Abasi Concepts/Larada Megathread

[cardinal]

The thing they really need to watch for is if they still intend to offer straight-scale 8s with the Floyd. The Floyd 8 has a 10.8mm string-to-string spacing, so they need to plan for the neck width accordingly. Some of the earlier guitars looked like they did not and the outer strings looked like they were practically off the fretboard.

FWIW, I've been playing 8s with the 10.8mm spacing for a while and never noticed any issues. In fact I go back and forth between some Floyd 8s and the Hipshot 8 (with a 10.5mm spacing) and never notice the difference. I suppose maybe I would notice the jump down to 10mm, but I assume it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to adjust.

 

[StevenC]

I've never seen white 8-string fluence pickups before, have any of you?

Tosin has had some for a while, but they finally made them available to the rest of us just recently.

 

[Jack McGoldrick]

I've never seen white 8-string fluence pickups before, have any of you?

Yeah Tosin has them on some of his, also on fishmans insta you’ll see them

 

[Hollowway]

The thing they really need to watch for is if they still intend to offer straight-scale 8s with the Floyd. The Floyd 8 has a 10.8mm string-to-string spacing, so they need to plan for the neck width accordingly. Some of the earlier guitars looked like they did not and the outer strings looked like they were practically off the fretboard.

FWIW, I've been playing 8s with the 10.8mm spacing for a while and never noticed any issues. In fact I go back and forth between some Floyd 8s and the Hipshot 8 (with a 10.5mm spacing) and never notice the difference. I suppose maybe I would notice the jump down to 10mm, but I assume it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to adjust.

Hmm Abasi Concepts seems cursed, and they’re trying to release a Floyd 8 guitar. The BC Rich reboot seems cursed, and they’re also trying to release a Floyd 8 guitar. Coincidence? I think not. Trying to make a 8 string guitar with a Floyd is the luthierie equivalent of looking in the mirror and saying Candyman.




* Editor’s note: Hollowway is aware that, in the actual movie, a character must say “Candyman” five times, in succession, for Candyman to appear. Hollowway is also very well aware that Schecter and Agile have, in the past, released an 8 string Floyd. He doesn’t care. He wants another one.)

 

[Avedas]

Hmm Abasi Concepts seems cursed, and they’re trying to release a Floyd 8 guitar. The BC Rich reboot seems cursed, and they’re also trying to release a Floyd 8 guitar. Coincidence? I think not. Trying to make a 8 string guitar with a Floyd is the luthierie equivalent of looking in the mirror and saying Candyman.




* Editor’s note: Hollowway is aware that, in the actual movie, a character must say “Candyman” five times, in succession, for Candyman to appear. Hollowway is also very well aware that Schecter and Agile have, in the past, released an 8 string Floyd. He doesn’t care. He wants another one.)

Didn't someone on here get a custom 8 string Floyd fabricated last year? That's gotta be the real way around the curse.

 

[kisielk]

Caparison has an 8 string with a Floyd, they seem to be doing ok!

 

[kisielk]

I've never seen white 8-string fluence pickups before, have any of you?

They're mentioned at around 9:30 in this new video from the Fishman channel:

 

[StevenC]

Didn't someone on here get a custom 8 string Floyd fabricated last year? That's gotta be the real way around the curse.

No, they got a titanium Edge 8 made and it's spectacular.

 

[Velokki]

Am I just not enlightened enough to know or appreciate the benefits... or is it just stupid to have now lower register access with one's thumb? Why would one willingly design the body to go over the top of the fretboard?

Are there any actual benefits, or is it just "unique design for the sake of unique design"?

 

[Vyn]

No, they got a titanium Edge 8 made and it's spectacular.

It's quite possibly the best piece of custom kit I've seen on this entire forum.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Am I just not enlightened enough to know or appreciate the benefits... or is it just stupid to have now lower register access with one's thumb? Why would one willingly design the body to go over the top of the fretboard?

Are there any actual benefits, or is it just "unique design for the sake of unique design"?

Back in the 80's and 90's a lot of boutique bass builders did this to better support the neck and allow for thinner necks and smaller neck joints higher up the neck.

Whether that applies to these is anyone's guess as you could probably count on one hand the number of people who have played these thus far.

 

[mnemonic]

The thing they really need to watch for is if they still intend to offer straight-scale 8s with the Floyd. The Floyd 8 has a 10.8mm string-to-string spacing, so they need to plan for the neck width accordingly. Some of the earlier guitars looked like they did not and the outer strings looked like they were practically off the fretboard.

FWIW, I've been playing 8s with the 10.8mm spacing for a while and never noticed any issues. In fact I go back and forth between some Floyd 8s and the Hipshot 8 (with a 10.5mm spacing) and never notice the difference. I suppose maybe I would notice the jump down to 10mm, but I assume it wouldn't take more than a few minutes to adjust.

Maybe they’ll try using Kahlers, as you can adjust string spacing with them. Though you would be stuck with a Kahler and it seems most people don’t like them.

 

[cardinal]

Didn't someone on here get a custom 8 string Floyd fabricated last year? That's gotta be the real way around the curse.

I had two guitars built with Floyd 8s this year. In both cases, I had to plead and beg to get the neck built wide enough. I asked to the same width as the Ibanez 8 string necks (oddly their fixed bridge uses the same spacing as the Floyd 8). Apparently there was something about that neck width presents issues for common neck blanks and jigs, so the builders eventually agreed to made the necks wider but it was a lot of effort for them.

Am I just not enlightened enough to know or appreciate the benefits... or is it just stupid to have now lower register access with one's thumb? Why would one willingly design the body to go over the top of the fretboard?

Are there any actual benefits, or is it just "unique design for the sake of unique design"?

Like Max said, it's been a thing in the bass world. Basses have super long necks and can suffer from terrible wolf tones or dead spots cause by the neck resonating with certain notes. But if you build it like this, you effectively shorten the neck and make it stiffer/less resonant in the hopes that it sustains more evenly.

It also makes for a nice place to rest your right hand for some tapping.

A lot of folks play with their left hand in a classical position with the thumb behind the neck and do vibrato more side-to-side like Lynch rather than up-and-down. Bass players rarely bend up high, so it's not really an issue. For guitar, it might be annoying though if you do a lot of rapid big bends up high. At least I tend to need my thumb over the neck for leverage.

 

[Andromalia]

do vibrato more side-to-side like Lynch rather than up-and-down

Up and down vibrato on a fretted instrument always felt weird to me.

 

[cardinal]

Up and down vibrato on a fretted instrument always felt weird to me.

When I was first learning to play, I got a bad habit of always looping my thumb over the top of the neck and would default to what my teacher called "rock vibrato" where I just moved up and down with my thumb as the hinge or pivot point. It has its place, but it has its limitations (only raises the pitch, maybe not as smooth and emotive as moving side to side like a violin), so it took a lot of effort for me to relearn with a more classical technique.

I'm always telling my kids it's so much easier in the long run to just learn the right way the first time...

 

[Vyn]

When I was first learning to play, I got a bad habit of always looping my thumb over the top of the neck and would default to what my teacher called "rock vibrato" where I just moved up and down with my thumb as the hinge or pivot point. It has its place, but it has its limitations (only raises the pitch, maybe not as smooth and emotive as moving side to side like a violin), so it took a lot of effort for me to relearn with a more classical technique.

I'm always telling my kids it's so much easier in the long run to just learn the right way the first time...

I had a strict teacher who would bark/yell at me for putting my thumb over the board. Also would yell at me for curling my pinky finger. As a frightened 10 year old, I listened haha. I've tried playing/learning how to do thumb over the board and it just feels wrong.

 

[xzacx]

What the hell is "up and down vibrato?" Not sure if this is just semantics or a technique I've never heard of.

 

[StevenC]

What the hell is "up and down vibrato?" Not sure if this is just semantics or a technique I've never heard of.

Vibrato achieved by bending the string up and down parallel to the fret. As opposed to vibrato achieved by rolling or sliding your finger along the string within the fret.

 

[Señor Voorhees]

I'm curious how classical vibrato does anything. Like... it works on a violin because there's no frets, but on a guitar, wouldn't moving your finger around between frets do nothing? Or it the equivalent of pushing too hard on a large fretted guitar?

Just curious. Never really understood the physics of it.

 

[Fred the Shred]

Horizontal vibrato on the electric guitar (and any other) is a bit of a subtle thing in terms of pitch variation compared to its vertical counterpart - players who opt to use it are often prone to also exert pressure towards the board more deliberately (and release it, of course) to increase the pitch variation. There is nothing particulary problematic when using vertical vibrato using classical position and it's widely used by many players, anyway. I prefer to have my thumb further up the back of the neck for such antics, though, but this is a typical case of personal preference.