NGD: Your turn!

[Randy]

I'll do you a favor and post a picture that actually represents the instrument 😆

[bigdave]

Ibanez RGD?

[Randy]

Good guess. You're in the right-ish direction.

[Chris]

Bugera TRIREC INFINIUM 100W 3-Ch Valve Amp Head

[Adam]

Looks like some sort of Dean to me. A rusty cooley sig?

[Phil]

540PSH?

That or a Dean Rusty Cooley.

[Randy]

Yep. Dean RC7 USA model. Bonus points for the pitch black ebony board instead of the one with the crop circles.

[Randy]

[beneharris]

Daang that thing is killer. I'm not usually a graphics guy, but that one gives me a woody every time.

[bigdave]

Shredtastic!!

[Mike]

The Korean ones I played were pretty good, even if the neck was a bit too thin for me. I always thought that finish was cool.

[Budda]

Who else didnt see this one coming

[bigdave]

Now get a old brass slide and use it for your dirty blues project.

[Chris]

[Leah]

Man I would have gotten it too

Congrats! How is it?

[bigdave]

Reminds me of my Giger RG I should have kept.

[Chris]

Now where the fuck is Bones.

[Randy]

The Korean ones I played were pretty good, even if the neck was a bit too thin for me. I always thought that finish was cool.

Yeah, main reason behind getting this was because I've had a number of Ibanez RG7s, I love the thinness of the neck but the last few I've had have AWFUL shoulders. Since I play pretty thin 6s mostly, having a wider neck with shoulders makes it feel super chunky even with a fairly thin neck like a 7X20.

I saw the Rusty was marketed as a "thin flat neck" and figured that might be worth a shot. The MIK was on my list, those actually have a better variety of finish options but with how wildly inconsistent the RG7s I've had have been in neck shape, I was hoping a USA Rusty would be a little more consistent since I'd likely have to buy whatever guitar and hope it's what I was after without getting to try it first.

Congrats! How is it?

Digging it so far.

I need to put my light strings on it, as I'm big on super wide vibrato/bends and the string tension causes the trem to start to dive when you bend past 1 step so you never get a very WIDE bend (unless you blocked it).

Bridge pickup sounds great, neck pickup sounds a little mellow? For the style of guitar this is, I kinda expect the neck pickup to be the "bury the pickup selector to the neck and burn up the fretboard" round, compressed sound but it sounds a little thin. Haven't checked to see what it is, I'd assume a 707 pair or 81-7/707 set, both should be fine but the neck pup height might just need some adjusting. It's good but like "most" of the way there, not exact.

Haven't played with the TRS-7 trem much. Appears to be exactly the same as the 7420 trem, which is meh typically but not bad. My guess is that he wanted a low profile trem and nobody made a Lo Pro Edge equivalent, so this was the next closest thing. Then around 2010 they just switched to the OFR 7 and gave up on having a low profile all together. I haven't decided if I really care that much because I don't use trem on my 7s much anyway and I like the fine tuners being out of the way but if I want to upgrade, the Gotoh 1996t-7 looks like a nice option.

Reminds me of my Giger RG I should have kept.

Yeah, definitely has major Giger vibes. Loved the Ibanez. Dean did an import version of this with an 'etched' top that got even closer to the Giger aesthetic

Now where the fuck is Bones.

It's done, totally assembled, just needs a fret dress. Life, blah. Will get around to it eventually.

[Drew]

Ah cool - that was my first thought looking at the horn, too. How is it? I've never loved EMGs but that's an interesting guitar.

[Randy]

Ah cool - that was my first thought looking at the horn, too. How is it? I've never loved EMGs but that's an interesting guitar.

Played a good bit over the weekend.

Before these, Rusty was playing a Universe and a similarly spec'd LACS, and this is very much based on that. Neck is pretty much exactly Universe/1527 shaped; maybe thinner but if it is, the difference is negligible.

I believe the 707 is EMG 85 based, so it's a medium hot Alnico 5 pickup. I like EMGs but depends a lot on the guitar, these sound a little too chunky in this guitar for my tastes. I'm suspicious the battery might be low so I'll replace that first, I also use lighter gauges than these which could be a factor. I'm open to a pickup swap though, as this checks all the boxes I was after in a 7 string.

[Naren]

I've always liked that guitar, especially the design on the body and the ebony fretboard. Weird how the neck pickup sounds off like that. Wonder what's causing that.

[Randy]

Just got an email from Dean this evening saying that particular guitar was 81-7/707 set, which would explain why the two sound different anyway.

I like the 707s (I've had them on a few guitars) so I dunno, I still think I gotta change the battery tomorrow and change the strings. It just sounds flat, like when you've got your tone rolled off or volume down the first 1/4 way.

[Naren]

I really like the 707 bridge and neck and have owned several guitars with 707s in them, but I've never owned a guitar with an 81-7, though the other guitarist in my old band had an 81-7 in one of his guitars. He used different gauge strings, different EQ, and so on (plus the guitar it was in was for a guitar brand I've never owned a guitar by), so I couldn't really do a good comparison, but I thought it sounded great when he played through it. Hopefully the battery and string change fixes it.

[Chris]

I'm not much of an active pickup guy, but even I like the 707s. They do sound great.

[Drew]

Played a good bit over the weekend.

Before these, Rusty was playing a Universe and a similarly spec'd LACS, and this is very much based on that. Neck is pretty much exactly Universe/1527 shaped; maybe thinner but if it is, the difference is negligible.

I believe the 707 is EMG 85 based, so it's a medium hot Alnico 5 pickup. I like EMGs but depends a lot on the guitar, these sound a little too chunky in this guitar for my tastes. I'm suspicious the battery might be low so I'll replace that first, I also use lighter gauges than these which could be a factor. I'm open to a pickup swap though, as this checks all the boxes I was after in a 7 string.

Cool, that's all interesting to hear. My biggest hesitation with this model has always been the cospetics - I practically play blues, for christ's sake - and the fact that I don't really NEED that kind of upper cutaway. But the UV comparison makes sese.

I've played 707s in a couple guitars, and while they're not for me, I always thought they sounded like bright, really compressed, boosted singlecoils, which is at least kind of interesting. They needed a TON of gain to sound full and thick for rhythm playing I thought though, way more than I usually use.