Mid Price Ibanez 7-string with stock pups....I hate myself...dirty dirty

[Josh Burgess]

Horrible pickups or not, I find even low end Ibanez guitars like this to play a hell of a lot better than most Schecter/ESP/Gibson/etc. guitars...

 

[Robert W]

Horrible pickups or not, I find even low end Ibanez guitars like this to play a hell of a lot better than most Schecter/ESP/Gibson/etc. guitars...

I played an Ibby 7321 side by side w/ a Schecter Omen-7, and while the Ibby had a nicer feel to its neck, the Schecter had better overall quality control, imo.

I've never played a 7421, but, judging from the comments left, it seems like a very good guitar for the money.

 

[Robert W]

Agreed. I tried a Schecter 7 for the first time the other day, couldn't cope with the 26.5 scale. Doesn't 'agree' with me as far as pinch harmonics go. Plus the neck was chunky as hell. Ibanez has always been the way for me, though I am tempted to PX my 7321 for an LTD 7 one day as they come EMG equipped, and I'm not one of those jazz fusion types who needs some fancy Dimarzios.

I ditched my Schecter Hellraiser for an Agile 828 w/ a 28.6" scale length. Speaking from personal experience, I think the longer scales really do sound better for lower tunings.

 

[NeglectedField]

Mine's a 7321. It needs a proper setup but I can't be arsed to fork out for one (or something to replace the wimpy Dimarzio Evolution) as I don't play it a great deal these days.

Ibanez is very dedicated to putting horrible pickups in guitars. With few exceptions this has been my experience. This is why I advise people that want an Ibby to look for a used one. That way you have left over cash to put whatever pups you want in it.

Or get a cheaper one, also resulting in leftover cash Cheap Ibanezes (i.e. non-Prestige but not Gio) aren't as terrible as you think. Quality control is inconsistent but I tend to buy mine from the store so I can inspect them for obvious flaws. Usually it's the pots and jack that will go dodgy after a while, but they can be replaced cheaply. The floating trems are also shit, but if you're blocking them off it's not so much of an issue. I'll always consider modding an Ibanez when I decide it's time for a new guitar as they just 'agree' with me more than any other brand I've tried. It's more for the sound than the feel that I consider ESPs and the like.

I ditched my Schecter Hellraiser for an Agile 828 w/ a 28.6" scale length. Speaking from personal experience, I think the longer scales really do sound better for lower tunings.

Of course, I can imagine a more piano-like clarity and less of a need to hunt around for absurdly high string gauges, but anything longer than 25.5 just feels...wrong...to me.