25,5" scale 8-string

[caughtinamosh]

I'm relieved to hear that you can make an 8 workable with a standard 25.5 scale I do not like baritone scales.

Is it the long stretches that put you off?

 

[Crucified]

The truest fucking post I've seen in a long time.

I've never actually played an eight string, but I DO know that I simply didn't like the tone out of a short scale seven string - I had to string it with suspension bridge cables to achieve the tension I liked, and it just sounded like mud because of the sheer mass of the strings. That's why i jumped on the whole "long scale" bandwagon. My logic is that if it sounded like that with a low B, then with a low F#... .

EDIT - It probably doesn't help that I want to play power chords on the low F# either . Seriously, has anyone ever achieved a decent sound doing this?

my grind band plays 8 strings only and i play lots of power chords and single note runs etc. sounds great. that being said, i had to re eq my amps and find different strings to get the clarity those huge low chords require. when all is said and done now, for strings i'm using d'addario regular light 7 string set, 10,13,17,26,36,46,59 and a d'addario nw074 for the f#, it will sit decent at drop E as well but i'm not a drop player.
my scale is 28" and the pickups i use are not terribly hot. So i think that also helps with clarity issues.

 

[caughtinamosh]

my grind band plays 8 strings only and i play lots of power chords and single note runs etc. sounds great. that being said, i had to re eq my amps and find different strings to get the clarity those huge low chords require. when all is said and done now, for strings i'm using d'addario regular light 7 string set, 10,13,17,26,36,46,59 and a d'addario nw074 for the f#, it will sit decent at drop E as well but i'm not a drop player.
my scale is 28" and the pickups i use are not terribly hot. So i think that also helps with clarity issues.

So it can be done .

Have you got any clips/videos demonstrating the low F# power chord? I'd love to hear it in action.

 

[Crucified]

Compound Terror on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
song irradiated earth, at the end is all power chords on the f# and B strings. that was with the ibanez rg2228 with stock strings and lundgren pickups. ran through a diezel herbert and bogner uberschall through vader 4x12 cabs. my newer(better sound) is an orange cab and vader cab with the axefx and my custom sherman 8 string.

 

[caughtinamosh]

Compound Terror on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
song irradiated earth, at the end is all power chords on the f# and B strings. that was with the ibanez rg2228 with stock strings and lundgren pickups. ran through a diezel herbert and bogner uberschall through vader 4x12 cabs. my newer(better sound) is an orange cab and vader cab with the axefx and my custom sherman 8 string.

Excellent . Cheers man, it's good to know that it can be done with clarity .

Oh, and do you have a link/thread with the Sherman? Sherman p0rn is always nice to see .

 

[Koshchei]

Is it the long stretches that put you off?

Indeed yes. The first 4 bars of a piece I'm writing look like this from the planing state, and it's already quite not-nice on a 25.5" scale:

.........T..T...........T..T.............T.T..........T..T
|---------------|----------------|-------------|--------------|
|---------------|----------------|-------------|--------------|
|---------------|----------------|-------------|--------------|
|-------10------|-------10-------|-------9-----|-------9------|
|-----6----10-6-|-----6----10-6--|-----5---9-5-|-----5---9-5--|
|---3-----------|---3------------|---2---------|---2----------|
|-1-------------|-1--------------|-0-----------|-0------------|

Here is the first clean take of the first theme as it will appear - some of the timing is suspect. You have been warned.

Balancing playability with range is a concern for me.

 

[J-Twin]

Here is the first clean take of the first theme as it will appear

Very nice! I like this a lot!

I take it you're doing a lot of shifting and not stretching 10 frets?

 

[Koshchei]

Thanks for the positive feedback

I'm actually tapping the 10th fret and 9th fret stuff with my middle and ring fingers and picking the other notes.

It may just be me (and it usually is), but I can't get the notes to ring out the same way when I shift position - reverb's "all or nothing" echo rapes my dynamics.

 

[Harry]

Is it the long stretches that put you off?

That's what tends to put me off guitars longer than a 25.5 inch scale.
I do a lot of sweep picking patterns that are only just doable on a 25.5 inch scale guitar in the middle of the fretboard and I found they were just too hard on a 27 inch scale guitar, no matter how much time I tried to adjust to the scale length.
I could always cut the webbing between my fingers....but that might hurt a little

 

[RXTN]

That's what tends to put me off guitars longer than a 25.5 inch scale.
I do a lot of sweep picking patterns that are only just doable on a 25.5 inch scale guitar in the middle of the fretboard and I found they were just too hard on a 27 inch scale guitar, no matter how much time I tried to adjust to the scale length.
I could always cut the webbing between my fingers....but that might hurt a little

That's exact problem i'm having!