NGD!!! Ibanez RGDIX7MPB

[JKM777]

NGD!!! - Ibanez 7-STRING RGDIX7MPB













Spec:

26.5" Scale
RGD Body Shape
Neck: Nitro Wizard-7 3pc Maple/Bubinga neck
Body: Poplar Burl top/Layered Ash body
Fretboard: Birdseye Maple fretboard

Hardware:
Frets: Jumbo frets
Bridge: Gibraltar Standard II-7 bridge
Gotoh Locking Tuners

Controls:
1xVol
3 way toggle switch

Pickups:
Neck: DiMarzio® Fusion Edge (H) neck pickup (Passive/Ceramic)
Bridge: DiMarzio® Fusion Edge (H) bridge pickup (Passive/Ceramic)

Factory tuning: D'Addario Strings
String gauge: .010/.013/.017/.026/.036/.046/.059

Hi Guys

I have been looking for an extended scale 7 for a while. On the off chance I tried one of these new Iron Label RGD's in GAK, Brighton the other week. I had seen a few people at NAMM/on youtube talking about these and thought it may be worth a buy. In the end I decided to get one as honestly the amount of guitar you get at the price point seemed very impressive!!!

I have never been a big Ibanez fan but was surprised by the quality of a friends RD7421 id borrowed considering how much he paid for it! So this is the first Ibanez I have owned, I paid £690 for it (A little more than standard UK price, but I got it without a current 1-2 month wait from most retailers) I intend it as a back up 7/mod project. So far it has not disappointed!


I currently own a 25.5" Sabre Guitars Stock series 7 in swamp ash with BKP Juggernaughts (link to old NGD thread at the bottom) and the Ibanez is proving to be a very strong match. Out the box it played really well, the neck was in good shape and it was still very much in tune, not bad having been shipped from Holland.

The guitar build quality seems to be very good, the hardware seems solid and like most Ibanez's it feels like a hard drop/bang to it wouldn't really affect it. The neck pocket looks tight and I cannot find any obvious flaws in the overall construction. It feels and looks solid and seems stable so far! Ibanez have even thought to include larger string ferrules for higher gauge strings which is great for me!!!

Finish wise, it has a nice smooth satin neck and a natural/oiled finish on the body. All of the frets are well finished, nicely rounded ends and so far I have not encountered any high/poorly levelled frets.

In all honesty the poplar burl is not a "Top" it should be called a veneer, its very thin and will not be contributing to the tone, however I got lucky, the burl is fairly interesting, book matched and not as plain as the one I tried in GAK. The matched headstock is also a nice touch. The grain on the ash is fairly close and straight, thus the arm bevel looks pretty good. The neck is not super thin, its fairly chunky and thicker than my sabre, however its comfortable, fast and the maple/bubinga combination looks pretty good and will be stable.

The birds eye maple fretboard is truly the star of the show, it looks really good, nice figuring, better than I expected, combined with the jumbo frets it plays really smooth and feels great.

Tonally its sounds great, the Fusion Edge pickups are good, nice and balanced, and in its current tuning (Drop Ab) it sounds think, with some nice attack in the bridge. I really like the middle position, its got a great pop/snap to it (think Animals as Leaders style cleans, slightly metallic/punchy). The neck pickup on its own is quite thick sounding (maybe overly).

The hipshot locking tuners are a great addition however the bridge is by far the least impressive component, it is comfortable and is doing its job, however it feels cheap/plasticy, and I can imagine it is not very heavy (if you pick up a Hipshot bridge they are weightier than you expect and have a real quality feel). This is the component that will defiantly be upgraded probably to a Hipshot! The switch and the Volume control are good quality and the taper on the volume is decent.


I am thinking about a few mods for this guitar:
Pickups - BKP Aftermaths or Black Hawks
Upgrade the bridge to a Hipshot
Remove the standard strap buttons and install Dunlop flush mounts.
Maybe slim the neck down a little

Interested in what you guys think and if you have any recommendations?


Overall it seems like a great guitar at the modest price point, any upgrades will leave it still cheaper than the Sabre so far i think its a win!


Link (Sabre NGD)
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/sevenstring-guitars/265051-ngd-sabre-guitars-syren-7-a.html

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Beauty! Would love to try one of these soon, they look gorgeous.

 

[awake69]

That is nothing short of gorgeous!! Happy New Ibby Day!!

 

[rexbinary]

Sweet guitar man! HNGD!

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

Congrats man!

 

[ImNotAhab]

Looks great dude! Great NGD.

By the way, in case you didn't know hipshot released a direct gibralter replacement.

Ibanez Gibraltar 7 Replacement > Store > Hipshot Products

 

[Tseams]

That thing is gorgeous. I'm between that and a uv70p right now. Happy NGD!

 

[JKM777]

Looks great dude! Great NGD.

By the way, in case you didn't know hipshot released a direct gibralter replacement.

Ibanez Gibraltar 7 Replacement > Store > Hipshot Products

Yh i have seen it,looks great, its now on the list to buy!!!

 

[Wern]

Congratulations!!

I really like this guitar!! Spanish dealer won't have none in stock until june but sure I'll get one as soon as it's avaliable

 

[Edika]

Congrats man and this looks a lot better than the other NGD for this model a week or so ago. This looks like a one piece back and two piece ash and burl top. I wonder what the Hipshot bridge will improve over the Giblartar, aside from the different aesthetics and feel, so let us know if there's a difference in sound and functionality .

 

[powderedtoastman]

Congrats man and this looks a lot better than the other NGD for this model a week or so ago. This looks like a one piece back and two piece ash and burl top. I wonder what the Hipshot bridge will improve over the Giblartar, aside from the different aesthetics and feel, so let us know if there's a difference in sound and functionality .

Yup, no huge nasty knots in the ash that I can see, either.
If I had gotten something more like this one I might have kept it. My GAS is mostly quenched for the moment, now, though, haha.

 

[JKM777]

Congrats man and this looks a lot better than the other NGD for this model a week or so ago. This looks like a one piece back and two piece ash and burl top. I wonder what the Hipshot bridge will improve over the Giblartar, aside from the different aesthetics and feel, so let us know if there's a difference in sound and functionality .

Hi Guys, I seem to have gotten lucky, Mine has a nice one piece back and a 2 piece ash top half (Layered & separated by a thin dark wood) covered by the bookmached burl. My finish is really good, everyone who has seen it liked it alot and there are no big knots or blemishes and as i said the fretwork is really pretty good!

I have seen the other thread and i think the guy had just gotten unlucky with his, due to the natural finish the timber has to be fairly good shape on these models otherwise they would have complaints all over the place! I am sure if you that if you sanded some of the equivalent block painted, thick gloss finished models (7412's and Iron labels), you would find many joins and blemishes in the timber, just luck of the draw i guess.

I will let you know about the hipshot, but i think ill swap the pickups out first, i find the bridge to be very comfortable. I actually think I prefer the feel of the gibralterII to my standard hipshot on the sabre, but my Hannes bridge equipped guitar still beats both!

edit, just realised that "powderedtoastman" posted the other thread, really sorry to hear yours wasn't so satisfactory!!!

 

[cemges]

Hi Guys, I seem to have gotten lucky, Mine has a nice one piece back and a 2 piece ash top half (Layered & separated by a thin dark wood) covered by the bookmached burl. My finish is really good, everyone who has seen it liked it alot and there are no big knots or blemishes and as i said the fretwork is really pretty good!

I have seen the other thread and i think the guy had just gotten unlucky with his, due to the natural finish the timber has to be fairly good shape on these models otherwise they would have complaints all over the place! I am sure if you that if you sanded some of the equivalent block painted, thick gloss finished models (7412's and Iron labels), you would find many joins and blemishes in the timber, just luck of the draw i guess.

I will let you know about the hipshot, but i think ill swap the pickups out first, i find the bridge to be very comfortable. I actually think I prefer the feel of the gibralterII to my standard hipshot on the sabre, but my Hannes bridge equipped guitar still beats both!

edit, just realised that "powderedtoastman" posted the other thread, really sorry to hear yours wasn't so satisfactory!!!

I mean, I had posted in that other thread, and had played the guitar in store once. Later for the same price I got myself a schecter JL-7, which already came with a hipshot bridge, has EMG pickups (branded, whether or not you personally like them is another case), 7 string, 26.5 inch scale, maple fretboard and swamp ash body, very similar in specs and overall felt much better to me. So I gotta ask, why spend 1000$ on a guitar on which you'll also swap pickups and bridge for an additional 250-300$?

 

[Relinquish69]

wow this is comparable with a Knaggs in the looks department. nice score!

 

[JKM777]

I mean, I had posted in that other thread, and had played the guitar in store once. Later for the same price I got myself a schecter JL-7, which already came with a hipshot bridge, has EMG pickups (branded, whether or not you personally like them is another case), 7 string, 26.5 inch scale, maple fretboard and swamp ash body, very similar in specs and overall felt much better to me. So I gotta ask, why spend 1000$ on a guitar on which you'll also swap pickups and bridge for an additional 250-300$?

In response to your question (and apologies if this makes me sound like a massive dick, its not my intention) but money isn't really big problem at the moment, I was looking to pick up a Mayones John Browne sig (around £2500), but decided to use the money aside to invest in a few other things I really need along side this guitar. I wanted just to get something I liked, fit the spec and that sounded good. As i said in the post, this guitar has ticked those box's and haven't put it down (i could really finish my response on that point alone). However as explained in my original post its really not far off my Sabre witch was almost double the cost. I think for the money i payed i got a lot of quality guitar, FYI the pickups are Dimarzo's made for this model not stock Ibanez!!! I only plan to Mod it as im tuning it very low (Northlane style, low F bass) the mods are simply to add extra definition to the low notes (Pickup swap) and improve the sustain and intonation with the better bridge. Ill mod the pots/cavity as its something i want to improve/practice doing.

In addition - I haven't seen much on the market that hits these spec that are as reasonable as the Ibanez , I have never been a shecter fan, I really have never like the way they feel or the styling (IMO, I accept thats not the case for everybody) so they would not be an option, the only rival would be the pro series Jackson 7's with extended scale, however these are quite plain and the Ibanez's spec is way ahead in features.

I hope this answers your question.

 

[wigger]

Now that's a really nice top! Love it

 

[IAmStutters]

Man, that's a beautiful guitar. I just ordered one yesterday (been GAS-ing hard since NAMM!), but I had my doubts with it being an Iron Label and all. Happy NGD and thanks for the reassurance!

 

[alexjg391]

Looks like something the guitarist out of Veil of Maya would play, in other words: awesome!

 

[skmanga]

Very nice guitar!
I currently own one myself but due to some production issues, a few frets aren't level with the fret board, there's a small crack on the fret board above the 15th fret, and a few green/blue smudges from the burl finish on the unfinished wood.
I would have already exchanged it with Musicians Friend but they haven't had one in stock and wont for a bit.

They decided to allow me to select a more expensive guitar from their inventory due to the guitar issues and them sending me 3 broken Laney ironheart 30w combos in a row. 4th should be here today

After going over their website I came across the new Schechter Keith Merrow 7 MK2 sig, which has almost identical specs but pretty much upgraded in every way!

Ibanez < / > / = / != Schechter
_____________________________________________________________
-layered ash body<Swamp ash body
-reg fret markers<glow in the dark fret markers
-Dimarzio designed pickups<official SD Nazgul and sentient
-1 vol knob-no tone<1 vol knob w/push pull-no tone, American pots/electronics
-reg vol knob<fancy vol knob with grip!
-MII<MIK
-3 piece maple/bubinga neck<5 piece maple/wenge neck with carbon fiber reinforcement rods.
-reg Jumbo uncrowned frets/unfinished frets<SS crowned frets
-standard platstic? nut<Ernie ball compensated
-US$999.99<US$1199.99
_____________________________________________________________

-Burl poplar veneer>Flamed maple veneer
(I've read its not a real top on the Schechter either but a veneer so no real tonal addition.
Looks wise I prefer the Ibanez at this point, Schechter comes close second)
_____________________________________________________________

-26.5" scale=26.5" scale
-3 way PU selector=3 way PU selector
-no case included=no case included

_____________________________________________________________

-1st fret- 19mm/12th fret- 21mm != 1st Fret- 19mm/12th Fret- 20mm (Really love the feel on the Ibanez Nitro Wizard neck,
hoping the Schechter isn't too different as I've got big hands!)
-Bolt on neck != Set neck (this is more of a preference thing for me at this point. I've tried bolt-on and set necks but not full on neck thru(EXCITED))
-Birdseye maple!=ebony (preference again. its kind of like the light and dark of the fret board world! most of my experience is with Rosewood)
Nitro wizard != ultra thin "C" (Hoping they are similar as I love the Ibanez neck,
but have not been a fan of the Schechter C1's, Tempest, and Blackjack necks I've played in the past.
____________________________________________________________

Spec wise the Schechter ....s on the Ibanez!
Though when everything is said and done, looks wise I think I lean slightly towards the Ibanez!
It is the best looking Ibanez I've ever seen, second place going to the Ibanez RG2550EXVBB,
vibrant blue paint with smoky mirror pick guard >__<... should have never sold it!

I would have probably never looked or considered Schechter again after owning a few and not really 100% loving them.
I currently have a 2009 or so Tempest custom in a creamy white with black binding and it just feels cramped and small...
So yea, most Schechter's I've played have this off putting Schechter feel in my opinion, not to say I've tried too many.
Hoping this is not the case with the KM7 Mk2, going by specs alone it shouldn't.
As its very very close to the Ibanez RGD spec with higher quality components and an even thinner neck for only $200 more..

Ibanez does too much of the same when it comes to specs, I guess you'd call it traditional

Bonus Pic of my Ibanez RGDIX7MPB:

 

[Anquished]

Congrats, very nice guitar!