I have an Ibanez RG7 and love it. Really, which brand you go with is all based on personal preference, but here's a few tips that'll help. Since you said you're not too familiar with 7-strings, I'll go over some basic stuff as well as some cool tricks I've figured out.
- I tune my RG7 to drop A, which is pretty much what every 7-stringed player does. You might wanna set up your guitar for even heavier gauge strings than its stock gauges. I use Ernie Ball's 8-string pack, which is 10's to 74's. I string them (from 1 to 7) as follows: 10 13 17 30 42 64 74. I find that the 56 it comes with is too thick for my 5th (A) string. - On the contrary, if you wanna go lower than drop A, it's best to stay above E. I tune my 8-string to that low as fuck E, with a bass string, and even that's still kinda flimsy. - Get a capo. That way, if you're learning a song in drop B, C, etc., you don't have to retune everything (which on a 7-string, can be a pain in the ass). So for example, for drop B you would put the capo on the 2nd fret, for drop C on the 3rd fret...I usually don't go any higher than that though because it can start to weaken your tone. - Also, I'll try and see if I can learn a non-drop A song, but a drop A version of it. For example: Suffocation's "Infecting the Crypts" is in C standard, but I figured out a drop A version that works very nicely. I've also done this with a few Cannibal Corpse songs - the ones in A# standard. - Get thick picks. I use Dunlop's Jazz III, which are very small, pointy, and thick. They're great for speed picking and sweep picking, and are easy to use on the higher-gauge strings. - Keep practicing 6-string stuff sometimes, as if you're 7th string isn't there. It'll sorta train your brain to use all the strings. A lot of 7-stringers fall into the trap of just chugging the bottom two strings constantly. Don't let that happen to you. - Take extra good care of your guitar's neck. I mean, even more so than you would with a 6-string. If it gets worn down, warped, or (shivers) broken, 7-string necks are harder to fix/replace, and are surely pricier. Learn how to adjust your truss rod. - Get familiar with bands who use 7-strings or play in drop A. Take note of how they play, how they write, and how their songs are structured. It'll help when you wanna improvise. 'Cause if you can successfully improvise on a 7-string, that's really impressive. Obviously, 7-strings are popular with deathcore bands. Carnifex, Thy Art Is Murder, Whitechapel, and Lorna Shore are some good examples - not the excessively chuggy types, but bands who actually write riffs. Nile plays in drop A, but on a 6-string. A lot of slam bands (Ingested, Abominable Putridity, etc.) either play in drop A or use 7-strings. * The 6-string drop a and 7-string drop a are different. On a 6, the tuning is: AEADF#b. On a 7: AEADGBE. So when learning a drop a song, find out if the band is using 7-strings or not, because that half-step difference (G and F#) is important.
Hope this helps!
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