NGD is here! Douglas 727 tribal green

[Bownze]

This is my first 7 string in 10 years. I had a Jackson. The fretboard was TOO WIDE and the neck was TOO THICK... so I sold it pretty quickly. Happy to report the 727 is much narrower and thinner. It's kinda a cross between a chunky Les Paul and pretty much any Ibanez. No jagged frets either. It's quite nice for the price, actually. It definitely could use brighter, more articulate pups and the tuners ain't nothing special, but it's at least quiet with no weird hum or other strange noises.

Question for the forum, and this may be a very noob one at that, but what is "standard" tuning on a 7? EADGBE for a 6, and I play mostly in drop D, so DADGBE. I have an RG 350 That I have set up to play a step down DGCFAD and I'll "drop D" tuning down to C, so CGCFAD (which, BTW, sounds wicked as hell) . So what is the lowest string? Or, to put it another way using the above tunings, what is "X":
xEADGBE
xDGCFAD
xDADGBE
xCGCFAD

Thanks!

 

[lewstherin006]

The lowest string is tuned to B. You could also tune it to A, which would put the guitar in drop A tuning. But in standard its also B. for your regular drop D tuning you could tune your 7th string to A, which would give you an extra A on top. But HNGD!

 

[Roland777]

Go with whatever feels good? You can tune the bottom string with the next one as a fourth or fifth in any one of those tunings, I.e BEADGBE, AEADGBE, ADGCFAD, GDGCFAG, ADADGBE (I'd personally try this out at one point in time), GDADGBE, GCGCFAD (obviously this one too ) or FCGCFAD (wuuuut. Probably not the wisest idea without a "28-scale minimum. YMMV)

 

[Bownze]

Go with whatever feels good

Yeah, I did just crank the bottom string peg around trying to find a sweet spot. There was a few in there, but they didn't sound in unison with the higher strings. But I'm not used to new strings , and I'm not accustomed to hearing that extra string, and the pups just don't have the articulation to project the bottom string well yadda yadda yadda excuses excuses...

But thanks for all the different tunings to try. Time to get out the tuner again.

 

[mike90t09]

Nice looking body you got there. Great buy.

 

[Bownze]

A few first impressions...

I love the volume and tone pots. Super useable, proportional range and volume swells are tits.

Overall, it seems to be set up pretty well out of the box. Action is equal to or better than many "mail order" guitars I've had. The top 6 strings are holding tune (I'm in XDGCFAD ATM) and I know the new strings have a breaking in period, but I'm still at a loss what to do with the "extra" low string. I can't hear any intonation issues, but then again, I have more of a "drummers ear"...

Balance is pretty good considering the extra hardware and lumber. It doesn't do nosedives, but I really need to pay attention to keep it in a good place. This axe is prolly 51/49 or something close.

So far, so good. Gotta look around the place for some better pups...

 

[Max_Molina_Luthier]

7 strings are tuned like this for standard tuning you tune the low string to what ever the high B string is. for dropped tunings you tune the low string to what ever the low A string is.
example:
standard 7
(B)EADG(B)E
Drop Standard
(A)E(A)DGBE

 

[Bownze]

7 strings are tuned like this for standard tuning you tune the low string to what ever the high B string is. for dropped tunings you tune the low string to what ever the low A string is.
example:
standard 7
(B)EADG(B)E
Drop Standard
(A)E(A)DGBE

Cool cool tks I'll try that.

 

[JoshuaVonFlash]

I just started played 7's and I usually tune it a whole step down from what my 6th is tuned to.

 

[Bownze]

I just started played 7's and I usually tune it a whole step down from what my 6th is tuned to.

I'll try it, thanks. Seems reasonable...

 

[mongey]

My 6ers are all drop d. I play my 7 mostly in ADADGBE.

 

[Daf57]

Hey Bownze! Congrats, man! I really like this 727 - very cool! You'll get the tuning sorted out don't worry. Enjoy!!

 

[XeoFLCL]

Douglases are amazing for the money, good choice . I still love mine, even if my Ibanez S7 stole it's throne as my go-to guitar (just because the hadron 727 is so freaking heavy), it still has it's own beautiful voice that nothing else seems to be able to imitate . Are these a variation of the Grendel? How are you enjoying it? I heard the first run of those was pretty disasterous.. But after two years I'm sure that's changed. If you plan to get another one in the near future, I'd take a look at the Hadron series as there's a small circle of us here who own them and swear by them (or at least, I do )

Regardless, welcome to the club

 

[Bownze]

. Are these a variation of the Grendel? How are you enjoying it? I heard the first run of those was pretty disasterous.. But after two years I'm sure that's changed.

It is a Grendel. And loving it, BTW, now that I found a tuning I like (GDGCFAD). And yes, in shopping around 7 strings I read a lot of bad stuff about the Grendel 727's, but realized those were old posts and the newer posts around the web were saying how good they were... and I agree! For the money I don't think you can beat it.

Also, the string gauge seems to be a lighter one than the aforementioned Jackson I had way back when, which lends itself to added playability. I remember that Jackson and what felt like a telephone pole guy wire on the low string. Yuck. So a slightly narrower and thinner fretboard and lighter strings make this a very playable axe (compared to my Jackson of yore). Not so hip on the fact it's made in China as I was trying to clear out all the imports (except the RG, it's a good guitar) but it fit my current budget, so I guess I can't have my cake and eat it too in this instance.

 

[Vhyle]

It is a Grendel. And loving it, BTW, now that I found a tuning I like (GDGCFAD). And yes, in shopping around 7 strings I read a lot of bad stuff about the Grendel 727's, but realized those were old posts and the newer posts around the web were saying how good they were... and I agree! For the money I don't think you can beat it.

Very nice, drop G. That's what I play my 7321 in. Unfortunately the string gauge I use is less than desirable for it, but it holds tone and tune pretty well.

 

[jokerpanda]

i would vote for
AbEbAbDbGbBbEb

 

[Vhyle]

i would vote for
AbEbAbDbGbBbEb

Wasn't that the band that did "Dancing Queen"?

 

[Robby the Robot]

This Douglas looks awesome man. Hope you get this tuning situation worked out so you can enjoy how awesome 7s are. Congrats and HNGD.

 

[nicomortem]

nice, I was thinking about getting the purple one, I already have the black one and I love it. And the pickups actually sound great, IMHO

 

[rockskate4x]

xEADGBE
xDGCFAD
xDADGBE
xCGCFAD

BEADGBE or AEADGBE
ADGCFAD or GDGCFAD
ADADGBE (I don't recommend GDADGBE because stacked 5ths GDA are kindof odd to get use to if you are used to normal guitar tunings.
GCGCFAD (I don't recommend FCGCFAD for the same reason).