I love this guitar. I believe it was made to be customized and upgraded with time. Right out of the box the weight, and action was fantastic in my opinion.
I have owned it for about 3 years now, and I haven't swapped out the pickups. I have debated on doing so, but with the original pickups if you turn the volume down from "10" to "9", it clears up beautifully. I did take the time to make a few paint modifications. Just to give it some personal style. But glad you shared this video. It is a really nice guitar.
Nice man! I have the same guitar and put a Seymour Duncan nazgul in the bridge and it was night and day! Saving up for the sentient neck pickup and some locking tuners next.
Drumilo this is a very tricky question to answer. I own one very expensive (in my opinion) guitar and also a variety of cheaper guitars, all of which I have, or will be modding to some degree. Now that I've lived with my various instruments for some time, I have a much better idea of what I like and what I would not want to live without on a new guitar. For instance, I love locking tuners, Bare Knuckle Pickups and fixed bridges. If I could get a new guitar that had all those features then I would certainly consider it. I have enjoyed the learning that's come from modding my more affordable guitars. Perhaps there is something to be said for finding a balance between the two. The guitar in this video is very cheap. A slightly higher quality instrument could still be a great guitar for modding.
PLEASE, can you upload some video? i really want to know how this guitar sounds with the nazgul, i want to improve the bridge pickup but i'm a little lost
Ratho Quarter of course, yes, I'm publishing my own fast test in the next few weeks. However, you can already hear some songs I recorded with it (look for my bands, DarKarma or Hybrid Practice, mostly). Great video review BTW.
Same, js-32 indonesia tobacco burst with pegasus/sentient and furtherly upgraded with quality electornics, locking tuners and strap locks. It's so comfortable, light and sounds amazing.
I had the same issue with my 7th string resting too close to the edge of the fret board. I ended up replacing the stock bridge with a Hipshot bridge (I highly recommend this over the chunky stock bridge) and ended up securing it slightly over enough to properly align the strings on the neck, while leaving just enough room to still squeeze the strings through the existing holes in the body. Pickups are next on my list but having paid $150 brand new, I'm very happy with it and I'm really enjoying the upgrade process. Great video!
Thank you very much! Thanks for checking out the video. I'm certain I'm going to install a hipshot bridge soon. You had to do additional drilling to install that bridge right?
@@rathoquarter Yes I did have to drill a few holes. There are 4 screws that secure the hipshot bridge. It was super easy to do, just mark off where your old bridge sat on the body and line up the new one with those markings while making sure the string holes line up. Drill out 4 pilot holes for your screws and just fasten it down. There's not much to it, it took maybe 15 minutes from start to finish.
@@rathoquarter I got a great deal on the .125 height so I ended up going with that thinking the difference wouldn't be a big deal. It's really not a big deal but in hindsight, I should have gone with the .175 because my saddles are adjusted about as high as they can go. It's still comfortable to play but if I needed to raise my string height for any reason, I'm not sure I could go any higher. Go with the .175 bridge height if you can.
I thought about getting this guitar at one point but, i got ESP LTD MH-417 used with a great price and because it has 25.5” scale length, it’s better for me than the 26.5” scale length.
I'm a bit of a guitar snob and my cousin gave me his js22 to play with dimarzio blaze pickups. Cos the guitar was black and the pickups white I automatically assumed it was an amazing guitar. Prob a misha sig? When I played it I was blown away. It is amazing. Decent after a full fret job and truss rod adjustment. New pickups in there and bam it's literally amazing. I'm not joking. I feel stupid for saying it it's that hard to believe.
Hey David. Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment! That finish combo sounds amazing! Yeah I really enjoy playing this guitar. In a bit of a 6 string place at the moment but I'm looking forward to playing this one again soon. Mine is for sure going to need a set up before I record with it again.
@@rathoquarter yeah I'm in a 6 place too. Bought an ibanez iron label in 6. Thanks to monuments and periphery. Thanks for the inspiration dude. I might go build one soon.
Not liking the 26.5 so much but not a big deal.. Tusq nut, swapped bridges to a bridge from a higher end Jackson $40 "new hardware parted out".. I added threaded nuts in neck with washers and hardware then sculpted the heel and horns a bit. A fret level and polish, not much was needed, actually pretty good from factory... It is now fast, responsive and plays and sounds great considering that I've got $275 in to it new! Ill do some coil splitting and some pot bleeding next.. Pickups sound warm and crunchy when I need it through my mooer fx and peavey 400 2x12. No need to swap for me, sounds great mic'd as well via a sm57. All low dollar upgrades made vast improvements.. Also I'm running 9-54's, custom sizes. Yeah its good for the cash!!
Thanks for this video, very informative ! I was looking for a budget 7 string that would be a good basis for a pickup switch and I feel like this will be the right one :D
Julien Pichon no problem! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for checking it out. If you go for this guitar let me know how you feel about it. What pickups will you go for? I’d love to try some ragnaroks in mine but very happy with aftermath’s for now.
I'm not sure for the moment as I would like to try out first if the 7 string comfort is right for me (i've got pretty short fingers sadly !), but i'm leaning towards BKP Aftermath, BKP Ragnarok or SD Pegasus/Sentient. I'l let you know how it turned out !
Here in the US many of us consider that price point a "Mod Platform" and fully expect to upgrade it. I have one on order but like many things now are not in stock.
Well I have since purchased a set of juggernauts for my six string... They are incredible. I do think I prefer them over the aftermaths but obviously the guitar they're in would have a huge impact on the sound too. I know Tom had aftermaths, black hawks and Juggernauts in his guitars so if you're a fan of his sound they're all worth a look. Bare Knuckle make incredible pickups though so I'm sure you can't go too wrong with whatever you pick! Enjoy them! M
@@rathoquarter im really new to modding, i was wondering if the soapbar aftermath pickups would fit on this guitar semi easily, trying to avoid shaving the body
Great video and editing, and all the work to get those pickups in there seem worth it. I am a 7 string player myself, I was thinking of using the Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz combo for 7 string guitars, mostly because they are the only aftermarket pickups I have put into one of my guitars. I don't know how they could beat the sound you are getting out of THOSE Bareknuckles though. Great gear.
I can see how much you enjoy those pickups, they do sound great. I put those Seymour Duncans in my ESP F-50 and that guitar has been good to me for over 10 years now(First guitar). I might have to try some BK pickups on another 7 string, perhaps the ESP M17. What interface are you using to record by the way? If you don't mind me asking brother.
SinisterSinner7 not at all! I'm using a focusrite Scarlett 8i6. The sound control software that comes with it is a little fiddly and unintuitive but I do like the interface. Im no expert but I'm confident the preamp in the Scarlett sounds better than the old mbox thing I had with protools back in the day.
I will replace tone pot with no load pot to be able to completely bypass it. Also gonna install push pull volume pot for coil splitting. It would probably be good to replace the nut and tuners.
I bought one 2 years ago while building a custom mexican fender strat. Mine unfortunately has the worst string buzz but i can't bare to lift the action.
Yeah mine has a bit of buzz too but I have managed to improve it some now that I’ve learned how to set up a guitar a little better. It’s such a chug machine with the aftermath pickups in it that I don’t mind too much.
Such a useful video! This is pretty much exactly what I'm hoping to do soon, but with some BKP Ragnaroks. Think I'll be going for brushed aluminium radiator covers on black pickups, so this is useful to get an idea of how it might look too haha Sounds like I'll have to find a decent enough luthier near me though. Thanks for the info! :)
Liam Ross oh man! I'm jealous! I'd love to try some rags in there too. Let me know how the mod goes and how you feel about the pickups. Thanks for the kind words. Glad it was helpful. M
Ratho Quarter Just got delivery of the guitar today, I have the same neck alignment issue :( I've emailed the store I got it from, hopefully I'll have similar experience to you and get it fixed pretty quickly. Still irritating that it's obviously not quality controlled all that well in this regard
Liam Ross oh man that's annoying! Who did you order from? I hope they're able to sort it or give you a replacement in good time. Let me know how you get on.
Ratho Quarter I went with Thomann, exchange rate etc made it a bit cheaper for me in the UK paying in Euros, but means if I have to return it it has to go all the way back to Germany... I'll wait and see what they say. Might try and get them to reimburse me for repairs I can get done locally or something.
Liam Ross okay. They seem like a decent company so hopefully they'll get you sorted out in a reasonable time. I remember being pretty concerned about it when I first discovered the problem. I know it's a cheap guitar but I do feel like Jackson should be doing a little more to ensure such a fundamental thing isn't going wrong.
Really informative and helpful video, as I think most would be buying it with the same intention to upgrade. What's the neck joint like when playing up high? It looks quite square and uncomfortable. Very tasteful playing and I really like you music. Good instruments inspire you to play and create and to me that's the biggest endorsement of how good a guitar is.
Hi Tom. Thanks for checking out the video and for the kinds words! I suppose the neck joint isn't the best from and accessibility point of view. I'm not much of a shredder so this never bothers me really. I might consider getting a higher end 7 string at some point in the future but at the moment this guitar fits my needs really well.
I usually find neck joints a bit uncomfortable, but the neck is very thin and comfortable that the joint doesn't bother me at all, maybe only on the very last frets when sweeping or playing on the thicker strings. Mine is a js-32-7 packed with seymour duncan pegasus/sentient, locking tuners, strap locks and quality electronics and it's amazing. If you want a tip, don't buy chinese ones, look for indonesian made and always inspect before buying if you can because even indonesian ones aren't exempt from imperfections but they are definitely the best 7 strings for their price range and really good modding platforms. Tune the 7th string just a bit flat (-10/-25 cents).
Fantastic video! I have the same JS22-7 and have been contemplating swapping in a set of bareknuckles myself. A few questions; were the original pickup rings modified to make the aftermaths fit as well as the body route, and what gauge strings do you favour for drop a? Thanks again and I look forward to your future videos!
Hi Scott. Thank you very much for the kind words. Definitely get a set of Bare Knuckles in there, you wont look back! Yeah the luthier did have to do a little work on the pickup rings as the pickups were just a fraction too large to fit. Those modifications didn't cause any problems whatsoever though, so while I would recommend getting a good luthier to do the work, you needn't worry about any negative implications. I've been using a set of .10s for my 7 string, but I think I did replace the .59 on the low B for a .60 or .62 when dropping to A. I've even got a .64 gauge that I'm going to try for that guitar on my next recording. Thanks for watching! Hoping to have a new video up fairly soon! Cheers. Matt M
This was just his personal experience from the website. I'm not saying it's the best guitar in the world and go buy it immediately, just saying that normally these guitars are some of the best I've ever played
Love the video and guitar man! Did you end up changing out the pots or adding any additional components (i.e. capacitors)? Or was it a straight pick-up swap?
Thanks dude! If memory serves me correctly this was a pickup swap only. I've subsequent changed a bunch of pickups though on my other guitars and probably would adjust this mod to include the pots from bare Knuckle. Still love this guitar and am planning some new upgrades for it soon. Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment.
I might just be high right now but there were times when what you were playing didn't seem to match what I heard 100%. Now with that being said, what I heard was freaking sweet (again, could be because I'm high lol). But in the end, I did enjoy the video so thanks 😁
Hi Rob! There are a couple different guitar parts going on there and despite some being a little lower in the mix I've still cut in clips of me playing them for some variety to the video. But I do agree, it's a little jarring at points where the video doesn't match the audio perfectly. I'm still trying to get better at this whole thing! Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the kind words!
Ah sorry to hear that! Are there any cheaper alternatives you could try out? I hope you can get your hands on the instrument you desire in the not too distant future! Thank you very much for your kind words and thanks for the sub and checking out the vid.
Haha!No problem mate.I can check out the LTD M-17, Ibanez GRG7221 and the Schecter Sgr C-7.I am actually confused between these 4.Which one should I buy?
It doesn’t seem to be too bad to be honest. Personally I don’t mind a little wear and I do already have a chip in the paint finish on this guitar, but none of the glossiness so far.
Hi, man! Thanks for the video. Like your playing style, especially with the clean stuff! I have the same guitar with a M7 in the bridge and I love the sound I'm getting, but I do have some issues with tuning now. Didn't really in the beginning. I mainly play in drop A and I have to tune all the time. The intonation is also a bit off. Do you think I should change the tuners or service the nut (giggety) somehow? What is most likely the issue here do you think? Truss rod adjustment?
Hi there. Thanks for checking out the video! The first thing I would say is to get the guitar set up and intonated by a decent luthier/ guitar tech. It is also possible to learn how to correctly intonate a guitar (and set up the action) on youtube. I've tried this a couple times myself and while I'm not an expert, it seems to be getting easier with a little practice. Secondly try experimenting with string gauge. I recently put a quite heavy gauge low A on mine (I think it is a 0.64 gauge string.) I'm finding the intonation on that string to be pretty good like that. Its probably not the best ever instrument for intonation but generally but in my experience its surprised me with how good its been. When tracking loads of guitars recently I found the tuning to be very stable. It was only when I opened the door and lets lots of cold air into the room did the tuning suddenly all go sharp. If I kept the temperature the same it was incredibly stable. I don't know much about truss rod adjustment but I do believe there is nothing fundamentally wrong with these guitars. They are solid enough that they can be made to sound amazing and reliable. Try a couple different things and I'm sure the problems will start to go away. Let me know if you have success with it. Thanks again. M
What tuning are you playing in during the jam at around the 4min mark? Just curious, this was my first 7 string guitar as well and I liked just tuning the G string down to a flat and moving the regular chord shapes up a set of strings. Lots of cool tunings you can play with these, it looked like maybe you were doing something different as well. Thanks for the video! :)
Hey Chris. Thanks for checking out the vid! For this track I was in A E A D E A E or A E A D E A D. I can't remember which. It's kind of a rip off of the tuning that John Browne uses in monuments. I've got the guitar in a standard drop A now as I preferred the familiarity for a bit. But it's a fun tuning to mess around with. Thanks again. M
Thanks for the video! I just bought one of these second hand and I'm planning on a replacement for the bridge pickup. Are there any passive ones I could go for that will fit right away? I was hoping to avoid cutting into the body of the guitar... Are the stock pups of 'standard' size for humbuckers?
Amazing! Enjoy the guitar! I think it was the pickup covers that caused the problem. Even if you got Bare Knuckles without covers, I reckon they'd fit without any additional work. Thanks for checking out the video!
I bought this guitar a few years ago and always had problems with the bridge. The 7th string's saddle screw is higher than the rest of the saddle, so it scratches my hand and hurts quite a bit after a while (especially if I do a lot of palm muting). Have you had any similar issues? I could fix it by raising the action so the screw wouldn't protrude above the saddle, but the guitar is set up really nice with low action and no fret buzz, so I'd rather not change the setup. I've been looking into buying another guitar but apart from this issue it works fine for my needs. Any ideas? Cheers mate, and keep up the good work!
Hi mate. Thanks for checking out the video. Yeah I've just taken a look at mine and I do seem to have the same issue. I had noticed it before but I don't think it overly bothered me. Its likely that I've not played it for long enough periods of time that it got to a point of being physically uncomfortable to play. It really isn't the nicest bridge in the world, though, that is for sure. I have been thinking of replacing it with a Hipshot bridge: Apparently one of their models fits perfectly (even the screw holes line up if I understand it correctly.) That might be a solution. I've not played this guitar in a little while as I've been focusing more on 6 strings but I've got a load of writing to do with it soon so I'm thinking of trying to improve it a bit. Let me know how you get on with it. It'll be good to hear if you come up with a solution.
@@rathoquarter Will do mate. I might try replacing the bridge with a Hipshot one as you said. That's probably the way to go. Thanks a lot for your reply. Take care!
Niksi Piksi hey! It mostly holds tuning pretty well I think. When I'm recording I tend to check my tuning quite a lot I suppose but most of the time is just to check that is still in tune and a rarely have to adjust it. But keep in mind the tuners on this guitar aren't the best. Some quality locking tuners would help.
Hi, was thinking of getting one, just curious. Does it have the "compound radius" thing jackson have on its neck? I'm currently doing a research between this and Js32-7q.
Hi there. I've just looked up the spec and it says 12" to 16" so I guess that is a compound radius. I do enjoy this guitar but perhaps if you can afford it, it would be worth going with the js32-7. I'm pretty sure you get binding on the neck with that one and a couple other features which are likely to make the guitar more high performance and more enjoyable to play. Good luck! Enjoy whichever instrument you choose! M
Thank you so much sir for your reply, i would definitely get either one (depends on the price they offer here in our country :D ) thank you appreciate it much
When you sent back the guitar to GAK for them to look at the guitar did they charge you any extra? I'm planning to buy this guitar from the same retailer I just wanted to know if they'd charge extra for them to setup the guitar that they sold to you 'faulty'
Hey Grimmy. No they did not charge me anything extra to fix the guitar. To be honest I thought that I would either get a refund or get a replacement guitar. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be when I sent it back. I know that I wanted that model guitar so I probably would have tried again with another supplier even if GAK hadn't resolved it but they did and I was perfectly happy with the result. I hope you have a slightly easier experience than I did with the initial purchase and get an instrument that inspires you to play and write! If you decide to go for it, please let me know how you get on. Cheers. M
Hi! Honestly I'm not sure. I think my covered aftermaths didn't fit only by a small margin. The routering that the luthier did to the body was pretty minimal and isn't something to worry about. I'm sure you could order the pickups with confidence and get them into the guitar. I hope that's helpful. Thanks for checking out the vid!
@@rathoquarter it was! im gonna look into it more when im at my local shop, you boosted my confidence ive had no luck with any sort of details at all, thank you
Not sure if you see this question. But how much it cost you to get it routed and all installed? I mean I definitely could do it myself, I’d just have to buy the router. And it might be cheaper to just have guitar center or something do it 🤷🏽♂️
I can't remember exactly what it cost me to get it done. Probably somewhere between £70-£100... What guitar are you putting them into? Your guitar might not need routering at all. I installed my juggernauts into my 6 string myself without any problems so if you can do that I'd recommend the DIY approach!
I'm not sure what the relief is to be honest. Yes I definitely do get a fair bit of fret buzz depending on the gauge of string I've got on there, but not so much that it's caused me huge problems or made it unplayable. Mine could definitely do with another set up and perhaps a replacement nut though. Let me know if you manage to get yours sorted out. Hopefully a bit of work will get it to where it's more enjoyable to play.
Honestly I'm not sure but as its a fixed bridge I'm going to assume not. There doesn't seem to be any info on Jacksons webpage about it. I was never required to specify when ordering from Bare Knuckle but perhaps they can help you out? Happy to measure string spacing for you but I'll only be able to do so in a week and a half. Sorry I can't be of more help. Jealous: I'd love to put a Ragnarok set in mine!
Yeah I think you'll fine. The pole screws on my aftermaths aren't sitting 100% perfectly beneath the strings but they're in no better or worse than the stock Jackson pickups (this is something you can see on the product photos on the Jackson webpage.) I'd love to see a demo once you've installed those!
KimDracula Tones Measure from E string to E string on the bridge if it’s beyond 2 inches you need f spaced. By the looks of this guitar, I believe its f spaced, the only guitars that use 50mm are les paul style bridges.
Hello. Yes I am. I think the luthier had to enlarge the inner space of those mounting rings to accommodate the new pickups but that wasn't too big a job. Thanks for checking out the video.
@@warmaudioph814 absolutely! I've been eyeing up some Gotoh locking tuners and the hipshot bridge. The bridge will require drilling though so I'm working up to that... I've just done a conversion on my squier bass: new bridge and pickups and it's completely revitalised the instrument. So I definitely want to do the same with this guitar. What pickups are you planning on getting?
It's good if you intend on tuning lower than standard tuning and want to maintain a comfortable string tension and intonation across the length of the neck. At the same time it comes with the compromise of wider spacings between the frets which can bring added challenge to playing some parts.
@@GuitarDoco I find it to be surprisingly stable given the cost/ quality of the guitar. I do have a pretty beefy low string on there (0.64 or 0.68 gauge I think) and I suspect that helps a little. Upgrading the bridge, nut and tuners would also help but that's a project for another time 😂
Drumilo sure that's definitely an option. I'd love to find a guitar at that price that has bare Knuckle pickups. Do you have any recommendations? I want to try that out! Thanks for checking out the video.
Drumilo unfortunately only way to know is to try them. I really like bare Knuckles but I'm not super experienced when it comes to different pickups so I'm not an expert.
Game Thogic haha! I expect the finish on this cheap Chinese guitar is considerably inferior to your black beauty, so I don't mind if it gets some smudges, finger prints and dents in its life time. In fact I hope it does! Thanks for checking out the video.
Yes I believe it is! You can probably achieve the same result with some foam wedged under the strings though. That's what I do on most of my other guitars now. I'd quite like to try the Jimmy Clip too.
@@rathoquarter I ended up going for the demon-7(fixed bridge version). I wanted a fixed bridge for while because changing tunings (which happens A LOT in metalcore) is a pain in the ass with FR. Also wanna see how passives compare to actives, who knows lol. I think I got a pretty alright deal I paid 500 euros for it.
I’m not sure exactly what you mean here but the goal for me with that piece of music was to make a piece of music that could be listened to independently of the guitar review. Which is possibly why I’m maybe moving away from great reviews at all. The music sounding the way I want it to is more important to me than conveying the sound characteristics of the guitar I guess. That said this was also one of the first videos I made where I was very much learning on the job.
![This budget 7 string guitar CAN'T be good, right? [Jackson JS22-7 review]](/img/1.gif)
I love this guitar. I believe it was made to be customized and upgraded with time. Right out of the box the weight, and action was fantastic in my opinion.
Mine is in desperate need of a few hardware upgrades at the moment but its still going strong and currently my only 7 string!
I have owned it for about 3 years now, and I haven't swapped out the pickups. I have debated on doing so, but with the original pickups if you turn the volume down from "10" to "9", it clears up beautifully. I did take the time to make a few paint modifications. Just to give it some personal style. But glad you shared this video. It is a really nice guitar.
Nice man! I have the same guitar and put a Seymour Duncan nazgul in the bridge and it was night and day! Saving up for the sentient neck pickup and some locking tuners next.
AnotherMondayMusic yes!! Locking tuners have got to happen on this one for me too!
is it worth getting a cheap guitar and spending on mods or just use all the money to buy a better guitar overall? im conflicted in what I want to do
Drumilo this is a very tricky question to answer. I own one very expensive (in my opinion) guitar and also a variety of cheaper guitars, all of which I have, or will be modding to some degree. Now that I've lived with my various instruments for some time, I have a much better idea of what I like and what I would not want to live without on a new guitar. For instance, I love locking tuners, Bare Knuckle Pickups and fixed bridges. If I could get a new guitar that had all those features then I would certainly consider it. I have enjoyed the learning that's come from modding my more affordable guitars. Perhaps there is something to be said for finding a balance between the two. The guitar in this video is very cheap. A slightly higher quality instrument could still be a great guitar for modding.
PLEASE, can you upload some video? i really want to know how this guitar sounds with the nazgul, i want to improve the bridge pickup but i'm a little lost
Do you needed any routing in your body for the SD's ? Planing to upgrade mine too :)
Seriously, I put a SD Invader in the bridge position and really kills now.
300$, perfect for metal
Alessandro Arzilli awesome! I'd love to hear a demo if you plan on making any videos with it? Thanks for checking out my vid!
Ratho Quarter of course, yes, I'm publishing my own fast test in the next few weeks.
However, you can already hear some songs I recorded with it (look for my bands, DarKarma or Hybrid Practice, mostly).
Great video review BTW.
Alessandro Arzilli nice! I'll go check out your bands.
did it fit without body work?
@@ericd5617 so, I finally made a video comparison! ruclips.net/video/gwT-gWrIOok/видео.html
Nice demo and explanation. I just received my JS22-7, looking forward to play it. 🙂
I really like the music you play with this beast!
Thank you so much for your kind comment. These videos are so old now. I should really make some new ones with this guitar. I hope you enjoy yours!
I find it really satisfying watching the sweat evaporate off the satin finish. It’s like those lab tables they had in science class in high school.
ive got one with Seymour Duncan Pegasus/sentient set up... sounds and plays amazing
That's where i'm going good choice
Same, js-32 indonesia tobacco burst with pegasus/sentient and furtherly upgraded with quality electornics, locking tuners and strap locks. It's so comfortable, light and sounds amazing.
getting this guitar soon, gonna be a good upgrade from my 150 dollar strat hahah
I had the same issue with my 7th string resting too close to the edge of the fret board. I ended up replacing the stock bridge with a Hipshot bridge (I highly recommend this over the chunky stock bridge) and ended up securing it slightly over enough to properly align the strings on the neck, while leaving just enough room to still squeeze the strings through the existing holes in the body. Pickups are next on my list but having paid $150 brand new, I'm very happy with it and I'm really enjoying the upgrade process. Great video!
Thank you very much! Thanks for checking out the video. I'm certain I'm going to install a hipshot bridge soon. You had to do additional drilling to install that bridge right?
@@rathoquarter Yes I did have to drill a few holes. There are 4 screws that secure the hipshot bridge. It was super easy to do, just mark off where your old bridge sat on the body and line up the new one with those markings while making sure the string holes line up. Drill out 4 pilot holes for your screws and just fasten it down. There's not much to it, it took maybe 15 minutes from start to finish.
@@SadButTrue92 Amazing! And you went with the 0.175 height bridge right?
@@rathoquarter I got a great deal on the .125 height so I ended up going with that thinking the difference wouldn't be a big deal. It's really not a big deal but in hindsight, I should have gone with the .175 because my saddles are adjusted about as high as they can go. It's still comfortable to play but if I needed to raise my string height for any reason, I'm not sure I could go any higher. Go with the .175 bridge height if you can.
I thought about getting this guitar at one point but, i got ESP LTD MH-417 used with a great price and because it has 25.5” scale length, it’s better for me than the 26.5” scale length.
I'm a bit of a guitar snob and my cousin gave me his js22 to play with dimarzio blaze pickups. Cos the guitar was black and the pickups white I automatically assumed it was an amazing guitar. Prob a misha sig? When I played it I was blown away. It is amazing. Decent after a full fret job and truss rod adjustment. New pickups in there and bam it's literally amazing. I'm not joking. I feel stupid for saying it it's that hard to believe.
Hey David. Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment! That finish combo sounds amazing! Yeah I really enjoy playing this guitar. In a bit of a 6 string place at the moment but I'm looking forward to playing this one again soon. Mine is for sure going to need a set up before I record with it again.
@@rathoquarter yeah I'm in a 6 place too. Bought an ibanez iron label in 6. Thanks to monuments and periphery.
Thanks for the inspiration dude. I might go build one soon.
Not liking the 26.5 so much but not a big deal..
Tusq nut, swapped bridges to a bridge from a higher end Jackson $40 "new hardware parted out"..
I added threaded nuts in neck with washers and hardware then sculpted the heel and horns a bit. A fret level and polish, not much was needed, actually pretty good from factory...
It is now fast, responsive and plays and sounds great considering that I've got $275 in to it new! Ill do some coil splitting and some pot bleeding next.. Pickups sound warm and crunchy when I need it through my mooer fx and peavey 400 2x12. No need to swap for me, sounds great mic'd as well via a sm57.
All low dollar upgrades made vast improvements..
Also I'm running 9-54's, custom sizes.
Yeah its good for the cash!!
Hmm... Never knew Christian Bale play guitar and that too a 7 string. You learn something new every day!
😂
Thanks for this video, very informative ! I was looking for a budget 7 string that would be a good basis for a pickup switch and I feel like this will be the right one :D
Julien Pichon no problem! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for checking it out. If you go for this guitar let me know how you feel about it. What pickups will you go for? I’d love to try some ragnaroks in mine but very happy with aftermath’s for now.
I'm not sure for the moment as I would like to try out first if the 7 string comfort is right for me (i've got pretty short fingers sadly !), but i'm leaning towards BKP Aftermath, BKP Ragnarok or SD Pegasus/Sentient. I'l let you know how it turned out !
Nice one! You have some cool covers there: you'll adjust to a 7-string in no time!
Love the style!
Thanks for watching! Didn’t think anyone still watched this vid, so thank you!
Been waiting for this one thanks.
Ray Amukwaya no worries. Sorry it too so long to put together! I hope it’s helpful. Feel free to ask if you have any other more specific questions. M
I have this js22-7 and plan on getting the js22-7 king V to match here soon.
Wasn’t aware of the JS22-7 King V but it looks incredible!
@@rathoquarter they either just come out or are coming out soon. I think you have to pre order them right now
Here in the US many of us consider that price point a "Mod Platform" and fully expect to upgrade it. I have one on order but like many things now are not in stock.
Hey! Thanks for the comment. Yeah I’m definitely planning to add a hipshot bridge and some locking tuners before I do my next recording with it.
By the way I'll subscribe as long as you keep putting out more videos brother! Keep up the great work.
Okay okay. I’m the dude lookin for pickups. Architects is my favorite band. You said Tom serle plays these? It’s done. Purchase made 😂😂
Well I have since purchased a set of juggernauts for my six string... They are incredible. I do think I prefer them over the aftermaths but obviously the guitar they're in would have a huge impact on the sound too. I know Tom had aftermaths, black hawks and Juggernauts in his guitars so if you're a fan of his sound they're all worth a look. Bare Knuckle make incredible pickups though so I'm sure you can't go too wrong with whatever you pick! Enjoy them! M
@@rathoquarter im really new to modding, i was wondering if the soapbar aftermath pickups would fit on this guitar semi easily, trying to avoid shaving the body
Just picked mine up shits 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Great video and editing, and all the work to get those pickups in there seem worth it. I am a 7 string player myself, I was thinking of using the Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz combo for 7 string guitars, mostly because they are the only aftermarket pickups I have put into one of my guitars. I don't know how they could beat the sound you are getting out of THOSE Bareknuckles though. Great gear.
SinisterSinner7 thanks very much. I'm a huge fan of Bareknuckles. Can't wait to try some juggernauts in my ESP Horizon.
I can see how much you enjoy those pickups, they do sound great. I put those Seymour Duncans in my ESP F-50 and that guitar has been good to me for over 10 years now(First guitar). I might have to try some BK pickups on another 7 string, perhaps the ESP M17. What interface are you using to record by the way? If you don't mind me asking brother.
SinisterSinner7 not at all! I'm using a focusrite Scarlett 8i6. The sound control software that comes with it is a little fiddly and unintuitive but I do like the interface. Im no expert but I'm confident the preamp in the Scarlett sounds better than the old mbox thing I had with protools back in the day.
I will replace tone pot with no load pot to be able to completely bypass it. Also gonna install push pull volume pot for coil splitting. It would probably be good to replace the nut and tuners.
Sounds great! Those all sound like very sensible mods! I'd love to see a video showing the results. Let me know how it goes.
Coolbeans! -=B-) Love your playing, brothaman! -=80)
Thank you, Sir!
I bought one 2 years ago while building a custom mexican fender strat. Mine unfortunately has the worst string buzz but i can't bare to lift the action.
Yeah mine has a bit of buzz too but I have managed to improve it some now that I’ve learned how to set up a guitar a little better. It’s such a chug machine with the aftermath pickups in it that I don’t mind too much.
@@rathoquarter lol I can see that, I love mine and I may take the juggernaut route 🤷🏻♂️.
Such a useful video! This is pretty much exactly what I'm hoping to do soon, but with some BKP Ragnaroks. Think I'll be going for brushed aluminium radiator covers on black pickups, so this is useful to get an idea of how it might look too haha
Sounds like I'll have to find a decent enough luthier near me though. Thanks for the info! :)
Liam Ross oh man! I'm jealous! I'd love to try some rags in there too. Let me know how the mod goes and how you feel about the pickups. Thanks for the kind words. Glad it was helpful. M
Ratho Quarter Just got delivery of the guitar today, I have the same neck alignment issue :( I've emailed the store I got it from, hopefully I'll have similar experience to you and get it fixed pretty quickly. Still irritating that it's obviously not quality controlled all that well in this regard
Liam Ross oh man that's annoying! Who did you order from? I hope they're able to sort it or give you a replacement in good time. Let me know how you get on.
Ratho Quarter I went with Thomann, exchange rate etc made it a bit cheaper for me in the UK paying in Euros, but means if I have to return it it has to go all the way back to Germany... I'll wait and see what they say. Might try and get them to reimburse me for repairs I can get done locally or something.
Liam Ross okay. They seem like a decent company so hopefully they'll get you sorted out in a reasonable time. I remember being pretty concerned about it when I first discovered the problem. I know it's a cheap guitar but I do feel like Jackson should be doing a little more to ensure such a fundamental thing isn't going wrong.
Really informative and helpful video, as I think most would be buying it with the same intention to upgrade.
What's the neck joint like when playing up high? It looks quite square and uncomfortable.
Very tasteful playing and I really like you music. Good instruments inspire you to play and create and to me that's the biggest endorsement of how good a guitar is.
Hi Tom. Thanks for checking out the video and for the kinds words! I suppose the neck joint isn't the best from and accessibility point of view. I'm not much of a shredder so this never bothers me really. I might consider getting a higher end 7 string at some point in the future but at the moment this guitar fits my needs really well.
I usually find neck joints a bit uncomfortable, but the neck is very thin and comfortable that the joint doesn't bother me at all, maybe only on the very last frets when sweeping or playing on the thicker strings.
Mine is a js-32-7 packed with seymour duncan pegasus/sentient, locking tuners, strap locks and quality electronics and it's amazing.
If you want a tip, don't buy chinese ones, look for indonesian made and always inspect before buying if you can because even indonesian ones aren't exempt from imperfections but they are definitely the best 7 strings for their price range and really good modding platforms. Tune the 7th string just a bit flat (-10/-25 cents).
Fantastic video! I have the same JS22-7 and have been contemplating swapping in a set of bareknuckles myself. A few questions; were the original pickup rings modified to make the aftermaths fit as well as the body route, and what gauge strings do you favour for drop a? Thanks again and I look forward to your future videos!
Hi Scott. Thank you very much for the kind words. Definitely get a set of Bare Knuckles in there, you wont look back! Yeah the luthier did have to do a little work on the pickup rings as the pickups were just a fraction too large to fit. Those modifications didn't cause any problems whatsoever though, so while I would recommend getting a good luthier to do the work, you needn't worry about any negative implications. I've been using a set of .10s for my 7 string, but I think I did replace the .59 on the low B for a .60 or .62 when dropping to A. I've even got a .64 gauge that I'm going to try for that guitar on my next recording. Thanks for watching! Hoping to have a new video up fairly soon! Cheers. Matt M
This was just his personal experience from the website. I'm not saying it's the best guitar in the world and go buy it immediately, just saying that normally these guitars are some of the best I've ever played
Love the video and guitar man! Did you end up changing out the pots or adding any additional components (i.e. capacitors)? Or was it a straight pick-up swap?
Thanks dude! If memory serves me correctly this was a pickup swap only. I've subsequent changed a bunch of pickups though on my other guitars and probably would adjust this mod to include the pots from bare Knuckle. Still love this guitar and am planning some new upgrades for it soon. Thanks for checking out the video and for the comment.
I might just be high right now but there were times when what you were playing didn't seem to match what I heard 100%. Now with that being said, what I heard was freaking sweet (again, could be because I'm high lol). But in the end, I did enjoy the video so thanks 😁
Hi Rob! There are a couple different guitar parts going on there and despite some being a little lower in the mix I've still cut in clips of me playing them for some variety to the video. But I do agree, it's a little jarring at points where the video doesn't match the audio perfectly. I'm still trying to get better at this whole thing! Thanks for checking it out and thanks for the kind words!
This guitar in India is for Rs 28000(that's about 417 USD).Man my parents won't buy that for me :'-(
But anyway, awesome video.Subscribed.
Ah sorry to hear that! Are there any cheaper alternatives you could try out? I hope you can get your hands on the instrument you desire in the not too distant future! Thank you very much for your kind words and thanks for the sub and checking out the vid.
Haha!No problem mate.I can check out the LTD M-17, Ibanez GRG7221 and the Schecter Sgr C-7.I am actually confused between these 4.Which one should I buy?
Because these 3 are in my budget range.
Subhamoy Das sweet! The schecter looks awesome, but the ibanez would probably be my pick! Happy choosing, friend!
How wear-resistant is the satin black finish on this one? It clearly looks classy AF until the first glossy spots appear :|
It doesn’t seem to be too bad to be honest. Personally I don’t mind a little wear and I do already have a chip in the paint finish on this guitar, but none of the glossiness so far.
@@rathoquarter Thank you!
Sweet what an improvement.
Hi, man! Thanks for the video. Like your playing style, especially with the clean stuff! I have the same guitar with a M7 in the bridge and I love the sound I'm getting, but I do have some issues with tuning now. Didn't really in the beginning. I mainly play in drop A and I have to tune all the time. The intonation is also a bit off. Do you think I should change the tuners or service the nut (giggety) somehow? What is most likely the issue here do you think? Truss rod adjustment?
Hi there. Thanks for checking out the video! The first thing I would say is to get the guitar set up and intonated by a decent luthier/ guitar tech. It is also possible to learn how to correctly intonate a guitar (and set up the action) on youtube. I've tried this a couple times myself and while I'm not an expert, it seems to be getting easier with a little practice. Secondly try experimenting with string gauge. I recently put a quite heavy gauge low A on mine (I think it is a 0.64 gauge string.) I'm finding the intonation on that string to be pretty good like that. Its probably not the best ever instrument for intonation but generally but in my experience its surprised me with how good its been. When tracking loads of guitars recently I found the tuning to be very stable. It was only when I opened the door and lets lots of cold air into the room did the tuning suddenly all go sharp. If I kept the temperature the same it was incredibly stable. I don't know much about truss rod adjustment but I do believe there is nothing fundamentally wrong with these guitars. They are solid enough that they can be made to sound amazing and reliable. Try a couple different things and I'm sure the problems will start to go away. Let me know if you have success with it. Thanks again. M
This Jackson is rad. Are you rockin the Grolsch rubber gaskets for strap-locks? Best strap hack ever! Sweet video man.
What tuning are you playing in during the jam at around the 4min mark? Just curious, this was my first 7 string guitar as well and I liked just tuning the G string down to a flat and moving the regular chord shapes up a set of strings. Lots of cool tunings you can play with these, it looked like maybe you were doing something different as well. Thanks for the video! :)
Hey Chris. Thanks for checking out the vid! For this track I was in A E A D E A E or A E A D E A D. I can't remember which. It's kind of a rip off of the tuning that John Browne uses in monuments. I've got the guitar in a standard drop A now as I preferred the familiarity for a bit. But it's a fun tuning to mess around with. Thanks again. M
Thanks for the video! I just bought one of these second hand and I'm planning on a replacement for the bridge pickup. Are there any passive ones I could go for that will fit right away? I was hoping to avoid cutting into the body of the guitar...
Are the stock pups of 'standard' size for humbuckers?
Amazing! Enjoy the guitar! I think it was the pickup covers that caused the problem. Even if you got Bare Knuckles without covers, I reckon they'd fit without any additional work. Thanks for checking out the video!
I bought this guitar a few years ago and always had problems with the bridge. The 7th string's saddle screw is higher than the rest of the saddle, so it scratches my hand and hurts quite a bit after a while (especially if I do a lot of palm muting).
Have you had any similar issues? I could fix it by raising the action so the screw wouldn't protrude above the saddle, but the guitar is set up really nice with low action and no fret buzz, so I'd rather not change the setup. I've been looking into buying another guitar but apart from this issue it works fine for my needs.
Any ideas?
Cheers mate, and keep up the good work!
Hi mate. Thanks for checking out the video. Yeah I've just taken a look at mine and I do seem to have the same issue. I had noticed it before but I don't think it overly bothered me. Its likely that I've not played it for long enough periods of time that it got to a point of being physically uncomfortable to play. It really isn't the nicest bridge in the world, though, that is for sure. I have been thinking of replacing it with a Hipshot bridge: Apparently one of their models fits perfectly (even the screw holes line up if I understand it correctly.) That might be a solution. I've not played this guitar in a little while as I've been focusing more on 6 strings but I've got a load of writing to do with it soon so I'm thinking of trying to improve it a bit. Let me know how you get on with it. It'll be good to hear if you come up with a solution.
@@rathoquarter Will do mate. I might try replacing the bridge with a Hipshot one as you said. That's probably the way to go.
Thanks a lot for your reply. Take care!
Its also a fingerprint magnet
It’s actually not too bad given it’s a matte finish. But I’m clearly a little hot and nervous in this video. Thanks for noticing.
Seems most videos have people fuddling around on the b string. Hmmm.....
Hopefully you got a broader sense of the guitar from this video?
Looks good but why don’t you play with distortion just for demonstration
I do in another video. These videos are incredibly old now. I should make more with this guitar.
Hey man!My only question is how this guitar is holding tune?
Niksi Piksi hey! It mostly holds tuning pretty well I think. When I'm recording I tend to check my tuning quite a lot I suppose but most of the time is just to check that is still in tune and a rarely have to adjust it. But keep in mind the tuners on this guitar aren't the best. Some quality locking tuners would help.
Hi, was thinking of getting one, just curious. Does it have the "compound radius" thing jackson have on its neck? I'm currently doing a research between this and Js32-7q.
Hi there. I've just looked up the spec and it says 12" to 16" so I guess that is a compound radius. I do enjoy this guitar but perhaps if you can afford it, it would be worth going with the js32-7. I'm pretty sure you get binding on the neck with that one and a couple other features which are likely to make the guitar more high performance and more enjoyable to play. Good luck! Enjoy whichever instrument you choose! M
Thank you so much sir for your reply, i would definitely get either one (depends on the price they offer here in our country :D ) thank you appreciate it much
When you sent back the guitar to GAK for them to look at the guitar did they charge you any extra? I'm planning to buy this guitar from the same retailer I just wanted to know if they'd charge extra for them to setup the guitar that they sold to you 'faulty'
Hey Grimmy. No they did not charge me anything extra to fix the guitar. To be honest I thought that I would either get a refund or get a replacement guitar. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be when I sent it back. I know that I wanted that model guitar so I probably would have tried again with another supplier even if GAK hadn't resolved it but they did and I was perfectly happy with the result. I hope you have a slightly easier experience than I did with the initial purchase and get an instrument that inspires you to play and write! If you decide to go for it, please let me know how you get on. Cheers. M
how is that strap on the neck,under the headstock called ?
That is a Gruvgear fretWrap.
@Ratho Quarter would a soapbar aftermath pickup fit in easily?
Hi! Honestly I'm not sure. I think my covered aftermaths didn't fit only by a small margin. The routering that the luthier did to the body was pretty minimal and isn't something to worry about. I'm sure you could order the pickups with confidence and get them into the guitar. I hope that's helpful. Thanks for checking out the vid!
@@rathoquarter it was! im gonna look into it more when im at my local shop, you boosted my confidence ive had no luck with any sort of details at all, thank you
where can i find one that you covered the top of the neck of your guitar to gain clearer tone ?
It's a company called gruvgear fretwraps.
Not sure if you see this question. But how much it cost you to get it routed and all installed? I mean I definitely could do it myself, I’d just have to buy the router. And it might be cheaper to just have guitar center or something do it 🤷🏽♂️
I can't remember exactly what it cost me to get it done. Probably somewhere between £70-£100... What guitar are you putting them into? Your guitar might not need routering at all. I installed my juggernauts into my 6 string myself without any problems so if you can do that I'd recommend the DIY approach!
I have the same Jackson! But a maple fret board 😂 thanks for the insight though!
@@ryanrowland5909 no problem, Sir. It's great to have people getting some use and help from these videos.
What relief do you have in this guitar? I cant low down the 7th string to a reasonable height without a crazy buzz, almost unplayable.
I'm not sure what the relief is to be honest. Yes I definitely do get a fair bit of fret buzz depending on the gauge of string I've got on there, but not so much that it's caused me huge problems or made it unplayable. Mine could definitely do with another set up and perhaps a replacement nut though. Let me know if you manage to get yours sorted out. Hopefully a bit of work will get it to where it's more enjoyable to play.
@@rathoquarter thanks friend
is this an f spaced? planning to buy a ragnarok. it is compatible with the js22-7 dinky?
Honestly I'm not sure but as its a fixed bridge I'm going to assume not. There doesn't seem to be any info on Jacksons webpage about it. I was never required to specify when ordering from Bare Knuckle but perhaps they can help you out? Happy to measure string spacing for you but I'll only be able to do so in a week and a half. Sorry I can't be of more help. Jealous: I'd love to put a Ragnarok set in mine!
well i guess its compatible because the aftermath is in the category of CONTEMPORARY which is the ragnarok is in there.
Yeah I think you'll fine. The pole screws on my aftermaths aren't sitting 100% perfectly beneath the strings but they're in no better or worse than the stock Jackson pickups (this is something you can see on the product photos on the Jackson webpage.) I'd love to see a demo once you've installed those!
KimDracula Tones Measure from E string to E string on the bridge if it’s beyond 2 inches you need f spaced. By the looks of this guitar, I believe its f spaced, the only guitars that use 50mm are les paul style bridges.
but most of 7string is not fspace
are you still using the mounting rings that came with it?
Hello. Yes I am. I think the luthier had to enlarge the inner space of those mounting rings to accommodate the new pickups but that wasn't too big a job. Thanks for checking out the video.
@@rathoquarter thanks man! planning to have the same upgrade. do you plan to upgrade your hardware in the future?
@@warmaudioph814 absolutely! I've been eyeing up some Gotoh locking tuners and the hipshot bridge. The bridge will require drilling though so I'm working up to that... I've just done a conversion on my squier bass: new bridge and pickups and it's completely revitalised the instrument. So I definitely want to do the same with this guitar. What pickups are you planning on getting?
@@rathoquarter yeah, a set of locking tuners would be nice! I’m still undecided, but down to 2.. it’s either aftermath or juggs. 😀
@@warmaudioph814 tricky choice there, friend! I have guitars with both and I struggle to say which I prefer!
This or Cort kx257 ?
I've never tried that guitar, but it does look pretty good!
How are the frets are the smooth?
Yeah the frets seem great. I’m not an expert but they certainly work well for me.
Bro the scale length being larger than conventional guitars is good or bad?
It's good if you intend on tuning lower than standard tuning and want to maintain a comfortable string tension and intonation across the length of the neck. At the same time it comes with the compromise of wider spacings between the frets which can bring added challenge to playing some parts.
The Bunn covers this subject in a lot of detail: ruclips.net/video/D5IQnctUxNI/видео.html
@@rathoquarter thanks. Does the guitar go easily out of tune with repeated low string riffing?
@@GuitarDoco I find it to be surprisingly stable given the cost/ quality of the guitar. I do have a pretty beefy low string on there (0.64 or 0.68 gauge I think) and I suspect that helps a little. Upgrading the bridge, nut and tuners would also help but that's a project for another time 😂
Basically the pickup value is more or less the price of the guitar.
Absolutely. I paid more for the pickups than I did for the guitar.
Ratho Quarter sounds great. Anyway, keep it up !
@@ahmadfarisrosli7597 thank you sir! Thank you for checking out the video.
buy this and change the pick ups and tuners? or save up for a more expensive 7 string..say $450
Drumilo sure that's definitely an option. I'd love to find a guitar at that price that has bare Knuckle pickups. Do you have any recommendations? I want to try that out! Thanks for checking out the video.
Ratho Quarter good point. Only found guitars with stock pickups for that price. I'm assuming they still aren't better than bareknuckles
Drumilo unfortunately only way to know is to try them. I really like bare Knuckles but I'm not super experienced when it comes to different pickups so I'm not an expert.
Ratho Quarter my guess is they're not as good as your pickups. Are yours active?
Drumilo nope they're passives. I really struggle making active pickups sound good to my ears.
Queria ouvir a distorção
Paulo Eduardo check out my previous video with the same guitar.
i own a black beauty....and seeing your finger marks everytime you move your hands hurts lol
Game Thogic haha! I expect the finish on this cheap Chinese guitar is considerably inferior to your black beauty, so I don't mind if it gets some smudges, finger prints and dents in its life time. In fact I hope it does! Thanks for checking out the video.
I can tell you suck at guitar by that comment, black beauty?! Lmaotf outta here oldhead
Is that a medium fretwrap?
Yes I believe it is! You can probably achieve the same result with some foam wedged under the strings though. That's what I do on most of my other guitars now. I'd quite like to try the Jimmy Clip too.
@@rathoquarter Well I happen to have some medium already lying around, my schecter isn't here yet though ;P
@@bobu5213 Nice! I bet you are looking forward to that delivery! What model?
@@rathoquarter I ended up going for the demon-7(fixed bridge version). I wanted a fixed bridge for while because changing tunings (which happens A LOT in metalcore) is a pain in the ass with FR. Also wanna see how passives compare to actives, who knows lol. I think I got a pretty alright deal I paid 500 euros for it.
@@bobu5213 Awesome! Yeah fixed bridge all the way! Enjoy it.
Great guitar for 199$
Background music drowns out your playing.
I’m not sure exactly what you mean here but the goal for me with that piece of music was to make a piece of music that could be listened to independently of the guitar review. Which is possibly why I’m maybe moving away from great reviews at all. The music sounding the way I want it to is more important to me than conveying the sound characteristics of the guitar I guess. That said this was also one of the first videos I made where I was very much learning on the job.