Is the 8-string all hype?

[Variant]

Bad comparison. There is nothing aside from size that allows pianos to go up to 88 keys from 61. When adding more keys, all you need is more strings capable of hitting the note you're aiming for. On guitar, not only do you have to worry about the scale of the instrument and its ability to handle more strings in either direction or how a long scale effects higher notes' timbre of vice versa, you also have the issue of intonation and amplifcation on top of that, issues that just arent there for pianos.

If you're using it in a metal context, especially really really heavy shit, you have to take into account how it sounds in a band context, as well. That too, is limiting.

Yes, but that's all up the the user to choose weather to adapt to / cope with... that has hardly to with 'hype' and simply to do with individual musician's choices. You guys all overthink this shit, it's music, not nuclear power generation. This could easily be another long winded convo about floating bridges vs. hardtails, or basswood vs. mahogany... but in the end, does the average listener give a shit? Jimi payed a right handed Strat upside down, Devin Townsend tunes to open C, Jerry Garcia had more fricken' knobs on his guitar than most guitarists would care to think about, Robert Smith is fond of 30" Bass VI type guitars. Do their choices of what work for them warrant putting a microscope on every facet of said choices? Maybe to some, but to the average appreciator of their respective works, and to the musicians themselves, almost certainly not. You guys just keep on having your philosophical discussions on things like weather just intonation scales should be worthy of existing or not, and so on... I'm just gonna quote Frank Zappa here:

"Shut up, and play yer guitar."

 

[robotsatemygma]

I'd love to play an 8 stringer. I love my 7.

 

[Daemoniac]

Not an 8 string player yet, but i do plan on owning one soon.

The way i see it, the 8 string is just another tool to work with. It allows for multi scaling, longer scale length (and thus lower tunings/clearer, sharper sound), more notes to work with, more versatility with tuning and so on...

For me personally, it means i can tune it to a comfortably low level, with drop G#, drop G# tuning, and still have normal sounding strings after that. It also means i can play more comfortably for me with the sccale length (nearly upright).

All in all, i think its great. Definately a very personal decision, and whether you will or wont use it is entirely up to the player. My 2 cents

 

[Mazzakazza]

Hufschmid, or anyone else; who is the composer/player of that piece on page 1? Great playing.

 

[rahul_mukerji]

Personally I think its a great instrument. I'm trying to incorporate it in my band. My approach to it is pretty simple: transpose my riffs down and go chugga chugga for choruses and for the verses and bridge I use the Chapman Stick method of tapping out Chords and melody.

Its a toughie: but I've been playing the Chapman stick method on my 6 strings, so getting an 8 string makes playing some bass lines easier and you get a lot of chord / melody and fretboard space

 

[hufschmid]

Hufschmid, or anyone else; who is the composer/player of that piece on page 1? Great playing.

Sylvius Leopold Weiss, one of the greatest Luth composers He was forgotten for about 200 years before his music was re discovered in the 20th century...

So this is a great exemple of Luth music transcribed for Guitar which would be impossible to play without an extended range Guitar

http://www.slweiss.com/

I love this music, its orgasmic

 

[WhiteShadow]

Since when is having more tonal possibilities considered hype?

 

[Mazzakazza]

Thanks a lot, that's some awesome playing.

 

[raifo]

i think they are cool, i love meshuggah and the deftones. but some people just need to get a harp

 

[Wi77iam]

i think they are cool, i love meshuggah and the deftones. but some people just need to get a harp

what do you mean by that.. some people need to get a harp?

 

[caughtinamosh]

I think he was implying humour... Some guitars have so many strings and are so neck-wide that they should be done with it and get a harp...

 

[arktan]

It was in one of the reviews of the Ibanez RG2228

something like

And if this guitar doesn't have enough strings for your taste then go and buy a fucking harp!

 

[Ishan]

Get tell that to guys playing 14 strings Warr Guitars

 

[tr4c3]

I think they are starting to catch on a lot more with popularity and what with more production models coming out, but my interest in them has nothing to do with fad/hype. Being very lead playing and looking to try something new (to me), the idea of an 8 string has caught my mind. I love 7 strings and I still may end up grabbing a 7 string, but as stated before, the extra string/range seems nice to have, and I plan to make use of that. As for bands like Meshuggah, I've heard of them, but I don't even listen to them. I'd like to get an 8 and retune it with a low B instead of the F#.

 

[El Caco]

Is it a fad? Who cares.

It's another instrument, another tool. All the same arguments for a 7 apply. It isn't just a case of having those couple of lower notes or being able to tune lower. Firstly for me a 7 string neck feels more comfortable than a 6, some people say the same about 8's.

Other benefits include new notes in the same position, this means more musical possibilities. New chord options. More neck and heel offering tonal advantages and potential stability advantages.

With ERG's you get advantages not disadvantages.

7 string and 8 string guitars will never go away, they might go through high and low points of popularity but as long as there are people who recognise the benefits and potential they offer there will always be people who play them.

 

[thebhef]

How many people do you see playing Warr guitars or Chapman sticks? It's kind of the same thing because you've ventured pretty deeply into the bass range. Some people dig it, some don't.

 

[hufschmid]

Not a long time ago over here, the 7 string guitar was ''dead''......

Nobody bought them anymore...

Guess what, now they are really back and more and more musicians want to experience them.....

Now more and more musicians are curious about what an 8 has to offer.... We are not only talking about ''metal musicians'' here because there is so much diversity of styles into which this instrument can contribute...

I am really looking forward too see the new composition of some bands who play on 8 strings, its becoming very interesting too see how those musicians take the benefits of this extra range

 

[phaeded0ut]

Hufschmid/Patrick,

Thanks for those two bits of Youtube and for the link. Lute's are awesome and lots of fun to play, too, ... just VERY delicate and fragile. Greatly enjoyed seeing Martin Barre playing one a few times with Jethro Tull, though nothing like this gent, Weiss.

There are also a few Oud's (this is the fretless precursor to the Lute) that have some hefty numbers of strings to them. David Torn actually teaches on one of these fairly frequently.

Thebhef,

Relative to the response concerning two of the many tapping instruments out there, again, it is a VERY tiny minority, with only two folks who are generally recognized around the world, Tony Levin on a Chapman Stick, and Trey Gunn on a Warr Guitar. Much of this has to deal with the fact that these instruments tend to be used/tried by folks looking to do more than play guitar, bass, piano or drums (just going through the quick background of the last stick and warr guitar meetups I've been to). Also, (this is a generalization) more folks playing a tapping instruments tend to favor more "experimental" forms of music, so again, a much tinier selection of folks who are going to be interested in listening to and possibly gaining interest in playing such instruments. There are quite a number of players of these instruments who play more mainstream fare, but do not have the exposure of either Trey or Tony.

Back on topic:
LOL! (At myself for taking so long to get back on-topic.) In the case of the 8-string guitar, it is "closer" to what folks think of as an "accepted" instrument and will have an easier go of things, much like the 7-string guitar. Much like the 7-string guitar, in my opinion, the 8-string is currently being used in only a few genres of music, and only by a few artists (relative to the number of 6-string electric guitar players out there). Like the 7-string guitar where it has gone through periods of adjustment (Steve Vai used his, didn't use it, anymore, occasionally uses it, now... <-- this was how my interest was initially piqued) in exposure and use; just to use a very mainstream example. Several Jazz players were using custom hollow archtops quite a number of years prior to Vai, ... just no exposure.

Have to agree, again with Patrick in seeing more musicians showing interest in 8-string guitars, how they are tuned and what they are doing with them; are they using E-Bows, are they using loopers, are they playing clean, and what genre are they playing them within, etc. ?

 

[hufschmid]

Hufschmid/Patrick,

Thanks for those two bits of Youtube and for the link. Lute's are awesome and lots of fun to play, too, ... just VERY delicate and fragile. Greatly enjoyed seeing Martin Barre playing one a few times with Jethro Tull, though nothing like this gent, Weiss.

There are also a few Oud's (this is the fretless precursor to the Lute) that have some hefty numbers of strings to them. David Torn actually teaches on one of these fairly frequently.

One of the gutar makers over here also builds luths, he is very famous and one of the best luth makers in europe (Maurice Ottiger)....

I been several times to visit him because luth facinates me... Especially the ship carving work and the required skills to actually build such an amazing historical instrument

 

[phaeded0ut]

One of the gutar makers over here also builds luths, he is very famous and one of the best luth makers in europe (Maurice Ottiger)....

I been several times to visit him because luth facinates me... Especially the ship carving work and the required skills to actually build such an amazing historical instrument

The time and conditions necessary for those very thin wood strips to be laminated, together and shaped (this is where the boat-building comes in) I dothly concur! The neck joint work on many of them is also very interesting and you really get to see some interesting links to other necked, string instruments out there.

I wish I could recommend a qin-maker, as there's another instrument that is just a joy to play (think of a 7-string fretless bass, using nylon and nylon&wire strings typically tuned C, D, E, G, A, C, D). I've only been able to get harmonics similiar to this out of my Steinberger GL4AT. If you're into Blues, this is an instrument where a goodly portion of the music out there is VERY similiar.

Please, pardon the off-topic nature of this reply.