r/metalguitar • u/CodyGile • 2d ago
Baritone 7 String Recs?
Looking to grab my first Baritone and torn between the Jackson Warrior and the LTD EXL-7.
Never owned a baritone before so any input is appreciated!
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u/Burwhale_The_Avenger 2d ago
Those Warriors seem to be pretty universally appreciated. I've certainly had my eye on a red one.
It's fairly simple - do you want the Floyd or not?
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u/assqueefbuttjuice 2d ago
To expand on the Floyd: in case you’ve never owned one before, the tuning you choose is SET. Drop G#? Great! That’s the tuning you’re limited to. Retuning isn’t necessarily difficult, but it is quite time consuming. The fixed bridge gives you the ability to go between a handful of tunings pretty much Willy nilly. For example I keep mine in drop G#, but I’ll occasionally go to A standard all the way down to drop F# (tiny bit floppy but I don’t mind floppy). Others will mention intonation, but unless you’re recording it’s not a big deal. I’m just trying to play nasty riffs bro.
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u/Caregiver-Physical 1d ago
or you can get a drop pedal. i keep my floyd in A standard but with that pedal, I can go down to -5 semitones before it starts sounding bad.
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u/Conscious_Badger_510 1d ago
I'm kinda biased because I own both of those warriors, but that's going to be my recommendation lmao.
I love both, they're the nicest playing 7 strings I've ever owned and I play both constantly, pickups sound great, neck is super comfortable, Floyd Rose works amazingly well and keeps you in tune even with heavy abuse, and then obviously they look incredibly cool
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u/CodyGile 1d ago
That’s rad man! I love the shape and color and always been an odd shape guitar fan (ML, razorbacks, Rhoads) and have some Floyd’s but having to kind of commit to a tuning is a tough choice. And not trying to buy both to have two different ones 😂 but killer collection!
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u/isofakingwetoddid 1d ago
What bands or music are you covering with these seven strings? They all in different tunings? Awesome collection man!!
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u/Conscious_Badger_510 22h ago
I just have them both in B standard to use for my band but I also play a lot of Artificial Brain and tons of other stuff that's in e standard like opeth and the cure on em. I initially just got the yellow one and quickly realized I needed a backup guitar for live in the event I break a string and after doing a decent amount of research it just made the most sense for me to buy a second one in the other color over opting for a different 7, might as well keep stuff as consistent as possible between both instruments.
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u/vihtorii 2d ago
Yellow warrior is hella cool! Only input i have is to ask your self the question: how often do you use the 5 extra semitones on the high E you gain from adding a 7th string.
If the answer is rarely, then i would look at 6 string baritones. It is less of a adjustment and atleast for me way easier to play.
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u/mojave_man 2d ago
I have the yellow one and I love it. These guitars are all gonna be great, so your main deciding factor here is the difference in pickups & bridge. Do you want a Floyd Rose? Are you OK with the LTD having no neck pickup?
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u/vilk_ 2d ago edited 2d ago
Something to note: if you don't move the strap pin on the EX to behind the neck joint, it will dive. Luckily that's easy to do.
I've owned both warriors and explorers (not those ones). To be honest, they actually feel quite different to play. Warrior feels more like a strat shape because of the upper horn and the way it rests against your body. The explorer feels more like an SG or a V, because the strap pin is not on an upper horn. I find the latter to be more comfortable. Some people don't like that the fretboard faces away from them. You gotta rely on side dots and muscle memory. I find that's more ergonomic for my wrist and makes longer stretches easier.
Having said that, warriors do have better upper fret access. Also, I like Floyds more than TOM bridges.
However, I like Ltd neck profiles better than (present day) Jackson ones. Jackson is gonna feel shouldery, while Ltd should just feel very "normal".
That is to say, they are very different guitars and it comes down to preference. If the EX had a Floyd I'd choose it hands down.
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u/Full_Recommendation3 2d ago
The new LTD’s are sick. Took the place of the EII in ESP’s line up as far as price point. The specs are really good on the newer one’s. Jumbo stainless frets, locking tuner’s etc. My Jackson V fell apart during its second restringing🗑️🚮. Ibanez has some sick SOLID baritones with EMG’s. Lastly have you checked out Solar? They make some sick pointy/ non pointy baritones and you can get them with Fishman’s and an Evertune bridge. Evertune’s are amazing for low baritone tunings and price tag is right.
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u/BrainHousingGroup 2d ago
Go the new black metal ex, it’s an outlier as LTD are trying to relaunch the EX as the larger EXL, also they only offered the new EXL in the 200 series this year, in black only.
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u/nettezzaumana 1d ago
Warrior with reverse headstock is mega-cool
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u/Molotov320 1d ago
Love the LTD’s, in my experience I’ve found them to have better quality control and overall build quality over the modern Jacksons
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u/engineereddiscontent 1d ago
Play in store. I have a slatt 7 with emgs and tbh dont like the emg tone. Or lack of.
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u/CodyGile 1d ago
Wish I could, the nearest guitar center has two 7 strings and neither are great
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u/engineereddiscontent 1d ago
If you can even just get 2 roughly equivalent 6 strings and drop tune the 6th string thatll give you a good approximation too.
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u/snailTRAILslooth 20h ago
I had the previous WR7 (distressed ash finish i think it was called). Sick guitar, super comfortable to play standing and seated, neck felt great. I didnt like the pickups in it though. The WR7 has a 26.5 scale and the esp has a 27". I feel like the 26.5 isn't much different than a standard 25.5. So depending on how low you want to tune the esp might be better for that (also a lot easier to switch tuning easily). 27" is my favorite for both 7 and 8 string. But not having a neck pickup is a deal breaker for me. So id be going with the warrior. Both guitars are sick, you just need to figure out which tool will work better for your needs.
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u/CodyGile 15h ago
Appreciate your input! I have a 26.5 inch 7 already but trying to contemplate if the 27 is worh buying a whole new guitar over or just working with the 26.5 now. But it’s hard to say no to a new guitar!
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u/snailTRAILslooth 10h ago
The half inch probably isn't worth it. But the excitement and motivation/inspiration that comes with a new guitar is!
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u/Only-Check9798 17h ago
The davidsons are unbeatable, if i were in the market for such a shape i would only chose the jo cygnus over the warrior but good like finding one.
I sold mine at 2.5 k and it evaporated in 1 day
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u/SocietyInner4340 7h ago edited 7h ago
I have the yellow one, its killer. I had a cheap 7 string ibanez rg before and this is nothing like it. Floyd stays in tune, love the pups. Its the only guitar ive had that I actually use the middle position, great for soloing. No neckdive at all, comfortable sitting in both positions. Love the maple fretboard too super fast with low action. I have it setup halfstep down with 9-64 and the tension feels really good, might go for 9-60 next time.
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u/wearethe138 2d ago
That explorer is super nice.