Having reluctance picking up my 8...

[Zedism]

I'm always playing my epi 335 since I bought my Omen 8, it just feels really, really good by comparison. The action is perfect and ridiculously low and I can zip around the board with no problems. The omen just feels sloppy. Terrible stock gauges, leading to a floppy F#, a fierce buzz, and much tighter than preferable higher end strings, it feels unbalanced towards the body and the pick ups are crazy-muddy (not that I didn't know that upon purchasing). I just don't know what to do with it.

I took a dive straight in to 8's and I feel this has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't think that getting myself a properly tension'd set of circle K's is going to fix my gripes, but that's what I need some help with. Am I better off just selling and sticking with my 6 for the near future, (perhaps saving for a decent 7-8) or persevering with a nicely balanced string set? (keeping in mind I'm probably going to be paying $40+ postage included for an 11-82 circle k set)

 

[F4R537KTP09]

I guess it's worth a shot setting it up.
This guitar seems nice (well, I don't own one but specifications are alright).
With brighter and better tension-balanced strings you should be able to play it better, and the pickups should as well sound better.
Anyway, do you feel the neck is uncomfortable? Or is it just an issue with the strings and the sound?
In my case, when I play lower tuned guitars, I have to set my amp up a very different way than with a 6 stringer, so I guess you'll have to deal with this as well and take some time setting this detail too.
IMO, no offense, but it's a little early to get separated with this guitar if you didn't even try to have it set the proper way.
Hope it can help you even a little...

 

[Given To Fly]

I think you will be surprised at what a good setup and a set of Circle K strings will do for your Omen 8!

 

[haffner1]

I was feeling the same way about my agile 827 until I got better strings with a proper gauge on the F#. Honestly I don't know what these companies are thinking with the "standard" gauges they are using on the low string. You would think it would be obvious that a 74 or 72 is going to flop around and buzz at that pitch. Just think about it- a standard 34 in scale bass uses an 80 gauge on the "light" set for the A string. The F# on an 8 is a minor 3rd below that and the scale is probably 6-9 inches shorter depending on your guitar, which will reduce the tension further.

I just slapped an 80 on my agile and all of the buzz on the F# went away completely. I think I might go down to a 78, but no further than that.

 

[Señor Voorhees]

After a pickup and string swap I really dig my Omen 8. (those stock pickups were absolute mud.) Higher fret access is pretty shit, but I love the neck. Perhaps hold onto it, as it's not really worth a whole hell of a lot anyway, and whenever you can get a good set of strings go for it. Unless the neck feels bad to you, then I'd say get rid of it. If it's all string tension and crap pickups putting you off about it, then it may be worth upgrading.

 

[RadDadTV]

I was feeling the same way about my agile 827 until I got better strings with a proper gauge on the F#. Honestly I don't know what these companies are thinking with the "standard" gauges they are using on the low string. You would think it would be obvious that a 74 or 72 is going to flop around and buzz at that pitch. Just think about it- a standard 34 in scale bass uses an 80 gauge on the "light" set for the A string. The F# on an 8 is a minor 3rd below that and the scale is probably 6-9 inches shorter depending on your guitar, which will reduce the tension further.

I just slapped an 80 on my agile and all of the buzz on the F# went away completely. I think I might go down to a 78, but no further than that.

I use a 74 in F and it feels great to me... Fredrick from Meshuggah is currently using a 72 on his 27" scale custom in F. I don't think that guitar companies are doing anything wrong by starting you out with anything above a 70.

 

[sevenstringj]

If you think the plain strings feel too tight now, I don't see how putting 11s on there is in the realm of sanity. Don't pull your hair out over "balanced tension." Get what feels right and gives the most balanced tone. I'd go with something like 9-12-16-25-35-47-59-79. And Circle K's will definitely help articulation (at least in my experience).