Why did you get an 8+ string?

[mr_ormus777]

More range, longer scale and Fredrik Thordendal

 

[daniel_95]

Wave Of Babies.

 

[DrZoidberg]

My first 8 string (DC800) should be here Wednesday. Like a lot of people Animals As Leaders was the band that first got me interested in buying an 8 string. This coming fall semester I'll be playing a few AAL tunes at school. That's not the only reason though. I like layering sounds with a loop pedal, so having the extended range is great for that. Plus you have some new and interesting chord voicings to try.

 

[NorCal_Val]

Became involved in a project last year, and I thought
that having an 8-string would be just one more
color on the palette.
I've had a Universe since '97, but have really enjoyed
what options having the 8 offers up.

 

[techjsteele]

For me, pure curiosity. Having been a 7-string player for years, I wanted to see what type of music I could write using one.

 

[Dayn]

I wanted a seven-string for Dream Theater and Meshuggah. Then when Ibanez released the RG2228, I knew I had to have it.

So in late 2009, I did as a 21st birthday present.

I haven't played a Meshuggah song in ages, though I still remember how to play almost everything, at least. Most of the stuff I play on it is clean.

 

[Louie Bloodspill]

About 10-12 years ago, the bass player in my band filled in for a gig with Postman Syndrome when Brett had hurt himself skateboarding. In order to do so he borrowed a five string bass for a while. When I saw how the low B string could be used to play more notes without having to ascend or descend the neck as much, I knew I had to have a seven string. Never did around to getting one though.
This summer I finally had the financial ability to pick one up, and went to Guitar Center to try a few out and get a feel for it. While there I saw some 8-string Schecters and picked one up to see how it felt and fell in love. A few months later I ordered the ATX C8 without ever having heard anybody play an 8 string guitar. Love at first feel indeed.

 

[theleem]

Wanted a 7, then after hearing some Meshuggah/AAL I wanted a 7 and an 8, so I just went for the 8 and figured I'd kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Winspear]

Got a 7 because I was playing a lot of stuff tuned down in B or C, attempting to play some 7 string DT material, and also playing lots in standard E. Tuning back and forth was annoying, and I was joining a band in E at the time so I grabbed a 7321.
Found this forum and fell in love with AAL and lower tunings, especially on clean. I had to have an 8..Then I heard of tuning with high strings like Scale The Summit and tried it. It was great fun and I couldn't chose between the two, so had to have a 9
It just made sense to me to have as many notes available as possible. The things you can do are endless. 9 was the limit for me as it was as low as I felt use for and as wide a range as I think can be perfect tonally on one instrument without 6" or more.

 

[Arcanerain]

The flat back of the necks, the extra notes and the really heavy sounds they give off. I didn't find 6-string challenging enough so I started looking into 7-strings then I found out that 8-string guitars existed so I eventually got round to buying a schecter. I bought an rga8 last week and apart from the intonation problems on the first three frets of the low E string I really like the way it feels.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Cuz everyone else did. I then proceeded to follow them in jumping off a cliff.

Serious answer: I watched a video where Tosin explained why he likes drop E and it made sense to me.

 

[Navid]

My first guitar was an 8 string. Just because 6 string necks were too skinny for me to feel comfortable...

 

[FromTheMausoleum]

I have big hands :/

 

[Sean1242]

After the Burial and using the range for experimental stuff.

 

[HOKENSTYFE]

The 8-string just sounded like the thing to go for. I wanted to expand my tonal reach and 8-strings were a big enough jump without getting too far ahead of myself.

 

[kevdes93]

after the burial, meshuggah, and this website.

 

[Devogaliano]

My bass player moved away, so instead of filling his place with a new person, we. just started playing ERG's to compensate.

 

[BrailleDecibel]

I'd been into Meshuggah for years, so I'd been familiar with 8-strings and dug the sound of them, but I was mainly into 7's or baritones until I heard the lower tunings used in a more melodic context, like with Deftones or Mnemic. Then I began to get more into 8's and took the plunge and got myself an RG8, and I love it so far!

 

[yellow]

besides djent being the stupidest word ever attributed to metal guitar (a word created by a non native English speaker, spelled incorrectly, like wtf is the d silent? djent lol...should be jent if that, but whatever, stupid word), I got my 8 string cuz I had a 7 string and wanted to see what all the buzz was about....so I got a schecter Damien elite 8 for a couple hundred, then I found an rg2228 that week for 700, sold my Damien for 450, bought the rg2228 cuz its the best 8 string there is and then I would have nothing to see more about cuz the Damien left me wondering if there was any value to the 8+ string territory, and then got all the active pickups available to find a good tone plus the RPC mod, which everyone with actives should look into.

verdict = 6 strings are my favorite, 7's are cool, 8's are interesting but unnecessary (its basically a 4 string bass slapped onto a guitar neck), and anything 9+ is overkill...so having a bunch of 6's and 7's and two 8's, I can say I will never go to 9 or more, and if I didn't pay so little for my rg2228 (or EMG sending me a custom 81/85 set) then I wouldn't bother with more than 7...8 should be the limit, especially if ur going lower than higher, a 9 string with a low c# or worse, a 10+ string with anything lower, is not a guitar, its a guitar+bass hybrid...

PS For clarification, 8 string neck is very wide, a 7 is not, so the transition from 6 to 7 made the extra string a novelty, but an 8 string is quite a bit of wood to work with, so for playability, a 9+ string would be uncomfortable besides more width the longer scale cuz 27" just cuts it for the 8, so a 9 would need at least 28"+, specficially in the first position (1-4 frets), so I wont even attempt the 9+, even tho if Ibanez makes an rg2229, I might be tempted....I hope they don't lol

 

[Clydefrog]

Because E sounds so much better an octave lower.