NGD 1st 7 string

[Yellowjacket]

So, just picked up a 1999 MIJ Ibanez RG7421.

It's in fairly clean condition with almost no fretwear and it has a brilliant neck on it. 
I'm told the RGs from this vintage were made at the shop that now makes the
Prestige line and the craftsmanship definitely shows.  The neck is every bit as nice
as the neck on my Godin Redline III and Godin knows a thing or two about building
amazing guitar necks.

I'm going to be putting money away for awhile but this winter, I'll probably drop a set
 of Juggernaut 7s in Camo cover / black bolts into this sucker!!  That will be a good day!

[Plenum n Heather]

Cool, congrats! Pics?

[one]

Yes, no pics equals baby jesus crying

[dani]

we want pics!

[Yellowjacket]

Ok, at long last:  In very good condition MIJ Ibanez RG7421.  This is probably, bar none, the best quality for $$$ value I've gotten on an instrument.  Ever.   

[dani]

sweet! will be uber excellent if she came with a 7620 neck.

[Yellowjacket]

sweet! will be uber excellent if she came with a 7620 neck.

I'm not sure what the neck is, but whatever it's pedigree may be, it's really stinking good.  I was 'told' that a 1999 MIJ 7421 has the same neck and body as the 7621 but it doesn't have the dimarzio pickups and the high end hardware. 

[dani]

7620/7621 necks do not have a bubinga strip running down the back of the neck. and yeah, they are essentially the same except for the trem and pickups.

[Yellowjacket]

So it sounds like this is the 7620  / 7621 neck.  It's really quite a fantastic neck!!  The only issue I've run into -just today- is that the guitar does not appear to have come with the tool to adjust the torsion rod.  It's been s REALLY wet summer and all my instruments are complaining and suffering.  Cello action is incredibly high and I noticed this neck bow upwards a bit, enough to put it about 1/4 tone flat.  I'm working on a job right now and I was recording with this guitar so I need a proper amount of relief so that the intonation is correct.

In brighter news, I hope to have some $$$s for BKP for this sucker soon.  Thinking a juggernaut 7-string set to match my other guitar with the Juggernaut 6 string set. 

[Lord Blakers]

Just be aware that the 7421 has very shallow pickup cavities - you don't realise this until you see how thin the stock pickups are!
BKPs will fit, make sure you ask for no legs and short pole screws. 

If you like a bit of height adjustment in your pickups, you might need the cavities routed a few mm deeper.

I also own a '99 model and this caused me a few headaches.....

[Yellowjacket]

Just be aware that the 7421 has very shallow pickup cavities - you don't realise this until you see how thin the stock pickups are!
BKPs will fit, make sure you ask for no legs and short pole screws. 

If you like a bit of height adjustment in your pickups, you might need the cavities routed a few mm deeper.

I also own a '99 model and this caused me a few headaches.....

Thank you, kind sir.  This is VERY good to know!!


[edit]  So I checked the routs and they are indeed shallow.  The pickups in the guitar don't have legs.  There is space below the base plate so there is room to put pickups into the guitar, but the legs and long screws definitely will not fit.  Again, thanks for this extremely valuable information; I hope to have $$$s soon!! 

[Lord Blakers]

No problem!
I just compared the pickup sizes for my curiosity. It turns that the stock pickup is normal size, it's just the Dimarzio I currently have in there that is taller.
You won't get as much height adjustment with the BKP because the pickup wire is thicker and less flexible than stock. Infact, I had to carve out a channel for the Dimarzio to even fit!

Excuse the waffle, I just didn't want to leave you with inaccurate info.

[Yellowjacket]

I guess the solution will be to measure the depth of the pickup cavities then! 

The stock pickups don't have any legs as far as I can see, just the rounded tabs.  Definitely have to sort all this out before I place any order ^__^

[Yellowjacket]

**UPDATE**

I ordered the black & grey zebra Juggernauts with gold screws.

The pickup cavities on this 7421 are indeed very shallow and I disassembled the instrument today.  I pulled all the hardware off and dropped the electronics into the control cavity.  The cavities are going to be routed 1/4 inch down to accommodate the much taller Bare Knuckles.  The stock pickups are indeed very thin and a 7 string BKP would barely fit 'in theory' with the short pole screws.  The problem is that the lead needs to traverse the cavity as well so you need added depth nonetheless.  It is essentially a moot point in this case. 


Upon disassembling the instrument, I can confirm that it does -in fact- have the RG7-621 neck.

Pics to come!

[Yellowjacket]

https://twitter.com/EmilLevasseur/status/771049455818723329

There's the guitar with the new pickups installed.  It was a bit of work putting in the copper shielding tape, etc, but the guitar looks good and it's absolutely crazy now!!