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The older AF207's used standard sized 7-string humbuckers, so you could replace the stock pickup with a Benedetto, a Seymour Duncan, a Kent Armstrong, etc. These new Artcores seem to be a different shape.
Originally Posted by ooglybong
Keith
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02-04-2013 08:51 PM
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I play two different 7-Strings each having a 25.5" scale with a .070 low string tuned to A (~55Hz). I tune the low A about 6 cents flat and then make slight pitch adjustments via pressure at the frets as I play. This helps to compensate for the inherent sharpness with a string tuned that low on a 25.5" scale. Most of the time I play finger-style and have spent some years studying classical guitar technique which helps me keep the volume balanced across the strings. Taking all of this into account, I'm able to get a workable sound from 25.5" scale 7-String guitars that have conventional straight frets. Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
AFIK the history of truly great 7-string jazz solo/duo playing from guitarists like Van Eps, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Ron Eschete', etc. was/is done on conventional straight fret guitars having no greater than 25.5" scale. That's a lot of excellent music that to my ear sounds as in tune as any 6-string doing comparable music.Last edited by SevenStringJazz; 04-24-2013 at 06:34 AM.
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I'm no expert on the subject, but I've listened to my teacher play 7 strings of various scale lengths and body sizes. I suspect that each instrument needs it's own adjustments, but they all have sounded really good to my ear. Sometimes he just grabs an Eastman off the wall (I'm pretty sure it's a 17"/25.5" scale) and it sounds very good. I was considering the Eastman as my first 7 string purchase but I'm waiting for him to get one of the new Ibanez 7-strings in so I can compare them. He thought it played pretty well at NAMM but didn't care for the look of the tailpiece - it's really thick and covers a metal tailpiece and it is kinda odd looking, but I wonder if it's that way to add some mass to the bottom of the guitar for better balance. We were also talking about the 2 pups rather than a single neck pup and decided that Ibanez was probably going for the 7-string rockers looking for an archtop for some reason (cool factor?). One of the young salesguys on the floor who plays a 7-string agreed and said the Ibanez 7 was getting a lot of good buzz with the rock crowd.
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nice if i had spare money i might would be looking for one. i have a 6 string artcore i love but the pickups are crap. its like pipes on a harley, when you buy it you just plan on changing them. i just wish that ibanez would just leave out the pickups knock of another $100 and let you pick out your own pups. i put seymour '59's in mine.
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You could , with a bit of routing possibly , mount a normal size 7 string HB
on the new Ibz 7 string without too much bother , I would think
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Those wonky pickups look suspiciously like the awful honkers they put on their f hole hollow body acoustic electric basses. The pickups on them, underpowered and notoriously weak in bottom end punch were a badly designed mistake.
You know, Hoshino is first and foremost a consumer driven company. I don't doubt that the use of two pickups, albeit questionable low end ones, was an attempt to appeal to buyers who don't want to sacrifice "versatility". And I'm sure to a significant clientele, the "more is better" approach is appealing. The sales to undiscriminating consumers is the mainstay of their business. The good word of the knowing is good for their credibility.
For the jazzers, an admitted minority, a single normal sized pickup would make sense. Write to Hoshino (Ibanez) and show them there is a significant interest in a real jazzy 7 string. If they see there is a market out there, it's just a word for them and the Chinese factory cuts one hole with a wider router robot and it goes into the catalog as AF957S the single pickup version.
It certainly happened before. Pat Metheny's model had single and double pickups. They have the parts. They just need to know there is a market.
Oh yeah, if you do write them, and the guitar appears in the catalog, smile, but DON'T expect them to put your name and send you a crate of free guitars!
David
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Haha, reminds me of something on this forum, hehehe ... Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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Sent an e-mail. Good idea, thanks.
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The scale length on this guitar is shorter than ideal for a low B or A, but it would work for up tuning possibly to A4. The problem is inharmonicity, or the overtones sounding out of tune. Thicker strings and the biggest contributor, short scale lengths with low tunings makes inharmonicity worse.
A good starting point for scale length is:
7 string - 27" scale
8 string - 28.625" scale
9 string - 30.3" scale
One could play a shorter scale but that's a compromise. A longer scale length would further improve inharmonicity on the lower strings, but as scale length increases some chords in the first position can become hard to play. The more strings that are added the more beneficial a multi-scale instrument is, it's tricky to get a high E4 at a 30 inch scale. For those wanting a high A4, a 24.75" scale or shorter is preferable some players use a 23.5" scale length for high A4.Last edited by Kneelie; 05-17-2013 at 02:35 AM.
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Granted, but this is the least expensive way to get into a 7 string acoustic/electric archtop that I am aware of; please let me know if I am wrong. The discontinued Ibanez 7 strings run $1300-$2000 used. As far as full-on electric 7 strings go, the best deal in inoffensive looking guitars (at least to me) is the Agile T-1 Texan (looks like a 7 string Tele) at around $500, and I imagine that would require a new pup and some fret leveling with the setup. Originally Posted by Kneelie
I'd love to own a Comins 7th Avenue or two, but that's never going to happen. Not complaining, just sayin'.
BTW, here are the dimensions of the ACH7 pup, courtesy of Ibanez:
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This guitar is a good deal.
The Raines - Master 7 archtop at $1850 is sort of affordable and only has a standard 25.5 scale.
Jim Soloway Swan 7-string is 27 inch scale semi-hollow. These are great the link has a pict and sound sample.
E061
Carvin makes great guitars for the money and a 27" option is rumored to be coming. Their DC7x7 or CT7 are worth a look. they start at a bit under 1,000 and end up around 1,500 well configured.
Agile makes decent guitars for the money and they have new combinations in sock every month or so. They look decent to me in natural ash or mahogany. There are plenty of reports of them being good quality for the money. Its easy enough to put a Benadeto b-7 or other suitable pickup in the guitar. their Septor 727 Nat Ash DOT or for multi-scale the Pendulum Pro 72527 EB CA Nat Ash are worth looking at.
Ellsberry guitars makes archtops with 7 string, 8 string multi-scale, and 14 strings.
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So I finally tried this guitar out at the local GC. I played it through a fender deluxe reverb, as happy as I am that Ibanez is marketing/acknowledging jazz guitarists...this guitar was a disappointment. The low A string sounded very out of tune in the first five frets, the tone was very thin and the acoustic sound barely a step above a tele unplugged. The workmanship was very clean, looked great but man the tone wasn't there. For the price it is kind of waste of money becasue that 7th string will not intonate properly which negates the whole purpose of the guitar. What a drag. It really bums me out that the cheapest archtop 7 string that will actually work are those 2 grand plus Eastmans. Oh well. Saves me the headache and delusion of thinking I'm gonna be the next Van Epps hahahahaha!!!
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Thanks for the review, Eddy. I have yet to find one within a few hundred miles to check out (I was willing to make an overnight stay to try one) and I don't want my teacher to bring one in just for me to try out. This review is kind of in-line with other things I had heard. I have a line on one of the 90's Ibanez 7 strings as well as an Eastman 7 at a decent price (but still, a lot of money). I'm losing steam on this instrument after looking into replacing the neck pup and am thinking of (gasp!) selling a few things and making a purchase in the near future. Ah, well. No illusions of being a Van Eps or a Pizzarelli or a Howard Alden, just wanted to play a 7 string jazz box.
I guess I could turn back the clock 45 years or so and become a Sat. morning warrior at my teacher's guitar store.
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hi, ah.clem
i saw this guitar on youtube and asked the german ibanez "dealer" about it. surprisingly he hadnt heard of this guitar. he told me that the 7string ibanez is the af 207. on the official websites of ibanez theres no information as well. where did you buy or ordered this guitar. Do you know some other 7string jazzguitars which are affordable.
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Do you know what gauge the low A string was? It wouldn't surprise me if they ship that guitar with too light a string like they would put on a rock 7 string guitar. That would cause the types of problems you describe. Even the D'Addario seven string sets are not right for tuning to a low A (the sets come with low strings between 54 and 65). You need to use a string between 74 and 80 to get the right tension for a low A. I buy a regular medium gauge six string set and a single 74 for the seventh. Originally Posted by eddy b.
Keith
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@Joker69 - Google around on the model number; Sweetwater, zzsounds, musiciansfriend, ams all seem to be carrying it. This is the cheapest 7 string archtop I've seen. The Eastman offering is around 2K or better, street. The older Ibanez from the 90's is now running around $2400 US, used, when you can find one - many ask more.
FloatingPickup raises a good point on the low A - the stock setup might be too narrow a gauge.
I've pretty much decided to hang on for an Eastman or one of the older Ibanez 7s. Or a Comins 7th Ave, when my number hits.
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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Beaumont, why does every guitar except your beloved tele (with a 7.5" radius) have a "skinny neck profile"
Time to get out a little more!
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I have one of the older MIJ Ibanez AF-207's and it is a great guitar. I have owned other 7 strings, including hand made "boutique" guitars, and the Ibanez is as good or better than any of them. Highly recommended IMO! Originally Posted by ah.clem
Keith
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Boatheelmusic,
Actually I don't own any guitars with a skinny profile.
Profile has nothing to do with radius.
My tele has a 16" radius. It has also not been my main guitar in years.
Profile is the shape of the back of the neck, and the depth.
Ibanez archtops tend to be thin, C or D shapes. I do not enjoy playing them.
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I just bought this guitar, and no it's not a boutique instrument. But for less than $1,000 it's extremely well made. The reason I bought it was I needed a narrow 7 string neck for my smaller hands. Benedetto's and Eastman's are about 52mm at the nut and 62mm at the 12'th fret. This instrument is 48mm at the nut and 62mm at the 20th fret.
The string spacing is a little cramped for finger style playing, but overall it is a very satisfying neck. Yes, the 24 3/4 scale is on the short side for a 7, but not that bad. It came with Chromes 11-65, which are really too light to get any sound out of the relatively thick laminate top. But I put 12-52 Chromes with a round wound 74 for the low A and it is much better.
The stock ACH pickups are a little flat and muddy, but workable with a little eq on the amp.
Overall, I'm really happy as this is a great way to see if 7 string is for you. I really love it for chord melody stuff, but I can't see making it my main bebop axe. It's kind of like working out with weights, when you switch back to 6 string, your technique seems to improve with a little adjustment for the narrower neck. (But you will miss the low A String for walking bass with 3 note chords.)
-Steve
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
If the Ibanez Artcore Expressionist AFJ957 were to have been inspired by Ralph Patt's major-thirds tuning, which has an E-E range on a 7-string guitar, then the scale length would be great.
That is a big "if", however.
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I have one of the old AF207 models. A fine guitar. Personally I found the 065. gauge low A impossible to intone correctly, and just plucking it seemed to send it out of tune. I now use a single D'Addario chrome .075 low A and a .012 to .052 set which balances just fine, although caution is still required when hitting that low string. A chrome .080 is also available as a single which I may try with a set of .013s in future.
Regarding p/ups, Bareknucle in the UK were featuring a custom set of 7 string minis just the other week, although the feature now seems to be off their site. I'm sure they'd be happy to deal with enquiries, as would Mr Biltoft for those of you across the water. Perhaps routing the p/up holes would offer a lot more choices though, and probably cost less in the long run.
At the price, the Artcore looks pretty good for a first purchase, and I'd still suggest anybody interested in 7 string tries a budget model first. It's a big adjustment.
Here's a demo of the Art core.
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I got a good deal on one of these guitars so I picked it up after playing it for about 1.5 hours. It's not as loud acoustically as my Eastman, but amped it sounds just fine. It is certainly loud enough to practice on the couch without an amp, playing fingerstyle. I did put a set of TI Jazz Flat 12s on it and a flat wound .074 for the low A. It intonates just fine, so perhaps it's just one of those things? The fit and finish is actually much better than I was expecting, based on all the negative comments on the new Artcore instruments. In any case, I'm glad I got it as I don't want to do plane-side bag checks with the Eastman, and I'm doing a lot of traveling these days. I'm thinking of picking up a Tric Multi case for it with the canvas bag as the RB Continental Dreadnought bags are back-ordered until Christmas.
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There's a blemished one on Reverb for $600 if anyone is looking.
http://rvrb.io/2014-afj957vsb-vkm
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