Suggestions for buying a 7-string guitar and other equipment

H

horacexgrant

New Metal Member
Jul 19, 2008
24
0
1
Hi guys,

First of all, I'm wondering what's an affordable ($500 or less) 7 string guitar that plays great, etc. I'm looking to get the heaviness of the 7 string, BUT I also need it to shred well on the higher strings. I tend to favor Ibanez guitars because of the easier shred ability, but honestly, the only guitars I've had were Fenders and Ibanezes.

Also, I currently have a RG220 Ibanez with scalloped neck that shreds decently on a Crate amp. With an effects pedal, i get a nice metal, shreddy tone that resembles some of the pros. But, I'm still looking for the perfect tone/easy to shred guitar/amp combo that is still somewhat affordable. Basically, I want a Petrucci/Romeo/prog guitarist tone that shreds really easily whether it be due to the neck, or whatever. And other than my effects pedal method, I'm not sure which guitar/amp combo can achieve a pro tone.

And finally, any recommendations for an affordable wah wah pedal brand/model?

Thanks to anyone that's cool enough to help me out
 
I don't have much experience with a Schecter, but I have heard good things about them. I am currently using an Ibanez RG1527 and I love it! Although, it is a little expensive.
 
Well, my first (and most obvious) reccomendation would be to just wait a bit longer so you can save up more money and get something nicer. That said, for mid-range seven strings, I'll third the Schecter stuff. Not my personal cup of tea at all, but for a good, reasonably-priced metal guitar they are solid. I'd reccomend seeing what you can find on the used market, where you'll have a lot more options in a lower price range.

As for amps...I cringe whenever people start talking about getting a tone that's "easy to shred on". 99.9% of the time, that equates to flat, overcompressed, gained out tone that bedroom players use in lieu of developing good technique (not to accuse of you personally of anything...it's just an observation that I think most people would agree with me on). You can find that kind of sound very easily in something like a Pod or most modeling amps. You can get some good (or at least useable) tones out of them too...and to be honest I'm more inclined to reccomend something like a Pod X3 live to run into your amp...it's probably the cheapest option for you in lieu of overhauling your gear entirely and if your vision of having a "pro tone" is equivalent to something that is "easy to shred on", then a Pod will do it for you just fine. Without really going into it, you'll find that those two descriptions are hardly one-in-the same.

Really, though, what you should be doing is going out and trying a bunch of amps yourself and finding what works for you.

As for a good wah, a crybaby with a couple of modifications is a good bang for your buck.
 
noble savage said:
I don't have much experience with a Schecter, but I have heard good things about them. I am currently using an Ibanez RG1527 and I love it! Although, it is a little expensive.
Click to expand...

Me too. It's top notch at $900.

Amps... pro tone? Get a pro amp. Do not skimp. There are no shortcuts. If you have a badass amp, you shouldn't need much in the way of effects.
 
Meedleyx10 said:
Well, my first (and most obvious) reccomendation would be to just wait a bit longer so you can save up more money and get something nicer. That said, for mid-range seven strings, I'll third the Schecter stuff. Not my personal cup of tea at all, but for a good, reasonably-priced metal guitar they are solid. I'd reccomend seeing what you can find on the used market, where you'll have a lot more options in a lower price range.

As for amps...I cringe whenever people start talking about getting a tone that's "easy to shred on". 99.9% of the time, that equates to flat, overcompressed, gained out tone that bedroom players use in lieu of developing good technique (not to accuse of you personally of anything...it's just an observation that I think most people would agree with me on). You can find that kind of sound very easily in something like a Pod or most modeling amps. You can get some good (or at least useable) tones out of them too...and to be honest I'm more inclined to reccomend something like a Pod X3 live to run into your amp...it's probably the cheapest option for you in lieu of overhauling your gear entirely and if your vision of having a "pro tone" is equivalent to something that is "easy to shred on", then a Pod will do it for you just fine. Without really going into it, you'll find that those two descriptions are hardly one-in-the same.

Really, though, what you should be doing is going out and trying a bunch of amps yourself and finding what works for you.

As for a good wah, a crybaby with a couple of modifications is a good bang for your buck.
Click to expand...

well, by "easy to shred", I dont mean one of those high gain 80s metal tones. i want a Petrucci or Romeo, etc. tone. but the guitar/amp/whatever needs to allow me to shred nicely and cleanly. One of my biggest questions in life is how my friend's almost exact Ibanez RG220 compared to mine, shreds alot cleaner and better than my Ibanez RG220.
 
anacrucix said:
I've always been a jackson / ibanez boy and then i discovered schecters. whoaaaaaaa. definitely look at a schecter 7 string!
Click to expand...

what's a good model for a Schecter? I'll even bump up my budget to $800 or so, since I just won a lot at the San Manuel Casino today.

thanks again
 
And also, how does the Ibanez RG7321 (around $379.99) compare to the more expensive RG1527 (around 1000+)? or even the RG7620 (689.99)?
 
horacexgrant said:
well, by "easy to shred", I dont mean one of those high gain 80s metal tones. i want a Petrucci or Romeo, etc. tone. but the guitar/amp/whatever needs to allow me to shred nicely and cleanly. One of my biggest questions in life is how my friend's almost exact Ibanez RG220 compared to mine, shreds alot cleaner and better than my Ibanez RG220.
Click to expand...

It's not the amp or even the guitar that's going to make your shredding sound nice and clean, it's your technique. There's no other way about it. I think you'd be quite shocked if you were to play through the rig of any particular "pro" player you like. Again, if you want a tone that's "easy to shred" on, buy a pod and run that through your current amp. If you want a "pro" tone, make sure your playing it in order first then, as Ken already said, buy a "pro" amp and don't skimp. There are many options out there in a lot of different price ranges. You don't sound very experienced with gear, so I really reccomend doing a lot of research and actually trying amps out yourself. Judging an amp based on another players use of it on a professional recording is not a good or accurate way to guage how it'll sound for you. Nonetheless, Petrucci and Romeo have both used a pretty wide variety of gear and they have both had tones ranging from terrible to incredible...so if you want specific amp reccomendations you'll have to be more specific. What eras/albums/songs are you using as a reference point?
 
horacexgrant said:
And also, how does the Ibanez RG7321 (around $379.99) compare to the more expensive RG1527 (around 1000+)? or even the RG7620 (689.99)?
Click to expand...

Aside from the obvious differences (fixed bridge vs. floating trem, neck shapes, pickups, and materials), the build quality is going to notably different. The RG7321 can be a great guitar if you get lucky and don't mind upgrading the pickups (and probably the tuning machines and nut). The quality control on lower-end Ibanez guitars is questionable at best. The prestige models are a bit better in that respect (I'd still reccomend a pickup change though). The majority of that decision should be based on whether you want a trem or a fixed bridge.
 
Meedleyx10 said:
It's not the amp or even the guitar that's going to make your shredding sound nice and clean, it's your technique. There's no other way about it. I think you'd be quite shocked if you were to play through the rig of any particular "pro" player you like. Again, if you want a tone that's "easy to shred" on, buy a pod and run that through your current amp. If you want a "pro" tone, make sure your playing it in order first then, as Ken already said, buy a "pro" amp and don't skimp. There are many options out there in a lot of different price ranges. You don't sound very experienced with gear, so I really reccomend doing a lot of research and actually trying amps out yourself. Judging an amp based on another players use of it on a professional recording is not a good or accurate way to guage how it'll sound for you. Nonetheless, Petrucci and Romeo have both used a pretty wide variety of gear and they have both had tones ranging from terrible to incredible...so if you want specific amp reccomendations you'll have to be more specific. What eras/albums/songs are you using as a reference point?
Click to expand...

well, what is an example of a "pro" amp? trying out all the crappy amps at stores like Guitar Center or Sam Ash is a drag, and most of them suck for the most part. at times, I'll like a Line 6 amp, etc, but I'm just not sure. and my technique is fine, because like I said earlier, my friend's almost exact guitar to mine plays much easier and firmer, and I get much cleaner and faster playing. So that boggles my mind, given that I tried to build a guitar to be just like his, and yet playing on my own guitar feels "softer" and not as firm, thus causing sloppier playing
 
Maybe he just has heavier strings on his guitar. I'm hoping you are at least aware that strings come in different guages. The RG220 isn't exactly much of a quality instrument, so it's completely possible that his was one of the lucky ones that plays half-decent. The quality control on those lower end ibanezes is beyond terrible. Either way, the point still stands that clean/fast playing comes from the player, not the guitar.

No offense, but if you can't find a good amp at Guitar Center or Sam Ash, I have to assume that it's due to user error, and you admittedly don't know a lot about amps so that's the assumption I'm going with. From your descriptions of what you want ("easy to shred", and the mention of getting "pro tone" with a crate/effects pedal), you're honestly probably going to get along with some sort of Line 6 or other low-end modeling amp the best.

Guitar centers (though I loathe the chain) almost all have decent stock of mid-range to high-end fender, marshall, mesa boogie, egnator, bogner (only the lower end stuff there), and now even Fryette (formerly VHT) amps in stock, amongst others. You could probably even find jems in the used section from time to time. Check out smaller stores too, you never know what you'll find. For Petrucci tones, his Mark series lead tones are his most coveted, so try to find a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, V, or Triaxis to try out. Those amps are great for metal. He's used the Mesa boogie Road King extensively as well...I don't like them as much but a lot of metal guys do, so check those out. You could approximate a good Michael Romeo tone out of the Mesa boogie stuff too. Also check out the Marshall stuff for his kind of tone. Fender amps with a good overdrive pedal in front of them can get great heavy tones. The egnator stuff is all great, and if you can find any of the Peavey 5150 or 5150 II amps (or the JSX), those are good too. Just try everything, but understand that if you can't find a good metal sound or a "pro tone" out of any of the aforementioned amps, it is not the amp's fault.
 
The absolute cheapest route to a good pro sounding tone is getting a cheap tube amp and putting a boost in front of it.
Something like this:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-ValveKing-112-Combo-Amp?sku=481442
With something like this:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/...mer-Effects-Pedal-Original-Reissue?sku=150284

You will get you a good amount of gain and let you get that shred kinda sound. schenkadere here on the forums advised me in doing this (and hes awesome by the way). I got a Peavey Prowler on ebay for $268, switched out the tubes on it for $80, and got a Ibanez TS9 for $40 local. Its a great great tone for very little $$$.

As for guitars, you just gotta watch ebay a lot. I watched ebay for days and days until I found my guitar. I got a Jap Ibanez for $350. Fixed it up and gave it the best setup of its life and now it screams. Not sure about 7 strings though.. they maybe more expensive cause they're less common compared to the 550s and 570s.
 
horacexgrant said:
well, what is an example of a "pro" amp? trying out all the crappy amps at stores like Guitar Center or Sam Ash is a drag, and most of them suck for the most part. at times, I'll like a Line 6 amp, etc, but I'm just not sure. and my technique is fine, because like I said earlier, my friend's almost exact guitar to mine plays much easier and firmer, and I get much cleaner and faster playing. So that boggles my mind, given that I tried to build a guitar to be just like his, and yet playing on my own guitar feels "softer" and not as firm, thus causing sloppier playing
Click to expand...
the 1527 is a quality guitar. you can leave it in the case for months, in changing climate, and pull that sucker out in perfect tune. it's just better.

as for amps... line 6 isn't exactly professional imo. not a global statement, but for the most part you'll be sacrificing tone for budget. get a REAL tube amp. and don't get a mesa unless you plan on going distortion 24/7
 
Meedleyx10 said:
Maybe he just has heavier strings on his guitar. I'm hoping you are at least aware that strings come in different guages. The RG220 isn't exactly much of a quality instrument, so it's completely possible that his was one of the lucky ones that plays half-decent. The quality control on those lower end ibanezes is beyond terrible. Either way, the point still stands that clean/fast playing comes from the player, not the guitar.

No offense, but if you can't find a good amp at Guitar Center or Sam Ash, I have to assume that it's due to user error, and you admittedly don't know a lot about amps so that's the assumption I'm going with. From your descriptions of what you want ("easy to shred", and the mention of getting "pro tone" with a crate/effects pedal), you're honestly probably going to get along with some sort of Line 6 or other low-end modeling amp the best.

Guitar centers (though I loathe the chain) almost all have decent stock of mid-range to high-end fender, marshall, mesa boogie, egnator, bogner (only the lower end stuff there), and now even Fryette (formerly VHT) amps in stock, amongst others. You could probably even find jems in the used section from time to time. Check out smaller stores too, you never know what you'll find. For Petrucci tones, his Mark series lead tones are his most coveted, so try to find a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, V, or Triaxis to try out. Those amps are great for metal. He's used the Mesa boogie Road King extensively as well...I don't like them as much but a lot of metal guys do, so check those out. You could approximate a good Michael Romeo tone out of the Mesa boogie stuff too. Also check out the Marshall stuff for his kind of tone. Fender amps with a good overdrive pedal in front of them can get great heavy tones. The egnator stuff is all great, and if you can find any of the Peavey 5150 or 5150 II amps (or the JSX), those are good too. Just try everything, but understand that if you can't find a good metal sound or a "pro tone" out of any of the aforementioned amps, it is not the amp's fault.
Click to expand...

lmao. please don't condescend upon me by asking me if I know there are different string gauges. i will kindly ask you to quit giving me "advice", which is a good thing for you, since you can now work on your guitar skills. Just because I used some simple, descriptive vocabulary doesn't mean i'm ignorant. I was just trying to give a general layman's terms description so that more people can understand. I WAS being humble, but honestly, even with my lack of knowledge on equipment and gear, I am a very good progressive metal guitar player and I have made several of my own tracks. And no, they're not wannabe or noobish. well, at least thanks for the latter part of your post. i'll keep those in mind
 
Hey man, although not ALWAYS the case, with audio hardware you get what you pay for. So generally speaking (again not ALWAYS) there's a big difference between what $500 will get you and what $1000 will get you, and in the end, you'll be happier spending $1000 once than $500 to be disappointed and much more to make it sound as good as the initial investment you could have made instead.
 
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