Upgrading a cheaper 7 string

OilCityPickups · December 2023

I'd been intending tio get a 7 string for some time: aside from having a good few customer's sevens in the workshop ... plus a few custom builds from various luthiers I supply with pickups ... I just was super curious to see if my old late 70s and 80s metal chops that I'd honed on stage (limited as they are) could be taken to a different place by that magical extra string :-)

Lets face it I just wanted one - other folks were having the fun (often with my pickups) and I wasn't able to join in.

Well not until I bid and won one of these on eBay an Ibanez Geo 7 sub £280 new, this one was new but damaged in transit to a customer from a box shifter ... I paid £150 ... and it just had a cosmetic chip on the back of the lower horn! Result

Image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61GgmAh3EfL._AC_SL1200_.jpg

Anyway, as I always do, I played the bollocks out of it for several weeks to get a good idea of what if anything needed doing.

First impressions: controls feel nice, good resistance. Pickups ... oh dear. Gutless and characterless ... okay with a fuck-tonne of drive, clean ... yuck. As for the coil split two and four positions of the selector ... nice sound, but such a huge volume drop that split is barely usable.

Fingerboard: Purpleheart ... and unlike the pic above ... pretty much black. A bit dry, but smooth and with a nice feel. Neck, chunky, but not unmanage. Fretwork, nicely rounded at the ends ... a bit scratchy on top on the upper frets.

Action ... a bit high for me to be honest ... went to bring it down, but then the adjuster screws bit into my palm muting hand. Oh well, neck shim needed.

And ... who in hell factory set the intonation? the bottom B string was sooooooooo far out it was comical. It sounded awful chording anything above the 5th fret till I got the tuner and screwdriver out!

So I'm amassing a list of jobs. Overall the guitar is pleasant to play and feels like it has a much better guitar inside, waiting to get out!

So first job on the list will be to improve it's playing in tune, so I have a 7 string Earvana nut on order from Feline Guitars.
No point in even considering pickups or electrics till it's sounding 'sweet' and I have the action under control. I may fit some locking tuners as well - there seem not to be any tuning stability issues - but if you are going to do a job I believe in not doing half a job.

Talking about electrics, is it just me or is a tone control on a guitar like this a bit pointless? Well I could turn that tone pot into a progressive coil split to make the split tones nice and juicy whatever pickups are fitted ...

And finally pickups ... and I always believe pickups are the final thing to consider.
The fitted pickups are, as I've said a bit characterless. Bass response is a bit loose and unfocused, but the worst attribute is the bridge pickup's shrill top end clean.... sure you can either cream a little treble off with the tone control or EQ things on the amp, but I prefer to get a basic sound i like on each pickup before effing about.

I will see how the other mods go to see which direction pickup choices will go ...

Watch this space
.

nacnudnai · December 2023

100% on tone knobs for a guitar like this - useless! They inevitably have two settings: normal; and underwater fart. There are much better uses of space for controls. I have an Ibanez FRIX7EAH (typically catchy Ibby names) which has a killswitch instead of a tone knob.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Funkfingers · December 2023

I use tone controls on low tuned instruments - mainly on the neck pickup, through a shedload of gain, for a Hackett "Ripples" sort of sound.

If the pickups are active EMGs, I agree that their Solderless™ tone controls are as redundant as an ashtray on a motorcycle.

FelineGuitars · December 2023

You could swap the tone control for a highpass filter/bass control for times when you want to tame the low end to stop it getting too farty via a boatload of distortion or fuzz (a tube screamer or OD pedal with the gain off is often used with some amps to do just that)

OilCityPickups · December 2023

FelineGuitars said:

You could swap the tone control for a highpass filter/bass control for times when you want to tame the low end to stop it getting too farty via a boatload of distortion or fuzz (a tube screamer or OD pedal with the gain off is often used with some amps to do just that)

Good plan!

OilCityPickups · December 2023

And the Earvana nut arrived from Jonathan @FelineGuitars ... and how beautifully presented and packaged is that?

Now I'm waiting for some time off over Christmas to sort that pesky 7 string intonation out once and for all.

My long term plan is to have all my personal guitars and the Oil City demo fleet converted to Earvana ... they are that much better!

Kittyfrisk · December 2023

^ Get that hung on the tree from now on

Sporky · December 2023

My Caparison doesn't have a tone knob.

As a result it looks weird.

On a 7er I'd be inclined to rewire the second pot as a treble cut. I think it'd be more useful.

OilCityPickups · December 2023

Okay time for that nut to go

You can clearly see the purple of the purpleheart fingerboard ...

Off with the truss rod cover ...

and it's clobbering time ... my maple offcut block has ger-thunked off many a nut in its day.

The Earvana shelf nut is considerably taller than the Ibanez original so I had to trim the base of the nut by nearly 3mm to sit the shelf flush with the fingerboard top. I used a Dremel and a sanding drum ... then trued up the base on some 180 grit double sided taped to the bench.

The secret is to trim a very little and keep checking the fit. Nearly there ...

Then finally plenty of masking up ... super glue borks up finishes like nowt else ...

My favorite Superglue gel ... it won't run everywhere and has some gap filling and elastic properties.

After gluing in place I cut the nut slots to the correct depth, put a 1mm taper shim in the neck pocket and now the height adjuster screws don't bite your hand ...

When I took the neck off I found a pet hate of mine ... the neck screw holes in the body were tight on the neck screws so the screws didn't have a proper clamping action ... sloppy practise or just simply not understanding how screws work! Opened the holes out so now the neck seats much better and tighter.

With the strings back up to pitch I did the intonation ... and bliss ... a beautifully in tune 7 string all the way up the neck. No issues using partial chords up the dusty end, they are perfectly 'in' with the open strings.

Power chords sound immense with no harmonic 'beating' ...

My verdict? If you are confident in using a Dremel/files and sanding block - and are painstaking about getting the right fit ... as easy as fitting any other nut ... otherwise get @FelineGuitars to do the job.

The results as far as sounding properly in tune ... stunning. I mean properly a game changer ... especially on a 7 where playing off between notes and chords high up on the fingerboard and open strings is pretty much what you do. If you take power chords up the dusty end you need one of these nuts!

This job has really shown up how pants the standard tuners are mind ... locking ones next I think. May try the Vanson ones as this is a budget 7 ... will see.

DefaultM · December 2023

For the pickups try Oil City, I've heard they're pretty good.

OilCityPickups · December 2023

DefaultM said:

For the pickups try Oil City, I've heard they're pretty good.

Lol ...
the serious part here is that pickups are the very last thing to do.
Firstly get it playing in tune ... and holding tune. Then address the electrics ... the poncy weak coil splits on this are pretty much unusable.
Pickups will be the very last link. To be fair if I weren't a pickup winder and was strapped for cash ... then I could make do with the existing ones ... not the best ... but certainly not the worst.
The action is now as low as my Jackson or my Les Paul ... which is what I wanted ... and the bloody thing doesn't sound like arse when you play partial chords up past the 15th fret.

When I sort out the tuners ... it'll be gig and recording ready ... the rest is gravy.

FelineGuitars · December 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Okay time for that nut to go

You can clearly see the purple of the purpleheart fingerboard ...

Off with the truss rod cover ...

and it's clobbering time ... my maple offcut block has ger-thunked off many a nut in its day.

The Earvana shelf nut is considerably taller than the Ibanez original so I had to trim the base of the nut by nearly 3mm to sit the shelf flush with the fingerboard top. I used a Dremel and a sanding drum ... then trued up the base on some 180 grit double sided taped to the bench.

The secret is to trim a very little and keep checking the fit. Nearly there ...

Then finally plenty of masking up ... super glue borks up finishes like nowt else ...

My favorite Superglue gel ... it won't run everywhere and has some gap filling and elastic properties.

After gluing in place I cut the nut slots to the correct depth, put a 1mm taper shim in the neck pocket and now the height adjuster screws don't bite your hand ...

When I took the neck off I found a pet hate of mine ... the neck screw holes in the body were tight on the neck screws so the screws didn't have a proper clamping action ... sloppy practise or just simply not understanding how screws work! Opened the holes out so now the neck seats much better and tighter.

With the strings back up to pitch I did the intonation ... and bliss ... a beautifully in tune 7 string all the way up the neck. No issues using partial chords up the dusty end, they are perfectly 'in' with the open strings.

Power chords sound immense with no harmonic 'beating' ...

My verdict? If you are confident in using a Dremel/files and sanding block - and are painstaking about getting the right fit ... as easy as fitting any other nut ... otherwise get @FelineGuitars to do the job.

The results as far as sounding properly in tune ... stunning. I mean properly a game changer ... especially on a 7 where playing off between notes and chords high up on the fingerboard and open strings is pretty much what you do. If you take power chords up the dusty end you need one of these nuts!

This job has really shown up how pants the standard tuners are mind ... locking ones next I think. May try the Vanson ones as this is a budget 7 ... will see.

Nice work Ash.

The Earvana was a gamechanger for me when I discovered them some 24 years ago

100% agree with getting the guitar working great acoustically first and then tinker with pickup choices

Sporky · December 2023

Nice work!

I vote for adding a 7-string Sustainiac.

Funkfingers · December 2023

Blackbirds, with clear bobbins, and different coloured copper wire coating for each coil. THINK: Jason Becker's "numbers" guitar.

jasonbone75 · December 2023

I've fitted these a few times and have had positive experience with tuners and company: https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_096.htm

I'm confident from photos and specs that they and the Vansons are made in the same factory and are the same product.

I have them on Ibanez and PRS SE guitars with both standard and reversed headstocks. All perform well.

OilCityPickups · December 2023

jasonbone75 said:

I've fitted these a few times and have had positive experience with tuners and company: https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_096.htm

I'm confident from photos and specs that they and the Vansons are made in the same factory and are the same product.

I have them on Ibanez and PRS SE guitars with both standard and reversed headstocks. All perform well.

And ordered .... next bit of the thinking cap is dedicated to that totally pointless tone control.

Sporky · December 2023

How about a TBX style thing?

Bass cut is enormously useful.

OilCityPickups · December 2023

So the next step ....

It's hardly worth showing me actually fitting the Axetec 7 string tuners it was such a doddle ... mounting holes lined up perfectly and they have a really positive, quality feel about them. I mean £40 ... insane value.

You can see how dark the fingerboard has gone from the 'black Dubbin' treatment.

So thinking 'None more black I decided to try out and review these

The only problem is when you get a short sighted old git re-stringing a black guitar, with black tuners, a black bridge and black fingerboard .... with BLACK STRINGS!

The Missus was widdling herself laughing at my efforts .... humph!

Anyway first impression is they sound, look and feel great ... not a hint of dullness from the coating.

So on to electrics next ....

jasonbone75 · December 2023

This is.coming along nicely!! Pleased that you are happy with the tuners - they really are great value.

OilCityPickups · December 2023

jasonbone75 said:

This is.coming along nicely!! Pleased that you are happy with the tuners - they really are great value.

They are really brilliant!

jasonbone75 · December 2023

Did you cut the slots to match the Ibanez radius? I'm thinking the earvana nut is 12" off the shelf and the Ibanez probably 17". Cutting the slots to depth relative to the first fret even by eye or with gauges should match things up.

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Upgrading a cheaper 7 string

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