NGD: Charvel Nova 7

[Konfyouzd]

Pic first...


This just showed up yesterday and I really have nothing but good things to say about it.

Action felt great out of the box.
The fret work is really nice.
It has that typical Jackson / Charvel "it plays itself" feeling. Sometimes I feel like I didn't hit something quite right and the note still rings out clear as day as if I did. (Maybe I did... I dunno...)

The bridge flutters like it's being paid extremely well to do so.

The tremolo feels very solid when using the bar too. Very fluid, intuitive feel to it.

I'm still considering changing the hardware and pickups. I very much like the way the current pickup set sounds, but I am still on the fence about how I feel about gold on guitars.

Has anyone changed either the pickups or hardware or both on one of these yet?

I have been considering doing the following:
1. All black pickups and hardware
2. Gold pickups with black poles (Asked DiMarzio and they said they could do that)
3. Black pickups with gold poles

I really miss my old DK7M which I think is the reason I'm considering the all black, but I'm unsure if things like the neck bolts would be difficult to find in the right size. Ferrules, the multitude of screws and the strap pins should also be pretty easy.

Part of me likes the all gold pickups some of the time too. I'm just not used to seeing open coil pickups in gold, I guess. Slowly it's growing on me but I'm still curious about what a change would be like.

All in all, I would highly recommend you at least get your hands on one and play one.

OH... And I know it's been asked about a thousand times, but is the pickup set still 2 AN7s? Because all the ads are still calling the bridge a TZ7 and if that's what it is, it doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as people have said--at least not through a dual rectifier.

 

[thebeesknees22]

sick dude!

 

[Mathemagician]

Gold hardware is the correct color. Christ. Why would anyone put anything else on black guitars? Ooooo another murdered out super strat. As long as it’s not silver you’re fine. Stop having different opinions than me!

 

[Konfyouzd]

Gold hardware is the correct color. Christ. Why would anyone put anything else on black guitars? Ooooo another murdered out super strat. As long as it’s not silver you’re fine. Stop having different opinions than me!

The 510 also comes in cosmo black

 

[budda]

1. Nice
2. Gold
3. ???
4. Profit

 

[NoodleFace]

I always thought the gold looked really nice on those. Plus I feel weird changing out hardware colors ofa sig guitar

Definitely want to play one of these

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Damn the haterz, blackout that thing. It'll look fucking killer.

Congrats either way!

 

[Konfyouzd]

I always thought the gold looked really nice on those. Plus I feel weird changing out hardware colors ofa sig guitar

Definitely want to play one of these

They play really nice.

I kinda wish I had jumped on them when they were like $400 cheaper

 

[Razerjack]

Embrace the gold, so fitting for the vibe of this guitar (replace the frets with Evo gold to win the internet)

 

[mlp187]

These are so dope, it’s nice to see one in the wild! Congrats!

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Sick guitar.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

love it!

 

[Konfyouzd]

These are so dope, it’s nice to see one in the wild! Congrats!

Yea I don’t see many honestly.

 

[Hoss632]

I just wish I could find one at one of the local music stores to try. I Love charvel 6 strings and I think I'd like the Nova 7 string, and probably the 6 string as well. But I'm more curious about the 7.

 

[Konfyouzd]

I swapped my pickups. The gold bobbins just weren’t for me but I’ve seen it posted a few times asking if it’s a TZ7/AN7 or 2 AN7s. Some of the earlier ones I saw ppl did actually get 2 ANs but mine actually had a Tone Zone in the bridge.

It is a nice sounding pickup. Not muddy like I’ve read on here.

 

[jaxadam]

I’ll never get sick of seeing pics of these.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

I swapped my pickups. The gold bobbins just weren’t for me but I’ve seen it posted a few times asking if it’s a TZ7/AN7 or 2 AN7s. Some of the earlier ones I saw ppl did actually get 2 ANs but mine actually had a Tone Zone in the bridge.

It is a nice sounding pickup. Not muddy like I’ve read on here.

thanks for the info!
lets see some pics with the new pickups!

 

[lord of chads]

I've always wanted to try one of the Novas. Since it's made in Korea, I wonder how different it feels compared to the regular made in Mexico Charvels.

Dimarzio 7 string pickups can be very different from the 6 string version. Both the 7 string versions of the air norton and tone zone have ceramic magnets instead of alnico 5. They said they redesigned the tone zone 7 from the ground up.

From Dimarzio's website:

"The Tone Zone® 7 is not merely an adaptation of the original Tone Zone®, but a new design from the ground up for 7-string guitars. It incorporates lower magnet-pull and coils specifically calibrated to reproduce the full impact of the low “B” string without any loss of tone quality or fidelity. The Tone Zone® 7 comes with 4-conductor cable."

 

[mrvomit]

Nice! Mine has a TZ in Bridge . Be aware about
1) 1 thing ! : TREM POSTS has the INNER LITTLE SCREWS to BLOCK them like Lo pro edge ! So loose them before to adjust bridge ( never mentioned anywhere save from my topic about ,as i 've discovered accidently ) .
2)***EDIT *i see you already swapped pus them so leave it ****
Mine ( and YOURS probably) has quick connect PU , much like EMG style . Check it , and in case order "quick connect" option from Dimarzio ( lucky you can do it with low cost, in Europe is a PITA , i can't swap as i would like,i.e same color but different bridge for my tastes) ; in that way you will have DIRECT swap! and also not to solder ( even comparing sound relatively fast so added benefit I.M:O in your case )
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Only negative thing is that mine had an issue , cavity ( or maybe neck /body ) not aligned so springs touched walls , but it was solved by previous owner and i did not notice if not pointed about , pretty annoying "to know " as also routing pu away paint inside cavity .
Trem range is PRETTY limited, would need routing to get more , it's about 1 tone in one direction , 1+1/2 tonen other , and that's a common behaviour of that guitar .I have others dive bombing, so not problem , but if would be my first/second i would definitely route more , though i broke a fresh string by extreme bending so perhaps i have to check things
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Tone Zone is not exactly a Muddy baby , but still i'm used to more gutty pus , directly on pc with plugins it does not get that in your face sound definetely , and that's what get called muddy ( i guess ?) . I would have definetely tried another one there , maybe an alnico version of it perhaps is that thing i dont "feel it" the charachter of the pickup nor it pops out / cuts the " pc mix". With Heads/ amplifiers we all know another story ( but that's pretty valid for almost any pu ) . it would be a little trouble finding the right pus as that is a guitar anyway suited more for" politely heavy " stuff i.m.o ,lol .ANd a Joy for the eyes, expecially in sage green

 

[Spicypickles]

Gold sucks unless it’s on blue quilt. Black it out, black pups with gold poles. You could also have black tuners with gold keys to keep some of the motif going.