NGD: LTD SC-207 (blackouts inside)

[Silence2-38554]

I picked up this LTD a couple weeks ago but the stock pickups were atrocious & it desperately needed a good setup so I delayed the NGD 'till it was ready to be unveiled!

Freshly polished frets/oiled fretboard. I'm loving not having inlays!

The painted neck received a steel wool treatment:

My first set of Blackouts. Quite possibly my new favorite pickup!

This was interesting.... As far as I can tell, nothing short of a design flaw left the strings bending over the back side of the bridge before the saddles on most of the strings. To correct this, I took a small file to the bridge & routed out the proper notches for the strings pass through. The intonation also set up perfectly in drop A tuning with 11-60 strings:

A pic with the rig! Also, the DiMarzio strap came in just about an hour before snapping these:

My only gripe with this guitar is it's bolt on neck construction. But 'ya know what? When i'm playing it, I don't care. It plays absolutely awesome. Also, being primarily an Ibanez guy, this is my first ESP/LTD guitar. For it's price range, the quality of both materials and craftsmanship on this guitar FAR exceeds what I have had from Ibby. This guitar, like almost all of my Ibby's, has a basswood body. I don't know if they simply have a different wood supplier, but this is the ONLY used basswood guitar I have ever bought that doesn't have ONE stripped screw hole in it! Everything is just SOLID! The bridge needing to be filed down was a little strange but other than that, it's a pretty legit guitar. I would like to swap out the bright chrome knobs eventually & was planning on getting new locking tuners but really, the stock tuners aren't half bad! I think I'll be swapping out the nut for something harder eventually as well. Enjoy!

 

[thefool]

very cool and looks like it sounds and plays awesome

 

[Kamikaze7]

Sweet deal man. Congrats on the NGD, and for owning your first ESP! I myself was an avid Ibanez guy as well until I got my first ESP - an older LTD SC-500 in the see-thru green...). After selling it like a fool, I wound up finding an M107 that has changed my tastes for guitars all together. That guitar that has done it is now know as my "Green Meanie" Kamikaze-4 7-string.

But getting back to the SC-207 - I also have one of these and love it just as much as Green Meanie. I - like you - swapped out the stock junk pickups and put in a set of the trusty 707's while I waited to get mt 707TW's and other parts. Needless to say, I now have a replica of Stephen's original 7-string from 2000, based off an SC-207. Granted, mine has a much larger twist to it. Details of what I did with mine can be seen here - http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...pd-emg-sa-7-7-string-single-coil-finally.html The only issue I forsee is where you filed the bridge - you may develop a burr in those spots and may start snapping strings as a result. Most guitars that have a tune-o-matic/string-thru like this, it's normal for the strings to bend on the bridge before the saddles. But very interesting to see. Keep me updated on the status with that and how it works out for ya as I'm interested...

So needless to say, I love my SC-207 to death, just as much as the rest of my guitars (except the white one at the moment, but that's another story...). Good luck with it and again, happy NGD!

 

[t_phong]

Congrats!!! that string-through bridge make me shock man haha, did it happen with another one or it just happen on this one?
How do you compare this with and Ibby Rg7321? i noticed that the nut-width on this thing is a bit longer than my Ibby,and the fretbroad radius also? thanks.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Congrats!!! that string-through bridge make me shock man haha, did it happen with another one or it just happen on this one?
How do you compare this with and Ibby Rg7321? i noticed that the nut-width on this thing is a bit longer than my Ibby,and the fretbroad radius also? thanks.

I myself have found that the fingerboard radius is about the same as the Ibanez RG7321, and the nut width is the same 48mm or 1 7/8" as the Ibanez. I've had several RG7X21's and I find that they all play and feel different from one guitar to the next. The ESP/LTD's have a very consistent and comfortable feel and playability. Just my thoughts on it as I know some like the Ibanez over the ESP/LTD, but everyone has thier own tastes...

 

[jordanky]

I'm stoked to see this! We have an SC-208 coming in and I'm really excited now!

 

[Silence2-38554]

I've only played one 7321 & decided I liked the LTD neck more than the ibby neck. I'm also not a huge fan of RG body styles anymore. As far as the bridge filing, I made sure to file each slot down far enough so that there is a good amount of space between the string & filed area when under tension. That high E was driving me crazy because I had to keep filing/checking over & over but finally I got it under tension with room to spare. I'm not worried about snapping strings at all & in fact, would have been more so had I not filed the bridge. Normally with TOM style bridges you can adjust the tailpiece height to avoid such a situation. Since these guitars are string-throughs, that adjustment doesn't exist so I just figured I'd compensate.

I'm also loving the steel wool'd neck! To anyone that has a glossy, painted neck on a relatively inexpensive guitar, I HIGHLY recommend giving this a try with 0000 steel wool!!

 

[Papaoneil]

I'm stoked to see this! We have an SC-208 coming in and I'm really excited now!

i hope you get it man

 

[Jesusisonlsd]

Will the 707s or phase 2 blackouts fit right in or is there routing needed?

 

[maximummetal288]

Congrats, ESP/LTD makes some amazing guitars!

I've got 2 607's, a sunburst and a black baritone and the strings do the same thing on the tune-o-matic. The strings aren't plucked on the other side of the tun-o-matic so I've never noticed it to be a problem in any way. Does it play differently after you filed it?

 

[Silence2-38554]

Yes, the phase 2 blackouts/707's drop right in. However, I am very curious to see what the stock pickups would sound like with the blackout preamp that's coming out!

As for the bridge, I'm just used to adjusting the TOM tailpiece so that there's no contact before the actual saddle. Whether this affects intonation, sustain, string life, etc. I have no idea. All I know it that it seems/feels/looks more "correct" and I would do it again if I got another one of these guitars!

Next mod to this puppy is going to be the nut. Graphtech tusq is what I'm looking at. Can anyone vouch for them fitting ESP necks?

 

[Lukifer]

Sweet guitar!! I have always loved the SCs!!! How does the middle pickups sound? I always wondered why he went with that and not a neck pickup.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Yes, the phase 2 blackouts/707's drop right in. However, I am very curious to see what the stock pickups would sound like with the blackout preamp that's coming out!

As for the bridge, I'm just used to adjusting the TOM tailpiece so that there's no contact before the actual saddle. Whether this affects intonation, sustain, string life, etc. I have no idea. All I know it that it seems/feels/looks more "correct" and I would do it again if I got another one of these guitars!

Next mod to this puppy is going to be the nut. Graphtech tusq is what I'm looking at. Can anyone vouch for them fitting ESP necks?

I can say first hand as I've replaced the nut on mine with the GraphTech nut. As long as you order the one for the Carvin 7-string, it's a direct fit for the ESP 7's. You may get just a pube going over on each side, but it's not enough to be uncomfortable or be a problem. These are so much better than the factory plastic nuts that grind out so damn quick...

Sweet guitar!! I have always loved the SCs!!! How does the middle pickups sound? I always wondered why he went with that and not a neck pickup.

The middle pickup sounds pretty much like a neck pickup does, especially if you use something specific like the Blackouts or the TW-series EMG's which are position specific. If you remember correctly, ESP DID make him the first 7-string back in 2000, with his original 3-pickup configuration. See the pic attached... Once he made the switch to the EMG's, he only had the bridge and middle humbuckers as EMG hadn't come out with the 7-string single coil - the SA7 - until this year. That is why the SC7's never had the original 3-pickup configuration, only the original from 2000 which was only made for 1 year, and is one of the hardest ESP guitars - let alone ESP 7-strings - to find.

 

[Randy]

I've got one of those too... I agree, the quality of the construction DESTROYED anything else I've played in that price range; out of the box.

 

[Lukifer]

Thanks for the lesson man! I never knew that and they are totally badass looking. So many tonal possibilities with the 3 pup config! Why do I always get happy with a guitar and find one that blows it out of the water like this!!!

 

[Kamikaze7]

Thanks for the lesson man! I never knew that and they are totally badass looking. So many tonal possibilities with the 3 pup config! Why do I always get happy with a guitar and find one that blows it out of the water like this!!!

No problem. I actually turned my SC-207 into the Y2K SRC7 replica using the EMG's. Using the 707TW's ans the SA-7, with a 5-way switch and 2 mini-toggle switches for the coil-taps gives me 12 different tones out of it. The fun to be had is quite unique and very flavorful.

If you go to my very first reply in this thread, you'll see the link for the "NPD: EMG SA-7" that I did... Check it out so you can see that the 3 pickup configuration IS do-able with these newer SC7's...

As for finding guitar that blow others out of the water after settling on one, that will always happen. Then if you go mod-crazy like I do, you can get even more tones, a one-of-a-kind look and more for a huge fraction less than getting a Custom Shop one...

 

[Lukifer]

Yeah I've thought about putting auto stripeing as a do it yourself body binding and put white pickups in it. But we will see. If I are a sc up for sale I may have to cave in!!

 

[hypermagic]

Sick score broheim, neato trick you pulled with the bridge.