So my friend and I were talking...

[atbmsyl]

My friend plays a 6 string bass. I asked him if it would be possible to convert a 6 string bass into an 8 string guitar. He said it might be, but he doesn't know. So if I fill the tuner holes and put in new ones, would it be possible to make an 8 string guitar out of it?

 

[Demeyes]

You'd need a new bridge as well as sorting the tuners out. The string spacing might not fit or else there could be a wide spacing to fit it evenly on the fretboard, I'm not sure as it's been ages since I played a 6 string bass. Also the scale length is going to be something like 34 or 35 which is much longer than your normal 8 string guitar. The high string might not be tuneable to E at that scale either regardless of strings. The pickups would probably sound awful to boot.
Why would you want to do this? You can get 8 strings for pretty reasonable prices now and you'd have to do a lot of work to get something normal in a conversion like this.

 

[CooleyJr]

You'd need a new bridge as well as sorting the tuners out. The string spacing might not fit or else there could be a wide spacing to fit it evenly on the fretboard, I'm not sure as it's been ages since I played a 6 string bass. Also the scale length is going to be something like 34 or 35 which is much longer than your normal 8 string guitar. The high string might not be tuneable to E at that scale either regardless of strings. The pickups would probably sound awful to boot.
Why would you want to do this? You can get 8 strings for pretty reasonable prices now and you'd have to do a lot of work to get something normal in a conversion like this.

This.

Rondo Music Home Page has some pretty nice 8s for sale. They usually have 28.625 and 30" scales in stock. Their 8 strings don't usually cost any more than $500-900

 

[wannabguitarist]

You might want to try a 5 string instead of a 6

 

[Gamba]

You might want to try a 5 string instead of a 6

+1

don't forget also to check on the length of the scale of the bass you want to convert....

 

[Customisbetter]

a 34" scale 8 string. Good luck finding stings that reach.

 

[TomAwesome]

You might want to try a 5 string instead of a 6

No, a 6-string bass neck will have a width that's closer to that of the neck of an 8-string guitar. I say this as someone who owns both.

But really, just get a reasonably priced 8-string guitar. You'll have to fill in wood and redrill for new hardware for the bridge and tuners, as well as possibly the pickups if you find you don't like how they sound. I've seen used Intrepids go in the $400 range. It hardly seems worth the work to convert a bass.

 

[troyguitar]

No, a 6-string bass neck will have a width that's closer to that of the neck of an 8-string guitar. I say this as someone who owns both.

At the nut, maybe, but at the bridge it will be closer to 5-string land. EMG 6-string bass pickups are wide enough for a 10-string guitar using 10.5mm string spacing at the bridge

 

[TomAwesome]

At the nut, maybe, but at the bridge it will be closer to 5-string land. EMG 6-string bass pickups are wide enough for a 10-string guitar using 10.5mm string spacing at the bridge

He'd be using a new bridge, anyway, so that doesn't matter. What matters is having the right spacing along the neck. It would get cramped on a 5-string bass neck. Besides, the bridge on my Intrepid is pretty close to the same width as the bridge on my SR506.

 

[Waelstrum]

Well, I just had a look the tension the lightest gauges for a 35" 8 string set from Circle K strings (Knuckle Head's shop) and for low E standard it looks like the tension would be quite tight, but bearable. However, I don't know how accurate this calculator is, as that high D seems to have failed.

len 35"

D3 0.010 XS == 1.94#
A3 0.013 XS == 16.89#
F3 0.018 XS == 23.81#
C3 0.025 XS == 25.28#
G2 0.033 XS == 24.55#
D2 0.046 XS == 25.62#
A1 0.061 XS == 25.89#
E1 0.080 XS == 23.53#

 

[Ironberry]

Bass necks change in width the higher you go on the fretboard more than Guitar necks do, so up high I imagine it would be very awkward. I can't imagine it would be worth the work when you can get an Agile.

 

[Jango]

If he put in individual saddles he could avoid that, though. It would be a cool project if you've got a broken/crappy 6 string bass lying around, but otherwise not really worth it.

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

high D seems to have failed.

len 35"

D3 0.010 XS == 1.94#
A3 0.013 XS == 16.89#
F3 0.018 XS == 23.81#
C3 0.025 XS == 25.28#
G2 0.033 XS == 24.55#
D2 0.046 XS == 25.62#
A1 0.061 XS == 25.89#
E1 0.080 XS == 23.53#

Try typing D4

 

[Waelstrum]

Try typing D4

Oh....

That still only gives 7.75#

 

[darren]

One of my original ideas before embarking on the Intrepid project was to buy a Carvin 6-string neck blank, fretless, with no front or side markers. The problem was that the fretboard would have ended up going almost to the bridge on a 28" scale instrument.