I recently shaped a jaguar body out of maple, and my dad (I'm a teenager) asked me what I was going to do with it. I told him I was going to build a fretless 8-string, and he replied, "8-strings are gimmicky." Does anyone else feel that way (I don't [obviously])?
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8-Strings (octaves) - Gimmicky?
- Thread starter Stickk
- Start date
Sorry your dad is wrong.
Eight strings are a very musical...you can really fill out a band with an eight. Add a fuzz/dirt and you can get massive power chords or straight you can do some nice chordal fills. I have owned 4, I intend in building a custom in the future. Post some pictures when she's done. I would recommend the Schaller eight string bridge. Your dad won't think it's a gimmick once he hears one.
Eight strings are a very musical...you can really fill out a band with an eight. Add a fuzz/dirt and you can get massive power chords or straight you can do some nice chordal fills. I have owned 4, I intend in building a custom in the future. Post some pictures when she's done. I would recommend the Schaller eight string bridge. Your dad won't think it's a gimmick once he hears one.
Are 12 string guitars gimmicky? I think not. They add a dimension that a 6 string does not have.
Same with an 8 string bass, and even a 12 string bass. They add something and do things a 4 string cannot do.
And I love playing 4 string bass too!
Same with an 8 string bass, and even a 12 string bass. They add something and do things a 4 string cannot do.
And I love playing 4 string bass too!
How about your dad tell the brilliant bass-dude (Doug P-something, help me pls) with Kings-X that his main axe, the eight-string (4x2, octaves), is gimmicky?
Wow, and making it fretless?! Hooboy, you might actually (imagine) create your own sound! A massive, chordal, singing bassifying sound
GO FOR IT!
A teenager who listens to his dad? On topic, I'd love to have an 8 & a 12, but I already have two 4s, a 5, a 6 & a DB. Cannot justify what I already have...
..Ask your dad if a cordless electric drill is "gimmicky"
...'cuz any musical instrument -- a flute, a subcontrabass saxophone, and 8-string bass, etc. -- is just a tool that a musician uses to express himself. If you've got gimmicky musical ideas, you'll be gimmicky regardless of what you play. If you've got sincere musical ideas, you'll express them on the 8-string bass and no one will be able to devalue that experience.
...'cuz any musical instrument -- a flute, a subcontrabass saxophone, and 8-string bass, etc. -- is just a tool that a musician uses to express himself. If you've got gimmicky musical ideas, you'll be gimmicky regardless of what you play. If you've got sincere musical ideas, you'll express them on the 8-string bass and no one will be able to devalue that experience.
I simply feel compelled to give props where they're due: Your above-paragraph should be added to the next edition of the Bass Bible. Oh: Anyone working on the first?
Yeah! Tell it like it is! Gimmicky... :scowl:
A bass like dude's dad obviously approves of. That type of bass isn't gimmicky. I'm no teen any more, but wow does that 'tude of the older dude makes me want to scream
Heck, if you enjoy that 8-string (and clearly you can do the wood-working), give the ol' feller a run for his bass-prejudice by building a 10, 12, or what-not string too, but out of different tone-woods 
He probably thinks that the notion of "tone-woods" is a gimmick too. Argh.
He is obviously just jealous of the enormous and epic sound you will get from the 8-string once completed.
Do not listen to him, build your 8-string. And then play it quite loudly. Then build a 10 string.
Do not listen to him, build your 8-string. And then play it quite loudly. Then build a 10 string.
Some people are sleeping! This poll is interesting: It's not about opinions about pricey gear--it's about freedom of expression IMHO. But chime in, c'mon. This young musician aka "Stickk" wants to know what y'all think. Share your wisdom or offer it for a small price.
p.s.: Whatever they say, do what you choose, Stickk. It's not like your poll regards a choice between tormenting small animals or giving to charity.
p.s.: Whatever they say, do what you choose, Stickk. It's not like your poll regards a choice between tormenting small animals or giving to charity.
no way! if you have a bi-amped 8-string you can use the guitar strings on it for distortion and use the bass strings clean as to put rhythm and bass guitar together!
I'd enjoy reading Dad's 'non-gimmicky' list. I wonder if a Fender Jazz would be on it. Heck, I wonder if a Fender Precision would be on it.
Come to think of it, anything past the three-string double-bass of way-yore is gimmicky, the product of shallow narcissim.
Listen to King's X, Pearl Jam, Galactic Cowboys, Cheap Trick, etc... then tell me if the octave string basses sound gimmicky.
A vintage Rickenbacker 8 string-gimmicky? I don't think so.
That would be my Holy Grail of an 8 string at the moment.
Any suggestions for the young lad of currently available 8 strings?
That would be my Holy Grail of an 8 string at the moment.
Any suggestions for the young lad of currently available 8 strings?
