Ibanez AX7221

tuners are kind of **** but i havent changed them yet. pickups kind of suck. changed for sh-4 in bridge and blaze neck. sounds nice now. bridge is flawed - with thicker strings i cant get proper intonation for the low b (or since i use drop a tuning). bought it used had some minor finish flaws. now after using it for 4 or more years the paint has worn off the edges where the guitar touches my belly (very minor cant see unless you look for it). fat neck. confy for power chords/rythm but nothing really fast or blazing solos or any kind of shredding. looks are awesome as the design goes. shame ibanez discontinued AX series :(. fixed balance problem by putting the horn strap button on he neck heel between the four screws that hold the neck on. the output jack falls out if you plug guitar in and out frequently. would be good to replace it, but i just screw it back from time to time. i just love the look and feel of the guitar, after the pickup upgrade it sounds good too. sounds better n higher tunings though than it does on drop A or something like that :/ .

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Ibanez AX7221 series 7-string guitar -- The modern descendent of the classic Ibanez Artist I am told . . .
Pic of mine here:
http://eer-music.com/eBay_pics/JPzNuAxe.jpg
AX-7 neck 5pc. Maple / Walnut Neck Material
Mahogany Body
22 Medium frets
Bound Rosewood Finger Board
Fixed string-thru body bridge
No-name, non-locking, Schaller-style tuners
IBZ AH1-7 (H) Neck PU -- 2 Axis humbucker pickups
IBZ AH2-7 (H) Bridge PU -- 2 Axis humbucker pickups
Pearl Dot Inlay
Rare Burgundy Mist? (Satin-Metallic) finish

I play over-the-top Planet X-esque fusion-metal and Ozric Tentacles-type trance-rock -- so this axe works well for that.

What sold me on this axe was the superb action and the neck feel & I wanted a 7-string to widen my tonal palette and low-end sludge-crunch-enter mayhem gestalt. I first played an abused one in a local pawn shop where some putz had removed the neck pup, the 3-way pup switch, neck pups vol / tone knobs as well as bridge tone knob and left only a vol knob! This cat also had repainted it some sickly amateur faux purple/blue/violet sparkle color with a can. Though that axe blew chunks, it stilled played amazingly well and sounded decent too. So -- I grabbed a new (old stock) one off eBay the next afternoon for a steal.

The new eBay-found axe plays as well. The neck pup is loud enuff by lacks obvious punch (in its factory-set height) and is missing any sort of decent tonal range -- ergo a barely acceptable stock issue (no surprise). The neck pup is hotter -- so LOUD with decent tonal coloring.

I tested this axe through a huge Hartke Combo Bass Amp (yes I said a bass amp, so what) & EQ'd for more highs to get the best guitar tones and max low-end as well. I also tested it clean, clean with Ibanez Bi-Mode Chorus pedal, and overdriven with original metal-case Danelectro Fab Tone pedal. I will try it through my Peavey Classic Chorus 212 later.

Set-up fine. I may add a heavier gauge low-B string or set its height up a tad as it buzzes on 3rd fret a titch. Pups seemed fairly right but I am gonna raise neck pup to see if it needs yanking out & replacing or not.

String-thru bridge works great for tone lifespan . . .

Only flaw was a display axe ding on back with some finish gouged off down to wood but not noticed until after I got her home. No biggee.

All else seems okay. 3-way switch seems a bit "off" as mid-position seems to deaden bridge pups punch. Odd.

This AX7221 has a rare Burgundy Mist (Satin-Metallic) finish that is quite attractive and I cannot find what Ibanez calls it nor the fact that they ever released the AX7221 in this finish. Any info on this out there??

I have no worries that this axe, hardware or finish would preclude it from a live gig with all the proper set-up, tuner screw tightening, etc etc.

I would trust this a my only 7-string for a gig but would most likely have my other 6-string & 12-string electric & acoustic axes available for a tonal variety of playing live anywhere.

This axe is a great sleeper bargain for the money for a 7-string novice or a player that doesn't demand el primo axes all the time.

No comment as I have no history of this need.

Playing since 1967
I own 10 axes: USA Strat, Strat & Tele copies, Les Paul copies, Agile and Samick, Gibson ES-335 Kay Copy, 3 acoustics 6 & 12 stringed, 3 basses: 4, 5 & 8-stringed , synths, amps, pedals out the wazoo, e-drums, eBow Plus . . .

If stolen -- i'd rant & rave & hunt down the schmuck -- buy another.

Made in Japan,1999.Gotoh sealed tuners.

Nice sound.Used for jazz but good for rock.Plays better than my ESP LTD.H307 which I have since sold.

Re-strung with flat wounds w/ .080 Low A.

Appears to be well made.

n/a

If lost,I would hunt for another.

Korean made - not sure on the year. 22 medium frets. Mahogany body, 5 piece maple/walnut neck. 2 V 2 T. 3 way. H/H (not big on middle pickups anyway). Grey pewter in color, which lookes exactly like gunmetal. String thru neatly done. No-name chrome tuners that are so damn smooth. Beautiful neck design from the back, wide and quite flat. Feels solid to the touch and pretty fast for a 7.

I own another Ibanez and that thing was made for metal but this AX 7 is much more versatile. I havn't read all the reviews here but the stock pups rock despite the midrangy nature of this guitar. Relatively loud but not noisy at all. Up at the neck, she's really fat and warm and stays that way despite tone tweaks toward brightness. In the upper register the guitar puts out a kind of fluty fender tone that seems to linger on and on. The fact that it is non trem and strung through makes this possible. The bridge on the other hand is a lot thinner and wraspy. Ok for distortion, and you can get very bright ear piercing tones which you would not expect at first glance. It's a sleeper in that respect I think.

Factory setup? What factory setup! Seriously folks, when stuff comes out of asia, unless it came from Japan, you can bet that a few hours of tweeking will be necessary at the very least. Major buzz on low E and G, no neck relief, action to low. The workers assemble and that is it. Outside of Japan, basic setup is beyond their capabilities. Still for me, Korean made stuff as a whole is a sound investment as almost all guitars made there are made at the Samick factory. I will not touch anything made south of Korea though. I have no complaints about anything else.

For reliability this guitar gets a solid 10. I would gig with it and not think twice about a backup. Not so with a rose equipped axe. The finish has no kind of brilliant clear coat, just a rough and gritty matte grey that's holding up very well. But I don't thrash my instruments so that matters a great deal.

Dunno, never dealt with them.

Been playing 6's a while and so the thought of trying out the 7 string style appealed to me. I bought this one locally and for the money this guitar was an astounding deal. The guy I got it from played punk rock in a band yet hardly used the guitar. He was not a very big guy and I'm guessing that the weight of the guitar was an issue for him. It's very heavy BTW - deceptively heavy. No matter where you are standing, it's love at first sight for the neck and the floor.
Aside from that, the AX is very easy to play, tons of sound, lots of variations to blend, and it looks very sexy yet tough at the same time. I will be moving to another state soon and with 9 guitars altogether some gotta go. This guitar however comes with - nuff said.

See below (Tom Murray).

This is an update to my previous review (Tom Murray). After a few months of constant playing, I noticed that the neck pickup played clean, which is what I use most, had a really unpleasant harshness to it. There was a shrill/piercing quality to the high end that could take your head off if you weren't careful. And I could never EQ it out without losing to much definition. Just way to much treble. The bridge pickup was okay, but I didn't use it that much.

So I went ahead and replaced both, installing a DiMarzio Air Norton 7 in the neck and a Tone Zone 7 in the bridge. Man, what a difference that made! This guitar now has that warm and fat, powerful, but sweet sound that I could always hear (though more and more faintly) trying to come through the old pickups. While I was at it, I replaced the stock wiring and rewired it for 2-volumes, 1-tone, which is much more sensible to me. It's also quieter, now.

For anyone who has this guitar, I cannot recommend these pickups enough for it. I also considered the popular Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB
combo, but their online measurements made me think that the mounting tabs wouldn't fit in the very form fitting pickup routes. The stock pickups are also a little narrower than the DiMarzio's, which necessitated screwing a few new holes in the body.

I probably should've given the guitar an 8 at most with the stock pickups, but it's a definite 10 now, so I'll leave my previous score alone.

See below (Tom Murray).

See below (Tom Murray). Still holding up well. The pickup wiring was a little chintzy, so I replaced it, and one tone knob had a flaw (not dirt) that caused it to be scratchy in one spot, so I took it out of the circuit. I'll probably replace the pots, switch, and jack when I get around to installing a series/parallel/split coil switch in the defunct tone control's spot. The tuners and bridge are still fine with 11-65 strings. The paint job is pretty resistant to minor scratching and is very good at concealing those scratches that do occur.

See below (Tom Murray).

See below (Tom Murray).

Made in Korea in 2000 before they switched production to a poorer 3rd world country (Indonesia) in 2003. It has a grey pewter matte finished solid mahogany body that's shaped like a cross between an SG and a Les Paul Double-Cut (thickness of former, shape of latter). The neck is a 5-piece maple/walnut bolt-on with a gloss finish, a bound 12" (305mm) radius rosewood fingerboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, a 24.75" scale length, and wide-flat back. It features two Ibanez passive humbuckers(AH1-7 and AH2-7, to be exact) with a 3-way pickup selector and 2 volume and 2 tone controls. Fixed string-thru body bridge. No name non-locking Schaller-style tuners. Came with a fitted Ibanez hardshell case made by TKL. I don't like TKL cases; they look nicer, but are much less durable than the SKB cases I prefer.

These days, I mostly play jazz, but I'm also into a variety of other styles, including pop, rock, folk, blues, etc. When I first plugged the guitar into my Mesa/Boogie F-50 with the EQ set for my other guitars' more vintage style pickups, it sounded way too midrangey and harsh, so I had to fiddle with my amp's EQ settings a bit before I got sounds that I liked. The Ibanez pickups also have quite a bit more output than my American Strat's and my Hamer Artist's Seth Lovers, so I guess they're medium to medium hot. Obviously, this guitar is intended to be a rocker, not a jazz guitar, but I've found it to be very versatile. When properly EQ'd, I can get everything from very nice, full, articulate clean sounds to semi-dirty early rock sounds to full on power chord crunch and singing leads. Though it really seems to excel at rock sounds, it's versatile enough that I don't find myself ever reaching for my other guitars anymore. It has its own voice, and I like it. I use it with a Zoom GFX-8 multi-effects pedal and a Mesa/Boogie F-50 1x12" combo. It's dead quiet on all settings. If I had to nitpick, the pickups could have a little more definition on the low end and a little less piercing harshess on the high end, but the extended range of a 7-string likely makes that difficult. In any case, proper EQ'ing largely alleviates both problems. Lack of ultra-precise low end definition could also be due to the fact that the F-50 is an open-back combo, so I'd like to try it with a closed back 12" or 15" to see if that tightens up the low end.

I bought the guitar used on eBay and whoever had set it up had absolutely no idea what they were doing: the neck had zero relief, which caused all sorts of fret buzz despite the fact that the action had been set relatively high to compensate; the tuners and input jack were so loose they were practically falling off; and the intonation was so off it was impossible to play in tune. Once I completely diassembled, cleaned, reassembled, and set up the guitar with with 11-65 D'Addario Chromes (which necessitated a little nut filing), I was extremely pleased. Everything is very solid and seemingly well made; the nut was cut well for light guage strings; the truss rod was easy to adjust; the frets were well polished and crowned; the tuners are very smooth (smoother than the Schallers on my Hamer Artist) and hold tune extremely well; and the Ibanez All-Access Neck Joint is much nicer than my Strat's. Though it's very close, I haven't perfectly intonated the low B-string because the intonation screw is a little too long for such a heavy guage string, so I have to purchase a shorter replacement or, failing that, slightly shorten the existing screw. And I replaced the strap holders with Dunlop Strap Locks. The old ones were fine, but my favorite strap is equipped with Dunlops, so they had to go. I haven't had to adjust the pickup height yet. One of the tone knobs crackled a little, but a little contact cleaner fixed that.

My one major quibble with the guitar is that the pickup polepieces don't properly line up with all of the strings. Close inspection revealed that the pickup routes are a little off. The other AX7221's I've seen are the same, so I think it's a design/production flaw. While it doesn't seem to affect the sound at all, it's a little disappointing nonetheless. Also, the neck binding is plastic and I wish they'd forgone that because the neck itself is otherwise extremely nice. The neck joint also has a very slight gap on the treble side, but the bass side is airtight. However, it's a MUCH better fit than my American Standard Strat. Finally, the rosewood fretboard is so dark and uniform in color that I suspect it's been dyed, which is silly.

As noted by others, the guitar is neck heavy, but only very slightly so. Installing the strap locks seemed to help a little, as they lengthened the upper horn by about 1/2". Personally, I don't find it to be a problem in the slightest. Given this slight neck heaviness, I was suprised at how light the neck is and how heavy the mahogany body is when I disassembled the guitar. Most of the weight is clearly in the body, so making the body heavier isn't really practical and probably won't help much. Since lengthening the upper horn also isn't really practical, I suspect that the guitar's minor imbalance could be largely rectified by replacing the existing tuners with mini-tuners with plastic or wood buttons.

This is an extremely solid guitar and I have no concerns at all about it's reliability and durability. The 5-piece neck is so stiff and solid that putting 11-65 strings on it barely made it bow at all. The hardware, though no name, also seems very solid and works perfectly. I took off the control cavity cover to tighten the output jack and saw very neat wiring and solid solder joints. My only reservation is with the matte finish paint job, which has it's pros and cons. The pros are that it's relatively thin, which (in theory) allows the body to resonate, and it's highly resistant to small scratches and scuffs. The cons are that it gets shiny where your hand and arm rubs, while the rest remains matte, creating a somewhat uneven appearance, which, to be honest, is only really apparent close up. I may use a polishing compound to even it out if it really starts to bother me. Also, the lack of a heavy top coat makes it more vulnerable to larger/deeper dings, dents, and scratches, but I'm always careful with my instruments, so I don't really worry about it. Finally, I don't mind the way it looks, but I'm not in love with it either. In 10 years, when it needs a new paint job, I'll probably strip it and oil finish the underlying mahogany.

The 1-year non-transferrable warranty expired years ago. Although 1-year warranties are pretty standard and are probably sufficient to reveal most manufacturing defects, I think they're totally cheesy and they don't make you feel like the company truly stands behind their product. On the upside, Ibanez's website is pretty informative and contains manuals and info on products back to 2000.

I've been playing guitar for about 7 years and own a 1993/2000 hybrid American Standard Stratocaster, a 2000 Hamer USA Artist, a 1965 Baldwin Double-Six, and Mesa/Boogie F-50, and a Zoom GFX-8. I wanted to take the 7-string plunge to explore all of the extended jazz chord voicings it would offer, but I was a little leery about purchasing an unseen and unplayed guitar on eBay. I'd previously only played an Ibanez RG7321, which is similar, but has a 25.5" scale and a slightly shallower neck depth, and the B-string felt great (albeit with light guage strings), so I was concerned about low B-string slackness due to the AX7221's 24.75" scale. I was also concerned about the purported neck heaviness. I needn't have worried, as the guitar arrived physically excellent, if poorly set up, condition, the B-string is perfectly taut with the 11-65 strings and the string-thru construction, and the neck heaviness is very minor. In retrospect, I think a 25.5" scale with my preferred strings would've caused too much string tension for my tastes. Overrall, I'm extremely pleased with what I got and, for what I paid, it's a deal that can't be beat.

I bought this guitar because of it's simplicity and rawness. My reason for the purchase was because I previously owned a 6 string GAX model and was amazed at how well it played for it's price. It has no special things about it and that's what I like. The bridge is closer to a a jazz guitar and it's strung through the body. This is a very easy guitar to maintain, and it's not about glamour or glitz. WHEN I BRING THIS TO A GIG, IT MAKES PEOPLES HEADS TURN!

CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, THIS GUITAR HAS AMAZING TONE!!!!!! PEOPLE EITHER JUST PLAY THROUGH OVERRATED AMPS OR DON'T KNOW HOW TO SET THEIR TONES! TURN THE MID DOWN!!! SET THE MID TO NO MORE THAN A QUARTER AND THE HIGHS AND LOWS TO THE MAX!! YOU WILL HEAR THE DIFFERENCE! I play a variety of styles: thrash, metal, funk, jazz, lounge, classical, and reggae, and this guitar is perfect! THE MOST VERSATILE I'VE EVER PLAYED! I play through a Peavey Revolution 112( check the reviews on this baby!) When on my clean channel it's a beautiful smooth mellow deep mahogany tone-perfect for jazz. When on my overdrive 1 it can make a great classical rock tone. When on my 2nd Overdrive, this guitar has so much balls!!! I play in three tunings(BEADGBE,AEADGBE,ADADGBE for stage performance and this handles tone wonderfully!

I've played on many guitars. I hate fender strats, they feel like I'm playing with a toy, I've played Jackson's, Gretch hollow bodys, ESP's, Gisbson's, and even other ibanez models, and everytime I pick up this guitar it feels like butter! I did have my bridge serviced about 9 months after buying this guitar, but that's a standard thing. I would suggest maybe getting locking straps. This is perfect for strong rhythm playing or lead. Mine came in pewter, it's raw.

This is the only guitar I personally own. I do everything from practice to gigs to using 3 tunings every set list. This has been very reliable and durable. However, I am going to get my input checked out to make sure my wiring isn't cutting out. For the wear I have put on this, the finish is still great except for where my belt might scratch the backside, but no-one sees that. IT'S BEEN VERY DEPENDABLE.

I sent in my registration card after I purchased it, however I never recieved any word back from the company. I was really pissed when I found out that guitar center stopped carrying 7-strings. I hope Ibanez continues to offer these models.

I've been playing about 7 years now and I've been threw different equipment along the way. I wish I could have found the upgraded model AX-7521? Correct me if that number is wrong, but there was a model just like this that Wes Borland used to play on. I would probably buy another one, just for the fact that it was well worth the price considering how much other 7-strings cost. You can play any style with this guitar. Only thing I wish it had was 2 d-tuner switches on the low B and E strings. I LOVE THIS GUITAR AND IT'S PERFECT FOR MY VERSATILE ROCK STYLE! SEE IT IN ACTION @ http://www.ufonic.net

everybody has seen the features a million times already so I won't bother

I love the sound of this guitar i play it for any kinds of music i havent had a problem with it at all. I generally play stuff like old school metallica but i also play alot of classical on it and i dont find it to be too muddy and if it sounds a wee bit off i just adjust the eq's on my amp

this guitar set up perfect when i bought it, its never gone out of tune since ive owned it

I believe this guitar will last a long long time but i also baby it i maintain it all the time

I dont ever regret buying this guitar ive been playing other guitars to try and find my next purchase but i cant find another better unlesss im gonna pay the 3000.00 for a prs, jackson, or rickenbacker

Everybody's already listed the straight specs here, so I won't go into it, except to say that it's all fairly standard stuff. I like the feel of the neck quite a bit - it's wide enough to keep the strings at a fair distance without being so wide as to make chords difficult. I like to do a lot of finger picking (probably since I am mainly a bass player) and thought that the extra string would allow me more flexibility - however I should have realized that the strings being closer together would not make this guitar a good candidate for that play style.

This comes with your low-end ibanez pick-ups. The high end was a bit too loud and twangy sounding for my tastes - I could never get a good balance between the low end and high end of the spectrum. I'm not a seasoned guitar player but all of the sounds that I was able to produce all seemed to lean towards rock and metal sounds (which is what I play the least of). Nothing really mellow or full (although the low B does produce some powerful sounding chords).

Here's where my major complaints with this guitar lie. The action isn't bad, a bit on the high side but not any worse than I expected for the price. The thing is hard as hell to tune, and always dropped out of tune after playing for 15-20 minutes - especially the low B, which I could not correctly adjust the intonation for (it was adjusted to the max and was still about a half-note off on the 12th fret). I would never take this guitar on a gig because of the tuning problems.

I loved the weight, shape, and finish of the guitar (matte pewter), which was what made me purchase it (and I wanted to try a 7 string). Electronics and hardware all seemed nice and tight and well put together. With a nice set of pick-ups and better bridge and tuners, this could be a pretty solid guitar. As it comes though, I feel there are better guitars for the money.

Although the guitar itself is very solid feeling and well put together, the hardware itself is pretty flimsy stuff. The finish also started to shine up in the pick guard area rather quickly (although it hides scratch marks completely). Maybe this happens with all matte finished guitars, but it kind of annoys me.

I've been a bass player for 10 years, and own a high-end ibanez soundgear bass that I would never part with. I also play guitar though, mostly when I record my own stuff. I've got an old american kramer that I was going to replace with this, but even though the kramer pops and sputters everytime I switch the pick-up, overall it plays tons better. I'm going to sell this Ibanez and invest the money in a better guitar. Ibanez is supposed to make the best 7 strings, but I was not at all impressed with this guitar. I'd stay away from the ax series - maybe their other styles are better.

You all know the features by know I'm sure.. 22 frets, yadaa yadaa yadaa! . mine is grey pewter like everyone else's. For a guitar I bought off the shelf the tuners were pretty good (probably set up at the store) nice STRING THRU BODY...the only way to go..SG like body. Wide, but thin neck. Not too bad for a 7 string

i don't think it suited my type of music style at all, i have a fucked up style, and I'd rather take a shit on the toilet and read the sunday news. i use a Fender Princeton Chorus, which i guess makes it sound good. when i bought it new it sounded better.....so that cleary fucks me off.i guess it would sound better if i put some money into it, but its hard enough finding a fresh pair of undies these days.

I think it was set up alright, pickups are pretty shit, if i put some new ones in it would sound great. but my bottom string kept on getting caught under the second fret which fucks me off alot. yeah it looks good thats for sure, really durable. its still together even though it sits there doing nothing, yeah i think its getting rusty, but thats more my fault.

Yeah I've played a few gigs with it, but i recomend that you get lock straps, so you can jump around and shit. dont know if it will, but i guess it would. the finish is good. i wont depend on this thing coz i personally dont like it. nah i would have a back coz i would.

Nah they suck, coz i haven't used it.

I've been playing for a while, and i can't be fucked telling you what other gear i have, i wish the dude at the shop told me to not buy it and i got something else. overall if you want to rock you would play this. my fav feature would be the colour of it. but still i wish it weren't mine i wish i could wake out of this nightmare and never had bought this thing, coz i spent alot of money on it and i can't really buy me another one. I'd like to share with everyone, that i am the man