What kind of 8 string would you recommend for a high g/a?

[thrickrick]

I've been thinking about ERG guitars for awhile and would like to experiment with extra strings 'around' standard, and am totally lost as to what I should get. There's NOTHING to try in the Montana area for ERG's and everytime I hit the city I can't find any to try, let alone the popular 408's(which I cannot find for sale on the interbutts atm)/RG2228(which seems expensive). I absolutely abhor just ordering guitars cold. Maybe you guys could generously recommend something according to my needs to alleviate all this anxiety with pressing the buy button.

-Flexible Intonation: I'd like to try weird stuff if at all possible, maybe going back and forth to two lower strings if needed.

-Scale Length: I'm a chord guy, but with small hands. I do get into 'seduction by novelty' problems even with a standard guitar at times.

-Not necessarily looking for a metal sound in the pickup wise; but isn't that big of a deal. It seems pickup choice is limited anyway.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Setnakt]

The best non-Agile 8 string I've seen that's available is the ESP. It's 27" so, according to most, not much different from 25.5" in feel. I wouldn't recommend the Ibanez just because I think it's overpriced for what it is (by about 3-4x) and the ESP is a neck-through with ebony board which is cool. I don't think you'll find a cheaper 8 than that without going the Agile route with the 28-5/8ths scale which you may not like as much (though I would prefer myself).
Direct link:
ESP LTD SC-608B Baritone Stephen Carpenter Signature Series Electric Guitar and more Solid Body Electric Guitars at GuitarCenter.com.

 

[thrickrick]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is 28 5/8" scale the lowest scale length you can go with Agile? I'm looking on the Rondo site and not seeing anything except the links that you guys post from this site. Maybe I have to register? I'm surprised at the pricing there in general.

 

[Setnakt]

I don't think they've ever made a production line of 8s (or any at all) shorter than 28.625". The only ones they have right now anyway are the ones on preorder. Rondo Music Electric Guitars

 

[thrickrick]

Those Agiles are looking pretty slick for the price. Anyone know the difference between the Cepheus pickups compared to the EMG's? The other thing that's weird is that I don't see Cepheus pickups offered with the ebony board AND neckthru. I'm guessing the tone doesn't match. I would've never found those without the link!

 

[amassivetree]

Check some of the older threads: they have an 8-string interceptor (pre-orders closed though), which was available in 25.5 or 27".

 

[TomAwesome]

LTD has a 25.5" scale 8, and Schecter has a 26.5" scale 8. I'd start there, though there may be some extra Agile 8s in shorter scales once they come in. With the right strings (you'll probably be looking at getting Octave4Plus strings in any case), you can even get to high A on a 30" scale if you want to, so don't worry too much about that.

 

[MF_Kitten]

i just realized how awesome it would be to have a 25.5" scale 8 string with a high a, in drop A tuning. yowza!

 

[Explorer]

On a 25.5" scale, the correct Octave4Plus string allows a high B4.

I really recommend you read through the major threads on this, including the Agile Intrepid thread...

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...-official-agile-intrepid-8-string-thread.html

...and the ESP/LTD 8-string thread...

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...-esp-ltd-stef-b-8-608b-ltd-fm-408-thread.html

...in their entireity. *laugh*

I can recommend them in good conscience because I've read them all the way through, and through that reading I developed a better understanding of what makes a good eight-string guitar, and the pitfalls and issues which can arise.

There are also numerous topics regarding retuning, which include considerations about stringing and tensions. I have found them most helpful for deciding my optimum target.

I had enquired about a 28" Intrepid Pro with ebony fingerboard and dual Cepheus pickups, but it wasn't in the cards for this production run. I am hopeful that it will be available the next time around, but I put my money on an Ebony single pup Pro for this run.

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And now, rather than clutter this thread further by reposting information already in other threads, and findable through the "Search" function, I'll wish you luck, and welcome you to Sevenstring.org!

 

[troyguitar]

LTD has a 25.5" scale 8, and Schecter has a 26.5" scale 8. I'd start there, though there may be some extra Agile 8s in shorter scales once they come in.

This is your best bet. You're probably having a hard time finding the FM-408 because it's been replaced by the FM-418. Same guitar but made in Indonesia instead of Korea (Ibanez and LTD have done a lot of this in the past couple of years).