Thinking about a 7 string

[Holy-diver]

I’ve gone through basically all 7s including a few pricier ones (Mayones, Jackson USA and EBMM) and my favorites have been the ones I kept which all fit your budget. I do prefer the 26.5 scale as well.

Schecter: my experience with the km-7 has been pretty inconsistent but if you find a good one they’re pretty unbeatable. The Loomis series guitars I owned have all been excellent.
OG Loomis 7
OG Km-7
Loomis Cygnus 7 ht
Km-7 mk iii

Jackson: these have honestly been very consistent quality.
Loomis SL-7
New version of Dave Davidson wr-7

PRS: also been extremely consistent ime.
Mark Holcomb 7

 

[sandman]

I’ve gone through basically all 7s including a few pricier ones (Mayones, Jackson USA and EBMM) and my favorites have been the ones I kept which all fit your budget. I do prefer the 26.5 scale as well.

Schecter: my experience with the km-7 has been pretty inconsistent but if you find a good one they’re pretty unbeatable. The Loomis series guitars I owned have all been excellent.
OG Loomis 7
OG Km-7
Loomis Cygnus 7 ht
Km-7 mk iii

Jackson: these have honestly been very consistent quality.
Loomis SL-7
New version of Dave Davidson wr-7

PRS: also been extremely consistent ime.
Mark Holcomb 7

What are your thoughts on multiscale models? How they feel and play etc…

 

[Holy-diver]

What are your thoughts on multiscale models? How they feel and play etc…

I owned a few multiscale Kiesels that I didn’t like at all, kiesel in general is mid guitars though. I played a few schecters in guitar center that felt pretty good and it was a fairly easy adjustment, not enough for me to buy one though. I think it was the reaper and omen 7s I tried

 

[Omnipotent1]

What are your thoughts on multiscale models? How they feel and play etc…

Gross

 

[Omnipotent1]

Lol ill keep it real I’ve tried numerous 7 strings over the past couple months as I’ve been down the rabbit hole as well.. I just returned my most recent Ibanez iron label Iceman because I found an old K7 from the early 2000s which plays unlike any 7 string I’ve touched… I mean I IMMEDIATELY returned the other (which I thought was decent) if you have the opportunity to find something MIJ from the early 2000s you might want to give it a go back to back with something modern.. you may be pleasantly surprised…& your wallet will be as well.. good guitars age like fine wine.. when I touch some of these new pieces it just makes me say “you have a long way to go young blood” …. + a lot of shit post Covid is just absolute crap…. Not all but most.. we officially live in the days where we can say “they don’t make em like they used to”

 

[midnightlaundry]

MS's are okay. You get the normal tension highs with heavier tension lows.
The angled Frets FTMP are no big deal, but you're pretty much married to the Pickups they come with. You may find replacements, but probably at a premium and then you'll just prefer a regular scale anyways.
If you need to scratch that itch then get one, but I'd get a regular scale first.

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

You really can't go wrong with any of those in the OP, imo. As long as the serial number starts with a W (For World Music if Korean or PT if Indonesian) or IC (Cort/Cor-tek Indonesia) they're all going to be within margin of error QC/build wise. The rest is just features you like/want and $. Another to throw out there are Ormsby guitars.

What are your thoughts on multiscale models? How they feel and play etc…

All but one of my ERGs are multiscale for a reason (AMA, have over 30 of them) Active mounted pickups are easy to find replacements for. Open coil you can usually just swap the baseplates, as there aren't a lot of options that are always compatible since there is no industry standard for angle. The main thing you want to take into consideration (especially if ordering online) is where the neutral/parallel fret is located, what tuning(s), and where your focus of play is on the fingerboard. The most versatile will have the neutral/parallel fret around the 7-9, shredders will have it as close to the nut as possible, but are rare. A few other factors, but personally recommend them for anyone in the long run.

 

[Dan Gleesak]

I caught the 7 string bug a couple years ago and now they are my go tos.
My first was an LTD Buz-7 and next came a Strandberg Prog NX7.
Prefer the Strandberg but would be happy with just the Buz as well.

The one thing I don’t like about the Buz, which would be my only piece of advice, is that there are not many “soapbar” or “active mount” options out there for pickups. So if you are a serial swapper like me, maybe stick to something with regular humbucker sized pickups

 

[Dan Gleesak]

What are your thoughts on multiscale models? How they feel and play etc…

I think if you want the low strings sounding tight as possible, a multiscale will give you a slight edge.
But I can’t say I notice a big difference between the two as far as playability

 

[WizardAmpIphoneClip]

Let me tell you Holmes, get a body style you're used to when going 7. An odd shape will throw you off a bit