3.5k takes care of shipping and all other misc. charges?
yikes... not sure if I'd be willing to spend that much on a mid-range guitar that I've never seen or will see before buying... and heck, I've never even tried playing a 7-string before...
hmmm, getting an MIK 7-string may be penny wise, pound foolish... especially considering that there's quite a lot of good reviews for the 1527 and they generally say that the stock pickups aside, the 1527 compares well with more expensive 7-strings in terms of construction, quality etc...
...anyway, on a slight tangent, I noticed that you're into Rusty Cooley. He's really one sick guitarist, not just his ub3r-l33t sweeping/legato-ing/picking but his damn vibrato and sheer attitude is crazy... not too mention he's got some really tasteful phrasing and bends like in Dark Matter (shredder? bend?

). You must be quite a killer yourself if you play his stuff...
...hehe, I'm kinda GAS-sing for a 7-string because of him...