Let the RG8 Mods begin...

[Bobo]

That's right. The first two numbers dictate the year. So your's is indeed a 2014 model.

Kinda sucks I got a 2014 ordering it in 2016. Sounds like it may be basswood instead of mahogany as well.

 

[Bobo]

The switch from basswood to mahogany was sometime in 2015. So yes, you got a basswood one as well. Some people prefer the basswood, some the mahogany. Mines a '14 as well, and mine is pretty stellar.

I don't mind basswood, just a bit annoyed at not getting what was advertised. Not worth the return hassle. I think with fret work and new puppies I'll be much happier.

 

[Chuck]

Just pulled the trigger on a poplar burl RG8. Thinking of throwing EMG 57/66 in it.

 

[lewis]

Just pulled the trigger on a poplar burl RG8. Thinking of throwing EMG 57/66 in it.

if you do that i would love to see pics and sound clips

 

[Bobo]

Just pulled the trigger on a poplar burl RG8. Thinking of throwing EMG 57/66 in it.

Make sure to show off the new toy! And a little off topic question here, how do yoy like living in Pensacola?

 

[Randy]

Well, this is an RGA8 but this seems like the best place to put it. It was obviously stripped and then it got 3 coats of Danish Oil. The pickups are Ionizers.

 

[Randy]

Quick bump to this...

I forgot that the wood was really pale underneath the finish, so this also got a coat of ebony stain (to 'pop' the grain), then it was sanded back and two coats of walnut stain went on top.

Also, the bulk of the finish was removed with chemical stripper (Stripeeze?) and the whole thing was sanded with a palm sander up to 320.

 

[Ram150023]

Quick bump to this...

I forgot that the wood was really pale underneath the finish, so this also got a coat of ebony stain (to 'pop' the grain), then it was sanded back and two coats of walnut stain went on top.

Also, the bulk of the finish was removed with chemical stripper (Stripeeze?) and the whole thing was sanded with a palm sander up to 320.

Nice work bud! Surprised it had a nice grain pattern!

Did you do anything with the HS?

 

[Randy]

Nice work bud! Surprised it had a nice grain pattern!

Did you do anything with the HS?

Thanks!

Honestly, the grain and the wood quality was 'so-so'. As you can tell it's 3 or 4 pieces and piece on the bass side has a pretty nice looking streak on it but the rest are fairly 'blah'.

I forgot to mention, I also did a coat of pre-stain/conditioner (that's what you see on it in the shot when it's sitting in the stand). That helped to get the wood to absorb the stain fairly evenly (which, from my experience, it probably wouldn't have done on it's own) and the two stage staining process had much to do with the way it came out looking overall.

A nicer piece of mahogany probably could've gone straight from sandpaper to danish oil and had a similar look, IMO.

The headstock is still stock. This was a low-buck, weekend project for my brother in law. The neck is a 5-piece, so if we sanded the headstock, you'd have seen the stripes through the front. To get things to match, I'd have had to source mahogany (or similar) veneer and replacement logo, and that just wasn't in the time-table and budget for this one. This and the RGD I built for him are currently his two main guitars, so the next time it's due for a string change, I'll probably suggest we get the headstock to match.

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

^ keep us updated on the project

 

[Ram150023]

Thanks!

Honestly, the grain and the wood quality was 'so-so'. As you can tell it's 3 or 4 pieces and piece on the bass side has a pretty nice looking streak on it but the rest are fairly 'blah'.

I forgot to mention, I also did a coat of pre-stain/conditioner (that's what you see on it in the shot when it's sitting in the stand). That helped to get the wood to absorb the stain fairly evenly (which, from my experience, it probably wouldn't have done on it's own) and the two stage staining process had much to do with the way it came out looking overall.

A nicer piece of mahogany probably could've gone straight from sandpaper to danish oil and had a similar look, IMO.

The headstock is still stock. This was a low-buck, weekend project for my brother in law. The neck is a 5-piece, so if we sanded the headstock, you'd have seen the stripes through the front. To get things to match, I'd have had to source mahogany (or similar) veneer and replacement logo, and that just wasn't in the time-table and budget for this one. This and the RGD I built for him are currently his two main guitars, so the next time it's due for a string change, I'll probably suggest we get the headstock to match.

Sill though, to get that from what was originally covered in paint!!

I had that on a GIO 4 string Ibby bass... sanded it down... saw a really nice grain pattern... and stained it instead of paint. I still have pics in my gallery...

IMO... the stripes are a nice touch... if there wasn't a HS logo... you'd still know it was a true Ibby!

And I am ... Seems this is the time of year for work on Brother-in-law's guitars!!

 

[Bobo]

I'm still trying to get satisfied with the setup on my RG8, and I want to describe an issue that is unique to this guitar for me. Although the fretwork is very average I feel, I can get the string height set to where a single note rings through good enough through the amp, but when I go for a simple 2 string bar chord (particularly with a chord on the B-E strings) , the chord is choked off worse than a similar setup would be on any of my other guitars. In fact I'm actually using a higher string height and more string tension than with any of my other guitars.

This is my 1st 8, I've always had 6ers that I downtuned to get in typical 7 string realms. The appeal of the range of an 8 got too strong, but I did skip the usual 6 to 7 to 8 string progression. So I don't know if people have found similar issues with going to a 7, but maybe not as much as an issue when going to an 8. Most of my 6ers are thin neck Ibby's, and there are some other fairly thin-necked guitars in the arsenal. What I'm wondering is if this thin 8 string neck is less sturdy than what I'm used to and maybe the added vibration when you start doing chords vs single notes reverberates through the neck more which maybe causes a kinda of counter vibration against the strings which causes the strings to choke more as is the action is just simply too low.

Hopefully that description makes sense, but maybe I'm way off on what is causing this. Either way, this guitar is harder to play than I'd like. I've spent more time than I'm used to trying to get as good as a setup as the fretwork will allow, but I'm certainly no expert. Any thoughts guys?

 

[Randy]

Hopefully that description makes sense, but maybe I'm way off on what is causing this. Either way, this guitar is harder to play than I'd like. I've spent more time than I'm used to trying to get as good as a setup as the fretwork will allow, but I'm certainly no expert. Any thoughts guys?

There's basically no way that you can fret a note on one string and have it ring fine, then fret that same note PLUS one on another string and all of the sudden the first note starts choking out. I mean, I believe you're experiencing this but I'm saying the simple addition of the second note is not what's causing the note to fret out... it's gotta be something else.

My food for thought: Rushed fretwork on a budget minded guitar, added to the extra width of an 8 string versus a 6 or even 7 string.

I do some luthiery work and a LOT of repairs and setups on new/used gear. When you do a professional, 'one-off' fretjob (new guitar or refret), after you press the frets, you do a fret level. Even though the frets have all just been freshlly pressed into place, on a micro-scopic scale, some will stick up more than others.

For a fret level, you adjust the truss rod, check to make sure it's straight, use a flat beam or radiused beam and sand paper to make every fret basically level with the several infront of and behind it; which subsequently makes everything even. After that, you recrown, deburr and polish the frets individually, paying close mind not to make them any shorter than you made them in the last step.

Outside of very extreme cases, they do NOT do this in the factory. Because of the streamlined, assembly line type process (and the fact they have machines or well experienced and calibrated assemblers), they basically press the fret into the slot, check it with a level once and down the line it goes. They PROBABLY (maybe?) do a simple check to make sure there's no obvious choked notes after the strings go on and then it's shipped to the other side of the world, through several different climates in between, plus time in a warehouse and UPS truck and everywhere else in between.

There's a lot of room for a 'so-so' fretjob to shift and lift in transit to you.

Added to that, the fretwire is that much wider than other guitars. I haven't seen what the assembly line for 8-strings looks like but most fretting gear built up until recently was centered around 6 string guitars. That means the actual caul that presses the fret into places is 6 string or very slightly longer. The amount extra to add an extra string for a 7-string is negligible but on an 8 string, now you're getting into the territory where caul doesn't necessarily provide enough clamping force along the full length of the fret (because the caul is that much smaller than the length of the fret), that it's possible it adequately pushes down just the center and NOT the whole thing in one press.

In my case, when I started working on 8 strings, I needed to use the press on the fret 2 or 3 times (once in middle, ones on each end) where I was only using it once on a 6-string. Eventually they all sit pretty flush, but they still benefit from a fret level... but they don't do that in the factory, hence (IMO) the very likely chance 8-string frets aren't as sufficiently pressed into the slots from the factory vs. their 6 or even 7 string counter parts. It's possible, anyway.

As far as what you're specifically experiencing, I think there are high spots on your fretboard.

A lot of times they're not noticeable with high action or pressing individual notes on a string, but when you bend (that's a biggy) or fret chords (which often create a very subtle bending motion because of the lateral pressure on your hand from the string you're pressing perpendicular to the first one), the string drifts away from it's path straight to your saddle, into a 'high spot'. Your strings might all be set to a height where they individually don't buzz, but you've probably got subtle differences in saddle height, so once a string crosses into the path of a "higher" fret area, it starts vibrating close to the higher fret area, touching it VERY subtley and killing the note sooner.

A good test of this would be to take a few of the frets you've noticed being effected by chords (or even every fret on the guitar), fret the note, strike it and see if it chokes out. Then bend or vibrato it wide and see if you notice an area where it starts to choke out. That'll answer what's up pretty quickly.

As far as how to address it, two band aids are higher action (like you're doing) and heavier strings (to limit the amount of deviation from center that a string moves when struck, thus limiting the amount of motion toward the higher frets). They might make it useable for now, but obviously it's not preferrable.

The real solution would be to take the guitar to your shop for a truss rod adjustment and a fret level. If it's a reputable place, they'll probably diagnose it first to make sure that's really the issue.

EDIT: All the things I described above could also be caused by a poorly adjusted truss rod. Similar deal... the extra girth and tension on the fretboard from an 8-string vs. a 6-string could also cause a more frequent occurrence of fretboards that aren't perfectly straight, out of the factory.

Most of the time that could obviously be rectified with proper adjustment.

 

[Bobo]

Thanks for the advice Randy, I'll try the fretting and bending ideas tomorrow. I know there are spots on the fretboard where it's easy for me to tell things aren't level. For example, the 3rd fret buzzes quite a bit worse than the frets around it.

I've adjusted the truss rod several times. Little tweaks here and there, waiting overnight to make sure it has time to settle. Again, I'm far from an expert, but it seems I would have gotten close by now, or it's just the hardest of all the guitars I've owned to get right. It also does make me wonder if the truss rod isn't working properly? For instance, it seems I've read people talk about a problem with a rod where it wouldn't provide even enough relief across the board, or something to that effect. Really someone who knows more needs to look at it like you said, but I don't know who to go to around here, I actually know a few guys I would not go to :-/

 

[Randy]

Well, start with the "bend" test and also try using a straight edge (slacken the strings enough to move the strings to either side of the fretboard) down the length of the fretboard just to count the truss rod relief in or out as a possibly.

I've had ineffective truss rods before which could be a result of a lot of things. It's not a cheap or easy thing to fix so I'd say I'd want to confirm what's going on before I go down that path.

 

[Ram150023]

Dumb quick question... Pertaining to truss rods... Since we are on the topic for an 8 string... What would be an "ideal" length for a truss rod? Or to bring it to even general-er terms... How do you figure out adequate length for a truss rod?

My particular situation... 28" scale 8 / 27" scale 7 (simultaneous builds)... What sized truss rod do i need?

Sorry if this goes a bit OT... And i know it would prolly be better suited in the luthery section... Please dont kick my ass Randy!!!