Jackson DK7 Christian Olde Wolbers Signature Model

This is a follow up review for the COW 7 string that I forgot to post. Yup I sold that POS and lost a couple hundred bucks for my trouble. Oh well that's the lovely world of used gear. Anyway I'm laughing at these glowing reviews of this piece of crap.

For being a super feather weight of a guitar it actually didn't sound half-bad thru my tube rig. RM 100 with modded SL++ Egnater modules at the time FWIW. I wouldn't say it sounded HUGE as another reviewer put it, just OK/Decent nothing great......not horrible either.

It was an OK guitar after being repaired and set up. However, I can list several 7 string guitars that play, sound, feel better. My ESP/LTD 7 strings, Schecter Hellraiser, Ibanez Prestige 7's can do the triple picking Fear Factory thing far better and sound better to boot. And they don't have that horrible neck joint that inhibits upper register playing. Just a very generic playing guitar with horrible upper fret access due to it's poor design. I wonder if Christian's 7's are bolt on? I bet they are neck thru.

Again the one I had was super light weight. I would be OK to gig with. But don't drop it lol.

I didn't keep it long. I've already described my "awesome" repair experience from day one.

27 years now I've been playing. Currently own an ESP M-307, Ibanez Prestige, Ernie Ball Petrucci 6 string and others. Vetta II and Randall RM 50 with modded modules, an ISP sub (same one that Christian Wolbers uses) and a bunch of other gear. Do yourself a favor and try one of these before you buy. At least buy it used. Nowadays there are so many better 7 strings out there it's not funny.

made in Japan. Good "assembly" quality. But tuners are bad.

Grind, Brutal, SlamDeath. Yeah!!!!! Sound is Good but not in all amps. Peavey 6505 is very good, but with Marshall JCM 900 sound is terrible. :(

very reliable guitar.

it not may need :)

It is a very good guitar.

This guitar has been in my possession for about two years, so I think it's about a time to write something up. Honeymoon with this babe is already over and everyday life has begun etc. =)

Specs are already there, no need to rewrite those. Check below.

As a grade for features, I give a solid 9. If the tuners were there, it might be 9 and a half, but I had to replace those. After playing couple of hours, you noticed that you were a bit outta tune, so this was the reason why those had to be changed for better ones.

Umm. First I have to say: This isn't much of a all-round weapon. With only one pickup (emg 707) on bridge, this limits your choice of sounds. But if you have bought this to be your all-round guitar, you have gone wrong direction already. Actually this guitar excels only in one category, which is obvious: the heavier sounds. OK, cleans are there, but I prefer to use some other guitars to play those instead playing with this guitar. But when moving towards heavier/gainier/distorted sounds, that is where this guitar comes alive.

So now we have to decide, will I give rating based on how this guitar excels in all type of music or just in one category (as it's build to)?

In first case I would give 6,5. There are a lot of guitars which are more versatile (come on, one pickup versus two or three). On second, I'll give a solid 9, again.

OK, there is a bit controversy with EMG-707. I believe, this 707 is somewhere between EMG81 and EMG85 (for 6-string guitars). This pickup works beautifully with Mesa amplifiers, for example. A bit of Maxon 808 to give a boost and you're trough the roof. On the other hand, you can find amplifiers which won't work at all with guitars that have EMG707 or other EMGs. Same applies for some passive pickups also, so let's not get too demanding. For me (and my aplifier/signal chain), this guitar is a perfect fit. Other than pickup, the construction and materials used (excluding the tuners) are kind what you can wish for if you're looking guitar for extreme punishing.

This was suprising, for the money I paid for the guitar, finish was great. Maybe I had the best from the line, but have to say that I'm happy with this. No bad thing to say about it. Don't know how to top this. Of course you had to set it up again, but that is what you do (or at least I do) when you have guitar straight from factory to your hands. You change the strings and set the guitar up again.

Look of this guitar is very simple. No extra blingbling-BS. Ebony fretboard looks extremely great without any inlays. Jackson logo in headstock would be better looking if it was bigger, but maybe I can live with smaller logo also :)

Within these two years I have used this guitar on gigs regularly. No problems yet. But never would I gig without a backup guitar. Never. And that is not guitars fault, it's becouse we are humans, and humans tend to break, bust and crush things by accident.

Rating 10, for now.

Haven't dealt with em.

There has gone "a couple" of guitars through my hands and there's still a lot of traffic with incoming and outcoming guitars. I own 5 guitars at the moment, couple of them are over 1500$ and others are much cheaper. Somehow this particular guitar has been here for two years already (which is, I have to say, a long period). Maybe it's time to move this forward... Nah, I'll stick with this for now.

Rating is 9 (remember, rating this guitar what it's made for, not as a all-round guitar). Simple guitar, for simple player, with extreme sounds =)

I could give 10, but then again, there might be a better guitar for me somewhere out there, so I can't give 10, becouse if I give 10, what will I give to the guitar that tops this? There is no 11, unlike in one amplifier in movie called Spinal Tap..

I felt I had to write a review of this guitar that I've had for a year now, because of the ridiculous things I've been reading on this page.

This guitar for the money has incredible features, mahogany body and neck, silky-smooth ebony fretboard, emg 707 (not a fan, but you can put an 81-7 in with ease), etc.

1) People who complain that this guitar is too light-weight have no clue about guitars. That's a GOOD THING! Mahogany isn't inherently heavy. A Les Paul does because its so thick and has a maple top. A thin body results in more resonant, woody tone... better tone.

2) EMG 707s are very amp sensitive. I've played it through certain amps where it sounded horrible, and others where it was amazing. Experiment.

When used through the right amp, this guitar sounds huge. Very crisp, clear, chunky and full. I sold this guitar to my bandmate because I play ESP now, but this guitar smokes. Perfect for any form of extreme music.

Flawless.

Terrible tuners. We replaced the stock ones with locking Schallers and now all is well.

An all mahogany 7-string guitar with an ebony fretboard and EMG 707 for ~700? Can't find a better value anywhere. This guitar is all class, it's held up for over a year and I love it to death. I suspect some reviews in for this product are from people with a clear agenda.

All black - I don't feel like plunking down ??? 400 extra just for a camouflage striping I don't even care for to begin with. Made of mahogany with ebony keys, and a jumbo fretted bolt-on neck with a 25.5" scale. I'd rather have had a through-body neck, but Jackson just doesn't make tehse that way. One active humbucking EMG 707 pickup at the bridge, a 25k volume control, Tune-O-Matic bridge with an extended string-through-body tail - that's it hardware-wise. I don't need more on a guitar like this, who cares for tone control anyway.

It sounds like you'd expect it to: a mahogany 7-string axe with a EMG 707 active pickup fitted at the bridge. It's not something anyone in his right mind would want to play jazz with. It gives you tons of gain because of the active elctronics, with the trademark bassy mids that the 6-string pickup equivalent EMG 85 also gives. This, with the mahogany graming would tend to mud the sound up, but the ebony fingerboard keeps a lot of definition onboard. This guitar is molten lava, and a bit at the dark end of the scale. I use it in my homestudio through Line 6 and Tech 21 (solid state) gear. Live it's Engl 530, Peavey Classic, 5150-II and H&K Attax - all tube amps. Effects are all TC Electronic (G-Force, G-Major, C-300 and M-300) but used mildly, just a little chorus here and there, and the noisegate to keep things silent and in control.

Don't just take this guitar if you want to sound like Fear Factory. Chris' sound is the sum of his guitar, rig and style so forget about just having the guitar but getting the whole FF sound deal - as with ANY guitar or amp that gets endorsed by whatever artist. This guitar fine for- but should not be taken outside the realm of all things metal. If you want altered chords with suspended notes to shine even through huge amounts of gain, get an alder Ibanez 7-string with a DiMarzio Evoluton pickup fitted. This guitar is made for heavy riffing and thundering chord rolls. That's what it does because that's what it's made for.

Out-of-the-box setup needed a little tweaking to meet my desires. Which is always the case. The fact that I got it where I wanted means it was good enough, or at least adjustable enough. Screws, wiring, fretwork and finishing were all what it should be. This guitar feels remarkably light for what it is, and it's a breeze to play with all night for that reason alone.

I haven't had it long enough to really tell, but from what I can see, if you treat and store it right, it will last for as long as I want it to. I always do my gigs with three or four guitars, regardless of how much faith I have in the instrument. It's solid enough, but it will work as long as the 9V battery lasts (typically 1,800 hours) which is, other than an extra set of strings, the only backup I need.

Don't know, never needed them.

I play jazz and metal, and I have way more stuff than I really need. I bought this guitar with a specific purpose in mind: dark-toned metal riffage and chords. And that's precisely what it gives me. Comparing it with other guitars that I have is a bit difficult. I also have a Schecter Diamond 7-str with SD Custom at the bridge and, while it sounds absolutely great in itself (in fact, that's my favorite live metal guitar for its versatility), it's totally different from this Jackson. Which makes it complementary in the studio :)

Brandnew Guitar, mahagony body and neck, all black, strings through body, well balanced, EMG pickup, reserved Head, ebony Fingerboard, Jackson non-locking tuners

Great Sound for all modern Metal-Styles, great sustain, no noisy sounds from pickup

Needed only little adjustment of the bridge, the finish of the guitar was in perfect conditions, overall looking is great- perfect for metal!

Hope this guitar will last long enough!

n/a

I play for more than 3 years on 7-Strings, I had a Squier and a Dean, but this is the best! If it would be stolen, I would buy this guitar again!

Yup brand new COW DK7. Yeah I was excited to get it like the first reviewer and yup I'm so far disappointed. This is an impressions review as I've only had it 2 days. I'll follow up soon. Bolt on neck which is a stupid idea but oh well. The look is very cool as the ebony fretboard has no inlays and looks cool. I'm actually a fan of 2 pickups in an axe but being such a big Fear Factory fan I was excited to buy an axe that captured the "essence" of Christian's riffing. I would guess that this cheap import isn't even close to what he really plays. Anyway bolt on-ebony fb-single EMG 707-string thru body design-aesthetically it's very cool...

Sounds OK thru my Line 6 HD-147 but most guitars do. I'll have to see how it sounds thru my tube rig at my next band practice. One thing that really really blows is how stupid feather light this guitar is. It really feels cheap and like balsa wood and not Mahogany was the material for the body.

The neck is cool. It's nice and wide as well as flat. The guitar actually came with two of the screws at the neck joint stripped out. I blame Jackson for using too short of screws for the neck joint and DHL shipping for obviously whacking it against something to seperate the neck from the guitar. Luckily a local tech has made it good as new with dowels and longer screws. Even the stupid volume knob came loose from the factory. Quality work there Jackson.

Hard to say how durable it will be as I already mentioned the balsa wood body. The neck seems pretty sturdy though. It just doesn't seem as solid as other 7 stringers. Heck the old ESP 7 strings are a way better deal in solidness and feel.

As soon as I got this guitar in from the internet dealer (I think I learned my lesson buying on the internet) I called him about the seperated neck joint. He did refer me to a local "licensed" Jackson repair center. However knowing the guy's work history (he had botched up a repair for me in the past)I took it to a tech I could trust and coughed up a few bucks for the repair. If Jackson is listing this guy as a repair center then they really don't have a clue.

I've been playing 24 years. I own baritones.....Schecter and Agile. I wish the guy who sold it to me would have been straight about the super light weight of this guitar. I asked him specifically if the guitar had decent density as far as the body weight was concerned. He basically lied to make a sale. Anyway I'll chime back if I feel differently about this guitar soon. I have a strong feeling I will be selling it though.

made in japan,1 emg707, 1 vol. mahogany body and neck ebony board. simple but cool design.

sounds ok

action was set up horribly... probably the worst factory set up i have ever seen...didnt play well at all. pick up wad broken and sunken into the body... what a waste of time.

i have played squiers that felt more sturdy than this... feels like a toy... if you like a solid playing/feeling/sounding guitar.... dont buy this guitar.... its pretty freaking lame.

this guitar is trash... jackson needs to leave the 7 string thing to ibanez. i am a huge fear factory fan and couldnt wait to get it.... and now i cant wait to get rid of it.... it feels hollow and flimsy. absolutly a waste of time.... if you see one in the store dont even play it... because you will never get that 1 or 2 minutes in your life back. When i met Christian Olde Wolbers, he wasnt a very cool guy and his lame guitar is a perfect reflection of that. If it were lost i would get drunk.... if it were stolen i would get drunk with the person who stole it and thank him, maybe give him a sympathy card for having this guitar... and tell him he has bad taste. I like the design... but hate everything else about this guitar. and on a final note.... dont buy one.