Advice for 8 string muting?

[Anquished]

Hey everyone,

So I got an 8 string last month and have been having some issues adapting to it. I'm finding it very difficult to play cleanly when playing anything that involves fretting the low F#, the high string's whine. I can happily play riff's using the other 7 absolutely fine.

It has to be me just being terrible at muting but I've tried to counteract this by slowing right down and paying close attention to using both of my hands to mute. But I found that my fretting hand gets very sore quickly as I'm trying to flatten it down on the higher strings when reaching up to the lowest string.

Has anyone else who moved to 8 strings had this problem? Any recommendations or advice?

 

[Harry]

Could be the particular neck profile and shape/dimensions just are not the best fit for your fretting hand.
Could be a matter of just spending more time getting comfortable with it.
Personally I notice that my 8 string just straight up feels more physically demanding to play than my 7s and 6s due to the extra scale length and wider neck, whereas I notice basically zero difference between the 6s and 7s in that regard. I think it's a case of 50/50, one 50 being that 8 strings just generally are more taxing to play, but the other being that also that this particular model is not the best fit physically for me.
I'd say just give it more time. You may get used to it and adapt, or you may, like some, find it's just not for them which is cool.

 

[Anquished]

Yeah the neck profile is a lot thinner than both my 6 and 7 string and the fretboard radius is flatter. I'm going to do my best to stick with it.

 

[prlgmnr]

I've sold my 8 and it might be a bit of a while till I get another, but how do you hold your pick/have your picking hand?

I found that sort of flopping the three fingers that weren't holding my pick onto the higher strings did a decent job of stopping some of the noise, plus being careful not to flatten down my left hand fingers SO much that I accidentally FRETTED the high strings instead of muting them, which was definitely a mistake I did at first. Obviously you have to watch that whatever muting technique you try doesn't end up CREATING more noise by scratching about or exciting the strings or whatever.

 

[Anquished]

So I hold my pick with my index finger curled right in, so its resting on the first knuckle bit before the end of my finger and underneath my thumb, my other three fingers just kinda flare out but relaxed.

I'll give it a go using my free fingers to sit on the higher strings.

 

[thoughtpyotr]

so I've had this problem in the past and there are a few things I would advise.

Record your DI and see if the open strings ring out there. IF they do then you know your hands may be the problem.
IF they don't then your tone may be the problem (as in too much gain)

 

[Anquished]

Interesting..

I shall give that a go, thanks!

 

[takotakumi]

Same thing happens to me more often when using my 8 than when using 7s. From what I understand, its mostly due to sympathetic vibrations.
I tend to mute most of the high strings by anchoring my pinky on the 1st string and thus resting those 3 fingers on the top strings like someone above suggested.

 

[Masoo2]

Since beginning to play 8 strings (and moving exclusively to 8s), I've found that:

a. My pinky either naturally locks onto one-two strings or rests over 2-3 strings at any given moment.

b. My thumb is often locked around the neck and touching the 8th string when doing open string playing on the rest of the strings

c. If I'm playing a note on one of the lower strings with my index finger, I'll use the middle finger to mute the 8th string

d. The right side of my hand often lays on 1-3 lower strings when I'm playing the rest

e. I ALWAYS cover every string when doing palm muted stuff, even if I'm only playing 1-4 strings at a time. This is generally a combination of elements a, c, and d.

From what I understand, its mostly due to sympathetic vibrations.

This is definitely an issue which is why I try to focus so hard on muting. 8 strings = a nightmare when it comes to sympathetic vibrations

 

[Anquished]

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[auxioluck]

It took me 3 different 8 string guitars and a lot of patience to finally get my hand position right so I could properly mute the F# without straining. For me, it came down to adjusting my thumb position on the neck so it was just a little lower than where I put it on 6/7 strings. I kept thinking that the necks were the problem, but in reality it was just me.

 

[Anquished]

It took me 3 different 8 string guitars and a lot of patience to finally get my hand position right so I could properly mute the F# without straining. For me, it came down to adjusting my thumb position on the neck so it was just a little lower than where I put it on 6/7 strings. I kept thinking that the necks were the problem, but in reality it was just me.

I think my thumb is naturally starting to do that since spending more time playing the 8. I have fairly big hands and can easily reach the strings without stretching, my issue is just flattening it enough to mute the other strings without causing myself pain.

Good to know that it's probably not the neck that is the issue though!