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tjon901 « Simple 7 string with a comfy archtop »
Published on 08/06/11 at 08:19THe RGA7 is a newer 7 string model in the RG line and it is just what everyone wanted. Ibanez is really listening to their cutomers. It has what a lot of people including me want in a 7 string guitar. The RGA7 has a mahogany body which is rare for Ibanez which has an arch top contruction. It has a wizard neck with a bound rosewood fretboard. There ar 24 jumbo frets on the neck. It has the great Gibraltar bridge Ibanez is using on their hardtail guitars now. It is a lot comfier than the old Fender style hardtail bridges they were using before. This guitar also comes with active pickups, something I always recommend with extended range guitars. These are Ibanez active pickups but they look a lot like EMG's they dont sound as good but they sound better than most Ibanez pickups. Plus they are oversized so you can install a set of EMG 7 string pickups without chopping your guitar all up since they fit in the same size route. The controls are a bit different. There is a 3 way switch and a master volume knob. The final switch is an eq cut switch that cuts out the mids of the single for a different type of tone.
UTILIZATION
This guitar feels great like all Ibanez guitars. This guitar is extra nice feeling due to the arch top body. It does not dig into your body like most flat top Ibanez guitars do. The active pickups are nice and they installed a battery compartment for them so you can easily change out your batterys. The Wizard necks are super easy to play. They have a super thin profile with large frets and a flat radius fretboard. This means you can really slam down your action and make it easy to play. The body is an updated RGA shape so the cutaways are a bit different. They have more sculpting to them to make them a bit fancier and more comfortable. The flat top Ibanez guitars the cutaways can sometimes have a sharp uncomfortable feel to them. The hardtail bridge means you have ultimate tuning stability and can tune to whatever crazy tuning you want without having to worry about string and spring tension.
SOUNDS
With the mahogany body and the active pickups this guitar sounds really good for a stock Ibanez. The mahogany body gives you a really thick tone compared to the basswood junk they make most of their guitars out of. The mid cut knob is a joke. I thought it was a kill switch when I first saw it which would have been cooler with active pickups. They should rename the knob the tone suck knob instead of the eq cut knob. The active Ibanez are pretty decent. They are pretty much EMG copies. You can get nice high gain tones from both of them. You can get a good high gain lead tone from the neck position but it will get muddy if you pour it on too much. The bridge position has the nice high end sizzle you expect from active pickups. This keeps it from getting muddy in the lower frequencies.
OVERALL OPINION
Ibanez is on the right track with the RGA7. It has a mahogany body and an arch top which are great for tone and comfort. The Gibraltar bridge is rock solid and lets you tune to whatever as quick as you want. Ibanez is still at the top of the heap when it comes to 7 strings and this guitar helps solidify this standing. If you are looking for a mid level hardtail Ibanez guitar this is a great example. Mahogany body and active pickups are what you want in a 7 string.
UTILIZATION
This guitar feels great like all Ibanez guitars. This guitar is extra nice feeling due to the arch top body. It does not dig into your body like most flat top Ibanez guitars do. The active pickups are nice and they installed a battery compartment for them so you can easily change out your batterys. The Wizard necks are super easy to play. They have a super thin profile with large frets and a flat radius fretboard. This means you can really slam down your action and make it easy to play. The body is an updated RGA shape so the cutaways are a bit different. They have more sculpting to them to make them a bit fancier and more comfortable. The flat top Ibanez guitars the cutaways can sometimes have a sharp uncomfortable feel to them. The hardtail bridge means you have ultimate tuning stability and can tune to whatever crazy tuning you want without having to worry about string and spring tension.
SOUNDS
With the mahogany body and the active pickups this guitar sounds really good for a stock Ibanez. The mahogany body gives you a really thick tone compared to the basswood junk they make most of their guitars out of. The mid cut knob is a joke. I thought it was a kill switch when I first saw it which would have been cooler with active pickups. They should rename the knob the tone suck knob instead of the eq cut knob. The active Ibanez are pretty decent. They are pretty much EMG copies. You can get nice high gain tones from both of them. You can get a good high gain lead tone from the neck position but it will get muddy if you pour it on too much. The bridge position has the nice high end sizzle you expect from active pickups. This keeps it from getting muddy in the lower frequencies.
OVERALL OPINION
Ibanez is on the right track with the RGA7. It has a mahogany body and an arch top which are great for tone and comfort. The Gibraltar bridge is rock solid and lets you tune to whatever as quick as you want. Ibanez is still at the top of the heap when it comes to 7 strings and this guitar helps solidify this standing. If you are looking for a mid level hardtail Ibanez guitar this is a great example. Mahogany body and active pickups are what you want in a 7 string.