Jump to content

Need help to choose a new guitar


darryllouis245

Recommended Posts

Hello I'm Darryl from Mauritius, I'm having some difficulty in choosing between these guitars:

Chapman Guitars ML1 Standard Modern Lunar - $439
Jackson Pro Misha Mansoor HT7 FMCB - $659
Solar Guitars A2.7WHM - $678


Everyone of those has an ebony fretboard.

The Chapman although cheaper, has a pretty decent sound.
Was thinking of the Solar maybe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't played these models, but I've always preferred set neck to bolt-on for guitars, I have a good opinion of the Duncan pickups that I've played, and I've never cared for the detail work and overall feel of lower-end Jacksons (although my experience with them is a few years out of date). All of that would tilt me towards the Solar (out of the two seven-strings) but I'm unfamiliar with the company. The other specs lead me to believe they'd play and perform pretty similarly. I'd highly recommend playing one before you buy if possible.

If it's your first guitar I'd offer the conventional wisdom that you start on a six-string (like the Chapman), unless you're really itching to learn stuff that was written for seven. You might have better luck finding people with direct experience of these models at sevenstring.org or another dedicated guitar forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

I haven't played these models, but I've always preferred set neck to bolt-on for guitars, I have a good opinion of the Duncan pickups that I've played, and I've never cared for the detail work and overall feel of lower-end Jacksons (although my experience with them is a few years out of date). All of that would tilt me towards the Solar (out of the two seven-strings) but I'm unfamiliar with the company. The other specs lead me to believe they'd play and perform pretty similarly. I'd highly recommend playing one before you buy if possible.

If it's your first guitar I'd offer the conventional wisdom that you start on a six-string (like the Chapman), unless you're really itching to learn stuff that was written for seven. You might have better luck finding people with direct experience of these models at sevenstring.org or another dedicated guitar forum.

Indeed, from seeing the specs on the Solar which offers Seymour Duncan pickups on it as compared to factory defaults for the others made me think that Solar would be better. Solar Guitars are founded by Ola Englund by the way.

And yeah it's not my first guitar, I have an Ibanez Gio, and a Schecter Omen-7 upgraded with Bareknuckle Juggernaut bridge pickup. The thing is in terms of soloing, I find it much easier on the Ibanez Gio, however the frets are worn out specially after the 12th fret.

That's why I'm searching for something much better but still providing with the lesser effort for soloing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 years later...

I have a 6 string and a 7 string Schecter and I'm not in love with either of them. Both SLS Elite series. They play really well but they don't sound great - both are too bright, not enough body, don't mix well with other guitars. I've changed pickups and completely altered my amp settings and there's no escaping the fact that my Gibson and Epiphone work better in a band setting. The 7 string Schecter is the most fun to play leads on of any guitar I've had, but that's it. They're also subtly uncomfortable from an ergonomic perspective. All of that is personal, YMMV, etc etc.

I'm currently looking at the Epiphone Matt Heafy 7 string Les Pauls - the older one with the standard Gibson 24.75" scale, the upcoming one with a Fender 25.5" scale. Hoping the QC is nice and tight (as it fucking well should be for a $1000+ guitar) and knowing that I would have to change the pickups. Also sort of interested in the LTD Eclipse 1007, and very interested in the Ibanez Iceman 7 - neck through, passive pickups, 25.5" scale, hardtail. 

Worth asking, why do you want a 7 string? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I pulled the trigger on that new Epiphone Matt Heafy "Custom Origins" 7 string Les Paul. TL;DR: after restringing (I used an Ernie Ball 10-52 set and added a D'Addario 68 as the low string, tuned standard B to E) and a little setup work, I'm impressed with it. Assuming it holds up well over time, I'd probably recommend it highly to someone looking for a solid 7-string rhythm guitar/all-rounder. Mostly comfortable to play, low string sounds good-to-great, it looks pretty cool, it does all the things. It comes with a real case, too. 

SavtKtN.jpg

_____

More in-depth horseshit musings:

It's good for leads but it's not a shredder's dream; the fretwork and heel don't offer the most fluid high-fret access, and anyone who demands a thin Wizard-style neck should look elsewhere. It mostly works for me. My favorite guitar is a Gibson with a Tune-O-Matic bridge, so the neck angle and contact points on this one make me feel right at home. Not an Explorer, but it'll do.

The bridge is decent - maybe not as zingy as a nice aluminum TOM, but no worse than what came stock on my Gibson in 1998. If anything it's better. Everything seems tight, no play noticed so far. Sustain is excellent. Good range on the saddle screws, and it's as easy to intonate as the newer Tonepros I've had (the screws are Phillips, and they face the pickup, so there's no need to take the whole thing off like on some older models). The website says it's one of their "Locktone" bridges. I've seen people calling the Epi bridges "junk" online... that's not accurate. I'd consider an upgrade at some point but it's not essential.

The locking Grover tuners are really good. These have to be the nicest tuners I have on any guitar. Tuning stays stable, and the tuning process is actually just great all around on this guitar, noticeably smoother and less finicky than my others. The Graph-tech nut helps. It wasn't cut perfectly, so barring at the first fret takes a bit more effort than it should, but that's fixable. The neck profile feels great, chunky enough to give a good purchase for my thumb without being difficult to handle for bigger stretches on the low strings. 25.5" scale was a great choice for this guitar; I've had standard Gibson 24.75" guitars down in B before and I dig the sound, but the little bit of extra tension and brightness here is welcome. Chords using the B string feel nice and stable.

As suggested above, the frets aren't wonderful. This is one area where my Schecter guitars and Ibanez basses feel noticeably better. These are fine - I guess the fret finish is on par with my other Epiphone - but they feel a little rougher than I was expecting out of the gate, especially with a bound fretboard. No functional problems so far, just would have liked smoother edges and probably would have preferred higher crowns. It's easy enough to get used to. The fretboard radius, on the other hand, is not as easy to get used to. It's flatter than on any of my other instruments all the way down to the low notes. I guess I hadn't realized how much I was used to a slightly more convex surface at the lower frets. It makes some chords feel a little awkwardly bunched-up. I need more room for my big dumb fingertips. The fretboard surface itself was oddly rough-feeling when I took it out of the box, but it's smoothing out as I play. 

Also mentioned above - the heel joint is too bulky to make upper fret access particularly joyful. Even with the sanded-down area near the cutout in the back, getting to anything above the 17th fret is not seamless. It's not abnormal for an LP neck joint to feel this way, but it's a little frustrating because they obviously put some thought into this area and it's still not great. I feel like a couple extra minutes with a drum sander could make it better. 

While I have my sander out, the body shape is pretty much a classic LP and I feel like it could use some contouring in the back. There's nothing wrong with it as is, but I could see more relief between the upper and lower bouts on the top of the body. For that matter I'd take an arm cut on the top, too, but that would ruin the look. The "modern weight relief" they advertise is nice, though. The guitar feels just a little bit lighter than I would expect from looking at it, but not overly so, and there's only a slight suggestion of neck dive. Pretty well balanced. Still figuring out which strap works best, but so far it's been comfortable for a few hours at a time. Annoyingly, the football-shaped strap "lock" buttons are too big to fit my favorite strap. Nice concept but not great for me. Might swap those out.

Ok, the pickups. These Fishman Fluence Moderns. Argh. I had them in both my Schecters and got fed up with them quickly. I have a feeling they're being used in so many new guitars because they cover up a multitude of sins. Sonic defects? Slap a Fishman in there and it'll sound like a Fishman. They sound better in this guitar than they did in the Schecters, but they are hard for me to love. The real test will be when I get them in the band room; there's a chance that their clarity and evenness (or let's say "sterility") will translate really well to a high volume live mix. But even so, they're uninspiring to me, missing some impact in palm mutes and some overtones while tremolo picking no matter how much I dig in. They kind of make my awesome tube head feel and sound like a solid state modeling amp. (Come to think, maybe that's why these modeler kids like em so much.) Leads and clean tones are great, but the basic rhythm tone isn't 100%. They're capable of lots of different tones - 4 push-pull pots offering volume and tone control over 3 distinct voices for each pickup! - but they don't nail the one thing I really need, godammit. And most passive pickups don't have the same mounting screw locations, which means I'm either modifying the guitar or the pickups. Not ideal.

Overall though, this is a really good guitar. It's not a high-end Gibson but it could stand up to the Studios and other budget-conscious models I played in years past. There are other new models with a similar mix of features around this price point, but this one's got a balance of feel, tone, and playability that works for me. I'm excited about it. I've been kicking myself for years for not getting my hands on a Gibson 7 string when I had the chance; they sell for stupid money on the used market. This is close enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...