Jackson 7-String Setup – Fixing a Thuddy Tone in Drop G♯
One of my recent projects in the workshop was a Jackson 7-string that just wouldn’t sing. The player described the tone as “thuddy” and lifeless in Drop G♯, even though the guitar looked perfectly fine on paper. :) After checking it over, the neck relief, fretwork, and intonation were all within spec — so why the dull low end? The answer was in the string gauge. The stock .064 low B string simply didn’t have enough tension for Drop G♯. It was flopping just enough to lose attack and clarity. The fix was straightforward: replace it with a .068 string and adjust the nut slot height for perfect clearance. I used a Crimson neck relief gauge and digital nut gauge to dial in the setup to the thousandth of a millimetre. After the swap, the difference was night and day — the low end tightened up, the tone opened out, and the guitar finally played with the kind of clarity and response you’d expect from a properly set-up 7-string. If your extended-range or drop-tuned guitar sounds ...