the guitars I can comfortably play.

 

[celticelk]

^I just dont like less than 24 cuz ive run into things i couldnt play before when all i had was 22.

Yeah, down tuning on 24.75 would sound mellow and stiff probably. ive never owned a les paul to try it.

I like 25.5 best, but i wish one of these 'metal guitar' companies would make a 25.125" -right in between a les paul and a strat.

Sliding on small gauges for the high string cuts my callouses sometimes, and some big chords are already painful on 25.5, so im sure there's a market for something like that.

The Ibanez ARZ307 is 25.24". The PRS SE 7 is 25". Both have 24 frets.

 

[Blood Tempest]

WARNING: rant ahead. Duck and cover.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for those of you complaining about the scale length and number of frets on this model. Assuming that you would play a non-superstrat to begin with*, you've had the model you want for years: the ESP/LTD EC and the Ibanez ARZ both have 25"+ scale lengths and 24 frets, and there are new models of both coming this year with those specs. Until the Epiphone MKH signature, there hadn't been a "traditional spec" Les Paul 7 (24.75" scale with 22 frets) available in new production since Epiphone discontinued the Les Paul 7 in the early 2000s. There are now two options for that niche, the Epiphone and the Dean, which means that *maybe* we'll still have one available in two years. So don't whine to me that this *one* model doesn't happen to cater to your specs, which are easily found in virtually every other production seven-string, when it's practically the only option for my preferred spec in an off-the-shelf guitar. You don't like it? Fine. Don't play it.

/rant

*Show of hands: how many of you actually own a non-superstrat 7-string? And how many of those are "traditional" LP or Tele types as opposed to pointy metal guitars like the Iceman 7? I have four: 1 Tele-style, 1 LP, and two in the thinline hollow/semi-hollow mode. There's not a double-cutaway to be found in my collection, in any string configuration. This isn't a fashion statement for me; these are the guitars I can comfortably play.

For all the same reasons you nailed this on the head are the exact reasons why I spec'd my Halo tele 7 to be 24.75" and 22 frets. Your rant is spot on. It's something different that isn't widely offered. Contrary to most belief and opinion here, there IS a market for guitars like this. Epiphone got to it first. I love those MKH 7s.

 

[Danukenator]

This would be great for trying a high A string out on. Plus, people have been playing in Drop A/B on LP's for years. No issues there.