who makes eight strings?

fourmations

i have a goo for an eight string

i have googled and ebayed this

is this strictly ibanez territory?

edit: is there any eights i could try in shops in dublin?

rgds

4

feylya

Ibanez and Conklin are two that come to mind

fourmations

Conklin..eh?

not a name i've come across!
cheers, i will check them out

rgds

e

Dord

I think Schecter make one, Dean too.

Morf

Nevborn, they/he did meshuggah's 8 strings for a while

fourmations

cheers all,

i am aware of the nevborns
(meshuggah are one of the main reasons i want an eight)
but in reality this would an experimental guitar and
is unlilkely to take over the place of my fave sixes
(old squier tele, jap fender jazzmaster and upgraded korean epi lp)

it is unlikely that i will pay more than 500 for an eight
am i living in dream land?

its something i have an interest in, but certainly not
a be-all or end all,

i have setup my old metaller squier as a seven without a high e
but long for those low registers as found with an eight
(i dont own a bass, and would find an eight more interesting)

rgds

4

Karl Hungus

fourmations wrote: »

it is unlikely that i will pay more than 500 for an eight
am i living in dream land?

It's unlikely that you'd pay less than a grand for one.

Schecter and Dean don't make any by the way, but ESP/LTD are coming out with a few, but they're not up on Thomann yet. The Ibanez RG2228 is the only realistic one right now. I wouldn't even entertain how much a Conklin could set you back, well into the thousands anyway.

Dord

Karl Hungus wrote: »

It's unlikely that you'd pay less than a grand for one.

Schecter and Dean don't make any by the way, but ESP/LTD are coming out with a few, but they're not up on Thomann yet. The Ibanez RG2228 is the only realistic one right now. I wouldn't even entertain how much a Conklin could set you back, well into the thousands anyway.

Ok, is he talking about 8 string guitars or 8 string basses?!!!

Demeyes

Ibanez and ESP/LTD are the 2 main big companies that have done a production 8 string. Schecter made 1 but it was just a custom.
Halo guitars are a good bet. They make a number of different shapes in 8 strings, they are not that expensive either, the Octavia is a production model. There are a number of luthiers who will build an 8 to your spec too.
Check sevenstring.org There is an extended range forum full of info.

Karl Hungus

Joe Robot wrote: »

Ok, is he talking about 8 string guitars or 8 string basses?!!!

8 String guitars.

Deyemes is right about www.sevenstring.org, excellent place to get lots of info. But I've also heard some horror stories about those Halo guitars, so I'd do a search on them, and see what comes up.

Dord

Oh right my bad. He should get an 8 string bass though!

I saw one of them's Ibanamez 8 stringers in Munich last year. It looked hot!

fourmations

hi all

some of you might find this interesting

i managed to fake an 8 with my six string

i am currently in F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb

i bought a 0.80 bass A string and it went straight on,
no adjustment at the nut, no issue with the tuning peg width either
(bass strings have a thinner section for winding)
no problem at the floyd block either! no real tension/truss issues, its
a little tenser that it was but not much!

the set is: 80 - 62 - 46 - 36 - 26 - 17

the 80 is a medium A bass string as mentioned
the other 5 are the 5 heaviest off a d'dadarrio 13-62 baritone set

im delighted with myself, i have been obsessing about 8 strings
and this is a perfect way to dabble without expense,
it would be much more stable with a baritone and i do have some buzzing when playing clean but it a great little experiment
and sounds savage with heavy distortion

rgds

4

Demeyes

You can get the same range as an eight string on a 6 string. Tune the guitar in 5ths starting with the F#. I've never done it but I might give it a try if I can get the strings and if they fit in the tuners!

Karl Hungus

Demeyes wrote: »

You can get the same range as an eight string on a 6 string. Tune the guitar in 5ths starting with the F#. I've never done it but I might give it a try if I can get the strings and if they fit in the tuners!

I'd imagine tuning that low on a 25.5" scale guitar would be problematic, most 8 strings have a longer scale lenth (The Ibanez has a 27" for example) to accomidate the increased low end.

fourmations

hi Karl (and all)

yep it would certainly be better with a baritone
the top string is sloppy but well playable

you should defo try it on one of yer sevens for the crack

theres no big issues as mentioned above
most importantly the lower tension cancels out
the increased weight of the strings, so no neck bow
(my floyd is exactly level, as it was with 10's at standard tuning)

chords that low are seriously muddy when distorted
but single note riffs are seriously cool
(think recent meshuggah stuff)

i would have liked to play a bit of intersting jazz with this setup
but its a bit sloppy and the clarity of the top string is so-so
(thats where the baritone comes in I'm sure)

I would advise anyone who is into seriously low metal tuning to try it

i was lucky in the way mine worked out, it is totally reversible
with not a single mod or setup change

for more details, read my previous message in this thread
i have pasted in the text instead of the link for convenience

rgds

4

Yakult

LTD's 2008 range have quiet a selection of 8 strings. Should check them out!