I love a good guitar. Truth be told, I love a bad guitar too. I just love guitars. This infatuation often has me looking into guitars I don’t have, yet want. Those lists—have-nots and wants—are massive. There are so many options to consider when looking at different guitars. Wood type, body shape, pickup type/configuration, fretboard material, bridge type and a whole lot more. What I’ve been looking into lately though—purely for my own entertainment—is the number of strings on an electric guitar. That is currently the one thing all of my guitars have in common. They’re all six string guitars (until a string breaks). So I’ve been looking into seven string guitars.
There are so many to choose from and many of them are damn affordable. Care to see which models I like the most? Yes? Well read on. Or just look at the picture at the end of this article. Either way …
The DKA7 is from the awesome looking Jackson Dinky range and is one sexy white guitar. I love the fretboard inlays, the black hardware and the momentary kill switch. The guitar has a set-through neck and Dimarzio D Activator 7 pickups set right into the guitar body without pickup covers. Just beautiful. Incredibly clean. #want
Epiphone Matt Heafy Les Paul Custom-7
A seven string Les Paul. What’s not to love?! A totally black guitar. Same question really … What’s not to love?! This is also a set neck guitar and the pickups are the EMG 707 in the neck and the EMG 81-7 in the bridge (both active). As usual with a Les Paul, you get individual volume and tone controls for each pickup. The tone control for the neck pickup is also a kill pot. Sensing a pattern yet? #want
I love the look of Ibanez guitars. They have one of the sexiest headstocks going. Add an extra string and it looks almost the same. Great design at work there. The RG7421 is similar indesign to the Jackson, but with a rosewood fretboard. The pickup configuration is also different with a five-way pickup switch instead of the standard three-way switch found on most twin humbucker guitars. #want
I’m of the opinion that nobody does string-through-body design like Schecter. I have the Omen 6 and I love the string-through-body design of that guitar. Somehow Schecter added another string and still made the design work. the Schecter is probably the most basic of the seven string guitars I like the look of. Three-way pickup switch, standard Schecter pickups and a bolt-on neck. But that’s not an observation meant to imply it’s a lesser guitar. I’d be proud as punch to own this guitar. Who knows. It may happen. #want
There you have it. Four different seven string guitars that I’d be happy to call my own. Got one? What do you think? Got another make/model? I’d love to know what you’d choose if buying a new seven string electric guitar. Feel free to comment. Or don’t. No biggy.
Did a test myself as I fancied the Ibanez RGIX27FEQM. Lovely guitar but no tone control so quite restricted. Beautiful as ever from Ibanez.
The PRS SE Custom and Chapman ML7 were used to compare and out of all three I was most enamoured by the PRS.
The one I really fancy owning is the Ibanez SIX27FDBG but it’s not available in the UK 🙁
They are all mighty fine looking guitars. I love the PRS 7-string concept. It appeals to me for the same reasons as the Matt Heafy Epiphone model does. Add a string to an already beautiful guitar … win.