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King Loudness « Good 7 on a budget »
Published on 09/06/11 at 19:23The Ibanez RG7321 is a guitar that is built for the player who wants get into owning a good quality seven that feels and sounds like the higher end Ibanez RG guitars, but doesn't cost nearly the same as the Prestige models like the RG1527. It's built overseas and features a basswood body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 24 frets with dot inlays, sealed tuners, a hardtail bridge and a pair of dual Ibanez humbuckers. It's basically a seven string version of their popular RG321 six string guitar.
UTILIZATION
The design is basically that of a classic Ibanez RG but in a seven string format. It's quite light and sculpted like all Ibanez RGs and the neck has a thin Wizard profile that is perfect for fans of the classic Ibanez shredding feel. It has great upper fret access too due to the AANJ neck heel and the very deep cutaways that allow reaching right up to the 24th fret.
Getting a good sound out of this guitar is decent overall. The stock electronics leave a bit to be desired in regards to their clarity and articulation but all in all it's easy to dial in. You have to watch the bass and low mids as they can get a bit lost on the lower strings, but it's not too bad overall. The split coil tones are great for clean or some odd order overdrive tones as well.
SOUNDS
The tones out of this guitar aren't too bad as stock. The OEM pickups really leave a lot to be desired in the clarity department, but the guitar is not a high end instrument so that is to be expected to a degree. They sound good when put into a decent high gain amplifier for metal or fusion riffage for sure but they do tend to get kind of muddy in the low end which is not such a good thing with a seven string. These guitars do open up quite a bit if you put in a nicer set of pickups such as DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan, and if you're a fan of the feel, it might be worth it to invest in a nice pair of humbuckers to go into it. This is a common complaint I have with Ibanez guitars in general (stock pickups) so at this point I factor a pickup swap into the cost of any new Ibanez guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Ibanez RG7321 is a great seven string for the price. It has a great feel, is easy to play, and if you put in a new set of pickups it would sound pretty killer. At about $500 new this guitar is fairly priced, though I'd rather find a used one for about $300 and pop a new set of pickups into it for some great seven string tones.
UTILIZATION
The design is basically that of a classic Ibanez RG but in a seven string format. It's quite light and sculpted like all Ibanez RGs and the neck has a thin Wizard profile that is perfect for fans of the classic Ibanez shredding feel. It has great upper fret access too due to the AANJ neck heel and the very deep cutaways that allow reaching right up to the 24th fret.
Getting a good sound out of this guitar is decent overall. The stock electronics leave a bit to be desired in regards to their clarity and articulation but all in all it's easy to dial in. You have to watch the bass and low mids as they can get a bit lost on the lower strings, but it's not too bad overall. The split coil tones are great for clean or some odd order overdrive tones as well.
SOUNDS
The tones out of this guitar aren't too bad as stock. The OEM pickups really leave a lot to be desired in the clarity department, but the guitar is not a high end instrument so that is to be expected to a degree. They sound good when put into a decent high gain amplifier for metal or fusion riffage for sure but they do tend to get kind of muddy in the low end which is not such a good thing with a seven string. These guitars do open up quite a bit if you put in a nicer set of pickups such as DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan, and if you're a fan of the feel, it might be worth it to invest in a nice pair of humbuckers to go into it. This is a common complaint I have with Ibanez guitars in general (stock pickups) so at this point I factor a pickup swap into the cost of any new Ibanez guitar.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Ibanez RG7321 is a great seven string for the price. It has a great feel, is easy to play, and if you put in a new set of pickups it would sound pretty killer. At about $500 new this guitar is fairly priced, though I'd rather find a used one for about $300 and pop a new set of pickups into it for some great seven string tones.