Please help me to choose a 7-string!

[AreG7]

Hey guys, im about to buy my first sevenstring and have some questions
I'm looking for a guitar with fixed bridge and passive pickups. Price limit is about 1200€. My first question is about the scale-length...i want to play that guitar in standard tuning and also in drop Ab tuning... i know some guys use 25.5 scale guitars for drop Ab tuning but what strings do i need to use? I looked at the thomann-website and the thickest set i found was about .59 for the 7th string...is that enough? i'm just afraid, i'll have problems getting strings or i'll have to use super expencive stuff, just to get the right string gauge...
so can you recommend me some guitars? I have allready searched a bit...the only guitar i have found with a 26.5 scale, which i found intresting was the ibanez rgd2127fx...but it's a bit expensive, and hasn't got good pickups, i also played the 2127z last year, but didn't like it that much....
from the 25.5 scale guitars, i think the esp ltd aw-7 looks nice, has nice pickups and a ebony fretboard without inlays which i like very much
the esp ltd h-1007 seems to be nice too, but i'll have to replace the pickups with some wide-spaced bare knuckles or seymour duncans, which shoud be out soon...
So i hope you can help me a bit bye the way, the guitar should be some kind of a 'fast' guitar, i'm a shredding guy and want also to play some 6-string stuff on that, which i cant on my gibson sg with only 22 frets...and of corse some progressive stuff like dream theater or periphery ('djent' sounds should be possible )
many thanks in advance!

 

[aikupu]

the H 1007 seems like a good option, but you could get a secondhand ESP Horizon for that price. I use .60 gauge on my 7-string ( A E A D G B E) works like a charm.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

This Jackson comes stock with D-Activators and fixed bridge like the AW-7, but has a slightly longer scale length to help with tuning lower. Another option for a fixed bridge 7 with a longer scale would be the RGD7421.

Jackson® Products

For standard tuning, a 10-59 set should be a good starting point. A lot of people use a lot of different gauges for drop Ab, so that's more up to you. I currently use an 11-70 set from Circle K, though in the past, I've used an 11-52 set with a 68 and 11-49 with a 64 both from D'Addario.

 

[Given To Fly]

Good job for jumping into the 7 string pool! I think you will be fine with either a 25.5", 26.5" or 27" scale length guitar. Although the strings may get rather tight at 27" in standard tuning depending on the gauges you use. Two of the best 7 strings I've ever played/owned are 25.5" (Universe, JP7) and I had no complaints nor did anybody else. As for what strings to use, D'Addario should be enough. I apologize, I can't help you with individual gauges because the ones I use now are so whacked out I have kinda forgotten whats normal! lol

I play an 8 string and the reason we obsess over scale length and string gauges is because the manufactures got a lot of things wrong and its been up to the consumer to figure out solutions. Guitar companies have been building good 7 strings for awhile now!

Finally, the used market is your friend when it comes to high end extended range guitars!

 

[TremDestroyer]

Agile Septor or Carvin 747!