6 Strings or 7 Strings? Which AXE to slay the BEAST

I have been playing guitar now for about 10 years, all my guitars have been the 6 string variety. I have just recently been looking at the 7 string guitars and I am very tempted to give it a try?

From all the different types of necks out there I prefer the flat thin profile. Although I have not tried it, I would think the wizard neck on the Ibanez is what I am looking for. I used to own a Godin Multiac it had a very nice shaped neck that also had the unfinished wood feel. I crave this type of neck, thin, wide, and fast no glossy/sticky finish.

I was looking at the Stephan Forte Signature LAG model, this is an awesome guitar. I love the low profile body on this guitar with a wicked fast shredding neck. I was up last night surfing guitars and made an interesting discovery, the Ibanez Frank Gambale's S series from 1987. Take a look at the features and you will see that the LAG guitar is like a twin brother, judge for yourself... pictures below.

Stephan Forte Signature LAG: Shredders Dream Guitar


The "Stéphan Forté Signature" guitar represents the top of LAG craftsmanship and achieved innovating guitar concept. The most particular features of this guitar are the 27 easy-accessible frets, combined with a totally profiled and sculpted body.

10 last frets are scalloped for bend-easy-access, and neck contour is perfectly adapted to high-speedy-playing ! ( thickness: 19 - 21 mm )

Configuration Details:

Scale: 648 mm

Neck / Body Junction: Sculpted for high-notes easy-access

Headstock: Reversed and uses 7-high-precision Lag machine-heads

Woods: Neck comes from a tight-grained Rock maple piece from Quebec

Fingerboard: Selected African deep-black Ebony

Body: Fine-Flamed-Maple top on a light Basswood body base ( 50 / 50% )
Wood-binding enhances the slim body-shape with the natural flamed-grain of the maple-top.

Tremolo: Original US Floyd Rose built in 7-strings version, loud and deep sustain guaranteed

Electronics: DiMarzio Evolution-7 and Blaze pickups for extraordinary power and tone, intense overdriven response, but with deep clarity and string definition. 1 master volume, close to finger-touch, 1 master tone with push-pull split-control, leads from deep fast sounds to clearest tones.

The pickup-5-way switch is positioned at the last end of the index-finger, with circle-action, following perfectly finger movement !This switch allows all pickups combinations, including single-coil sounds with push-pull humbuckers-splits. All electronics routings are protected by Lag Exclusive Graphite painting, all hum and noises are totally eliminated.

Finish: Exclusive Black shadow varnish, with deep see-through black nuances, front and rear. Rear electronics and tremolo panels are made in solid-profiled maple, black-satin varnished.



Below: Ibanez FGM Frank Gambale Series:



Above: The Frank Gambale Series - FGM 400QM





Above: The FGM 300 in Metallic Green and Desert Yellow Sun



Above: The FGM 200 in Black and White

Configuration Details:

FGM 100 (1991～1994)
Body: Sculpted Ultra thin offset double cutaway Mahogany　
Neck: One piece maple, 22 fret Rosewood fingerboard Color matched "Shark tooth" inlay 　
Hardware: Black Hardware, 6 in line tuners and double locking vibrato. 　
Pickup：DiMarzio Super Distortion /Ibanez Single Coil / Ibanez Humbucker　
Control: Volume, tone, 5 way selector switch　
Color: Desert Sun Yellow, Pink Salmon & Sky Blue

FGM 200 (1994～1996)　
Neck: Clay dot inlay　
Pickup：DiMarzio Super Distortion x2 /DiMarzio HS-3　
Hardware: Gotoh fixed bridge　
Color: Black & White

FGM 300 (1994～1996) 　
Neck: Pearl "Shark tooth" inlay　
Hardware: Double locking vibrato　
Color: Desert Yellow Sun & Metallic Green

FGM 400 (1997～1999) 　
Neck: Pearl block "Frank Gambale Signature" at 12th fret 　
Pickup: DiMarzio Super Distortion /DiMarzio Fast Truck x2　
Color: Blazer Blue & Quilted Top Maple