8 string build questions

[nikolaihall]

So a buddy of mine just got home from school and has a well equipped woodworking shop available to him. So of course, I have gotten it into my head that we are going to build a guitar. For the most part I'm pretty set on what I am wanting in a guitar ( I've listed the specs below) but I wanted to get some input on a couple of things. I've gotten permission from Ola Strandberg to use his designs when building the guitar and any modifications I make will be open for use by others.

Specs
8 string
Fanned fretboard
Headless construction
Strandberg tuners/bridge and string locks
Strandberg Endurneck profile (after required license purchase)
Bound ebony fretboard
5 piece wenge/bubinga neck
Bolt on construction
Zero fret
Stainless steel frets
Chambered 3 piece alder body
Figured redwood top
Lace X-bar pickups
1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way selector and push/pull pots to split each pickup

My questions are
-in your experience, where is the best place to have the perpendicular fret on a multi scale 8 string?
-Regarding pickup placement, do you feel they should be slanted, follow the fan of the frets or be installed normally?
-what string spacing would you suggest at the nut/bridge? I was going to do 7mm at the nut and 10mm at the bridge but I'm open to suggestions.
-I would like to have a low B and a high A on this guitar, I was thinking about doing a 25-27 inch multi scale for this as I really like the 27 inch scale low B on my Ibanez. Would the 25 inch scale be short enough to do a high A with an 8 as the high string? This is really my main question, I can't think of any way to "test" this without just building it so any input would be welcome

Thanks ahead of time for your help! I'll make sure to post pics as the build progresses

 

[Knarbens]

- perp fret at the 7th fret is pretty balanced. The angle at the nut and the angle on the fretboard end are equal. I think it's a matter whether you play more at the high frets or not ...
- To have the same sound characteristics like on a single scale guitar you'd want to install them slanted following the fan. Other placements might sound interessting as well ... Straight mounted pickups look cool, but they'll sound different.
- 6.67 - 7 mm is common at the nut. On the bridge I'd suggest 10.5, but that's personal preference

 

[vansinn]

^agree on most. When nut spacing gets below 6.8 mm, chord works may start to become less easy (at lest for me).

I partly disagree with 7th fret as the perp, but this will depend on your playing position.
The higher up the neck angle (as in classical guitar playing), the less you should feel the nut angle when the perp fret is at 7th.
How much angle you'll like towards the body, and also at the bridge, is again personal preferences.

I'd suggest designing a couple of layouts, like perp at 7th and 9/10th, and print and stick them to a simple plywood neck, or stiff cardboard for sliding in on a regular guitar.

 

[jack_cat]

quote: "Would the 25 inch scale be short enough to do a high A with an 8 as the high string? This is really my main question, I can't think of any way to "test" this without just building it so any input would be welcome..."

There is a thread here, 10 pages called "A4 and beyond", which you should probably read.

I think the consensus from those who have tried is that 24" is right at the upper limit for an A string, and not everybody is happy with that, lots of string breakage reported and difficulty finding the right string. 23" is almost max, and anything shorter than that works fine. I am planning to go 23-5/8" (= 600mm) for the high A on my next guitar, which will be a classical/nylon type.

Lenny Breau went 22" on his seven string.

- jack