NGD: 8-string Ibanez classical

[Winspear]

Fantastic. Was hoping to see one of these soon!
I am the owner of a Bartolex classical 8 which is similar but fanned to 27.5 on the bass side. You're right about tension not being nearly as much of an issue. Low tuning on a standard scale is no problem at all. I'd go as far as to say an 80 wont be necessary at all, maybe a 70?

 

[Doub13]

I played one 2 days ago, I really liked the string spacing. If it had electronics in it I would have grabbed it right there. I am still debating....

 

[Dayn]

Just waiting on a pack of La Bella strings to ship. Going with .060 and .080 for B/A and E/C#, will see what happens. I couldn't get along with the 7th and 8th being D and B...

 

[Given To Fly]

No chance of seeing, but there might be a slim chance of hearing, though it might take a few months. I need new strings to handle the insane low end, and I need to learn how to come to grips with it.

I'm having trouble with the shorter scale. Although the lack of any fret markers doesn't help, it's the shorter scale that's doing my head in. I keep trying to play everything one fret lower than I should be; I'm too used to 27".

On the plus side, it seems classical guitars (at least this one) aren't as affected by string tension as electrics are. I have the 7th and 8th strings tuned to A and C# (yes, just above a bass's low B) and the only thing that's wrong is the fret buzz on the 8th and generally lower volume. And that's with the stock strings designed for D and B of course, so they're rather loose.

So if I get those heavier strings on in the future, it should sound much more powerful. I've been playing Animals As Leaders' New Eden on it, and to hear a classical play notes that low is really satisfying.

I wasn't sure the 25.5" scale would do it, but... it's not an electric guitar, it's a different beast. And aside from only having 18-19 frets instead of 24, it's the best classical I've played. It fills the perfect spot in my instrument lineup. And to be sentimental, it fills the perfect spot in my heart.

I applaud you for diving in head first, taking the risk, and buying an 8 string classical guitar! I think you say some things that are important for people to understand, such as "it's not an electric guitar, it's a different beast." Your observations about wound nylon strings is spot on too. I use a .53 on my 7 string classical(s) and I've had it tuned down to E. It is not the ideal string gauge but it worked surprisingly well. You don't need .80's like you do on electric guitars. In fact, the 9th and 10th strings from a 10 string set might be the easiest way to get string gauges you need.

When talking about electric guitar the single most annoying phrase is "Tone is in your fingers!" With classical guitar, the tone is in your fingers, or more specifically its in the combination of your right hand fingernails and flesh. So, do you have right hand nails? If so, good! If not, there is nothing you could possibly do that would have a larger impact on your sound than growing out your nails and properly shaping them. Again, congrats on taking the plunge!

 

[vansinn]

For the low string, maybe try a flattop/half-round, which IIRC D'Addario makes for classical too (like steel and phosphor strings).
I haven't tried myself, as I 'only' have a 6-string classical.

Lovely instrument, getting really wet for an 8-string classical.
@Ibanez: Please make us a fanned 25"-27" version!

 

[Dayn]

I applaud you for diving in head first, taking the risk, and buying an 8 string classical guitar! I think you say some things that are important for people to understand, such as "it's not an electric guitar, it's a different beast." Your observations about wound nylon strings is spot on too. I use a .53 on my 7 string classical(s) and I've had it tuned down to E. It is not the ideal string gauge but it worked surprisingly well. You don't need .80's like you do on electric guitars. In fact, the 9th and 10th strings from a 10 string set might be the easiest way to get string gauges you need.

When talking about electric guitar the single most annoying phrase is "Tone is in your fingers!" With classical guitar, the tone is in your fingers, or more specifically its in the combination of your right hand fingernails and flesh. So, do you have right hand nails? If so, good! If not, there is nothing you could possibly do that would have a larger impact on your sound than growing out your nails and properly shaping them. Again, congrats on taking the plunge!

When I didn't cut them to play guitar, all the ladies were jealous of how strong and beautiful they grew. I dislike cutting them too short, so I've mostly always used my nails on my picking hand, steel or nylon. That's how I started playing: using my nails instead of a pick. I wouldn't say nail is better than flesh, just a different tone, but it's a nice, satisfyingly sharp tone.

When I ordered this, it's not at all what I was intending on getting. I originally wanted an NS Design WAV-5, a five-string electric violin. But manufacturing issues, so no idea when they'd arrive until the end of the year. Then I was looking at a Korg SP-280, an 88-key digital piano. They don't stock Korg.

I had spent months (years) researching these three instruments and knew they would be perfect for what I wanted, so with the first two out of the way... on impulse, yeah, let's get this. I was committed to getting something that day, and I was already there, so why not?

I bought my RG2228 similarly: tonnes of research and knowing it was perfect without even playing one or seeing one before. I don't regret either. (Still waiting on strings to arrive from the US though...)

 

[octatoan]

You play violin "propah-ly" or as a hobby?

 

[Dayn]

You play violin "propah-ly" or as a hobby?

As a hobby; I've never done 'proper' music training. I don't actually have a violin, though I did get to play with one for a week a while ago. It was surprisingly easy to play once I got the bow technique down, just a matter of intonation. So now I'm hungering for my own...

Strings, however, arrived. I have no idea if I even got the correct strings. I need to learn how to string this thing first before I can take any recordings...

 

[Randy D]

So i had some serious GAS over the " Ibanez G207CWCNT Solid Top Classical Acoustic 7 String" well here we go again.....
lol...........what a seriously sexy piece i must own one at a future date.... this is certain!!!!!!!!!



Congrats Happy NGD .....

Cheers

-Randy D

 

[Dayn]

So, bad news. Apart from now living in a bombsite because first-time changing a classical's strings, I found out that the La Bella .080 is too big to fit through the bridge.

So I unwound it and stuck that through, like so:

Dangerous? You bet. Tuned everything up, and five minutes later it snapped.

So now I only have a hard-tension La Bella silver-plated 6-string set with a .060 for my low B. It'll be a seven-string for a while until I get some replacements. So not exactly conducive to recording. Also have to wait for the strings to settle.

I won't be drilling the bridge. But my first impression of the strings are... I don't like them. They sound 'harder'... they don't have the sharp yet mellow sound of the stock Savarez strings (or whatever they were called). The .060 for B sounds too thick. Might have to lower that, as well. Even the .059 sounded like it had more life down in E than the .080 did.

So I think I'll have to figure out the maximum string gauge that can fit through there, then will have to wait on some more strings to arrive when I get the time to order them.

Ahh, it's like my RG2228... years and lots of money trying to find the right strings for me. This might take a while.


Edit: You know what? Screw it. I'm going to order some Savarez strings instead of La Bella, with balanced tension and will try .070 and .086. Might try widening the bridge hole tomorrow.

 

[crg123]

Really interested in any updates with this, might want to pickup on of these down the line but I want to make sure it can handle a low E.

 

[Dayn]

I haven't had much time to work on it. I have no tools to make the hole in the bridge bigger, so I've just been using tiny screwdrivers to slowly make it bigger.

I have some Savarez strings on order, and am trying their .075 (I think) and .082 (I think) for the low E. The .075 might be easier, simply because it'll take less work to get it through.

 

[Dayn]

So after a long while I finally got the La Bella 0.080" nylon to fit. Ended up ordering a 2mm drill bit... 12" long.

I used a 1.5mm small drill bit to file it by hand, until the beginning was big enough for a 2mm drill bit. So I used the long drill bit, used it to make it a bit wider, then finished it with a 1mm drill bit to file it by hand.

Took a while, but it's in there! Except they're the La Bella strings I used, and I don't like the sound of them. I should get the Savarez strings in the next couple of days.

In a day or two I hope to get a couple of simple recordings done. Just waiting for the .080 to settle; it's hard to tie it off, so I'm letting tension deal with it and tuning it back up as it slips and tightens up.

I can say that the .080 handles E well enough. Not sure on the tone, I think it's fine, but I don't like these strings and being such a lower frequency I guess it sounds lower in volume. The .060 for B works well, though.

 

[TKOA-Dex]

Sooo… Is there any way you could make this an electric/acoustic? Because I reeeeeally like it, but am just wanting the ability to plug in for gigs.

 

[vansinn]

Sooo… Is there any way you could make this an electric/acoustic? Because I reeeeeally like it, but am just wanting the ability to plug in for gigs.

You can buy piezo strips to be installed in the bridge under the saddle.
However, I don't know if such are available for eight strings just like that; they are for six'ers and likely for seven's, and I'll think a seven string strip will work with an eight string saddle sitting on it as well.

A complete controls box with preamp, volume and tone controls can be bought too, and mounted on the side wall of the guitar, just like you see it on others - obviously, a route must be cut.
The strap lock can be replaced for one with a build-in jack socket.

I would prefer experimenting with some electret microphone capsule, seeted in a heavy anti-vibration thingy, mounted just at the high-string edge of the sound hole, pointing a bit towards the low side, in order to pickup enough of the trebles without too much low rumble.
And arrange a mix/blend for this and the piezo strip - one mix/blend pot and two tone controls for low-mid (i.e. 'body' of tone) and presence.


(I should start building guitars, both electric and acoustic..)

 

[steinny]

Sooo… Is there any way you could make this an electric/acoustic? Because I reeeeeally like it, but am just wanting the ability to plug in for gigs.

RMC individual saddle pickups can be wired to support 8 strings. Would need to be professionally installed.

 

[lightfoot]

I just ordered one an hour ago and was wondering if I had done the right thing . I guess as long as I accept that it will mainly be a novelty guitar I should be OK. All I play is CG these days so I hope it serves me well. I'm just learning the Segovia Sor studies so I think the 8 will be overkill but oh well, I just HAD to have it !

 

[ramses]

Where do you buy strings for these?