It had been awhile since I had an 8-string, almost a year in fact. I had always been torn between going longscale and sacrificing the tone and feel of the highest three or four strings, or to keep things short scale and deal with telephone line-esque strings. Thus, when I saw this sucker up for grabs I decided to split the difference and jump (as in trade for) on it.
Now for the super shitty pics, I promise to get some better ones when the wheather outside (damn Midwest) improves:
It's an AV Guitars and Basses custom fanned fret 8-string!
The specs (C&P'd from Luthier's site):
8 string multiscale guitar with bolt on neck, 25-27" multiscale
One piece mahogany neck.
Santos Rosewood fretboard with 24 frets, top and side dots MOP. Headstock with AV Logo.
Pomelle Mahogany top with Maple plate and mahogany back body.
AV Guitars G-8 custom fixed 8 string bridge Chrome, Gotoh tuners Chrome.
SBS Ultrasonic passive humbucker pickups, custom made for AV multiscale guitar.
Volume, 3 way pickup selector, Tone with push/pull for series/parallel wiring of pickups.
Gigh gloss lacquer on the body and headstock, touch part of neck oil and wax finish.
The Good:
The neck is really thin and comfortable, even more so than my old RG2228. It's kinda in between an older UV7 and a newer UV777PBK. It has that flatness with no shoulders. Definitely my kind of neck, which was my main concern going in. The guitar also balances really well both on the lap and on a strap, something I wish I could say about my other previous 8-strings. The fretwork is really good, not JC quality, but certainly high quality with no rough ends, divots, gaps, or inconsistent leveling. I'd put the fretwork on par with the best of the MIJ Prestige Ibanez guitars. Also, little things like a very cleanly routed and ergonomic truss rod access, wooden, metal backed truss rod cover and electronics cover really make this feel like a really solid, quality instrument. The thing is pretty damn ergonomic as well, especially for a chest rocker like myself.
The Not So Good:
The pickups, it's great having passives, but these just aren't my thing. Not that it reflects on SBS or the builder, just my own preferences. They're tight, but just a little bright for my tastes. I'm looking into getting them rewound, but I'm waiting on a new amp so I'll make my decision then wheather I get them rewound or not. I probably won't knowing me.
As for the fanned frets, it literally took no time to get used to them. Though it's only a 2" fan, it really is easy to adjust to.
Overall, I'm really happy with it.
Now for the super shitty pics, I promise to get some better ones when the wheather outside (damn Midwest) improves:
It's an AV Guitars and Basses custom fanned fret 8-string!
The specs (C&P'd from Luthier's site):
8 string multiscale guitar with bolt on neck, 25-27" multiscale
One piece mahogany neck.
Santos Rosewood fretboard with 24 frets, top and side dots MOP. Headstock with AV Logo.
Pomelle Mahogany top with Maple plate and mahogany back body.
AV Guitars G-8 custom fixed 8 string bridge Chrome, Gotoh tuners Chrome.
SBS Ultrasonic passive humbucker pickups, custom made for AV multiscale guitar.
Volume, 3 way pickup selector, Tone with push/pull for series/parallel wiring of pickups.
Gigh gloss lacquer on the body and headstock, touch part of neck oil and wax finish.
The Good:
The neck is really thin and comfortable, even more so than my old RG2228. It's kinda in between an older UV7 and a newer UV777PBK. It has that flatness with no shoulders. Definitely my kind of neck, which was my main concern going in. The guitar also balances really well both on the lap and on a strap, something I wish I could say about my other previous 8-strings. The fretwork is really good, not JC quality, but certainly high quality with no rough ends, divots, gaps, or inconsistent leveling. I'd put the fretwork on par with the best of the MIJ Prestige Ibanez guitars. Also, little things like a very cleanly routed and ergonomic truss rod access, wooden, metal backed truss rod cover and electronics cover really make this feel like a really solid, quality instrument. The thing is pretty damn ergonomic as well, especially for a chest rocker like myself.
The Not So Good:
The pickups, it's great having passives, but these just aren't my thing. Not that it reflects on SBS or the builder, just my own preferences. They're tight, but just a little bright for my tastes. I'm looking into getting them rewound, but I'm waiting on a new amp so I'll make my decision then wheather I get them rewound or not. I probably won't knowing me.
As for the fanned frets, it literally took no time to get used to them. Though it's only a 2" fan, it really is easy to adjust to.
Overall, I'm really happy with it.
