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I want an 8 string!

~Ethan~

~Ethan~

Dec 3, 2008
258
2
Abilene, TX
#1
Ok so I got the crazy idea a few minutes ago that it would be really cool to have an 8 (or more) string bass. I mean 8 seperate strings not an octave bass.

I looked at conklin basses and they are well out of my price range as is elrick. My question to you is, can I find an 8 string bass under 2Gs?
 
#2
I'm having one built by Kevin Seibold, www.krappyguitars.com dont let the name fool you, this guy builds nice ERB's and touchstyle instruments that you can customize and take to the next level and his website is hilarious. Also check out Cliff Bordwell at CB basses. 8 strings are highly customized and most people who build them will charge a great deal of money.
 
#8
You might want to noodle around on such a thing a bit before making a purchase. I spend a lot of time on a 9-string, and even though it has 15mm string spacing at the bridge, the neck is still too wide to make good use of the lowest string past about the 8th fret, and requires some unusual hand positions at any fret.

Another consideration is neck dive. A neck that wide (4 1/2 inches at the 24th fret on mine) means a lot of heavy wood sticking way out there. Mine is a short scale bass (fan fret, from 29 to 33 inches scale length) and the neck is still very heavy. If you're thinking of a 35" (or more) scale to get that solid low F#, the sheer physics of the moment arm will bite you.

Also, you'll find that muting technique must be re-invented. It's not easy to mute strings across that broad a distance, and if you don't they will definitely ring.

But if you need to play a lot of chords or 3-4 octave runs, there's no substitute!
 
#9
I had a Benavente seven-string for a while, and really enjoyed it. The playability was great, and I had very few issues...beyond my wedding ring hitting the C & F strings whenever I'd play lower strings in upper positions. (Boy, did that sentence suck...sorry about that.) For a quick minute I even considered an eight-string, mulling over the idea of a low F#, but decided against it. Aside from playability concerns - and the notion of how often I'd actually leverage that much range - one of the other things that held me back was strings. I couldn't find an 'F' that did anything for me, so my expectations of going lower than a 'B' were hindered as well.

Ultimately for me it just came down to too much instrument - weight, managing that neck, electronics, etc. I'm an avid six-string fan, but I no longer have the urge to go beyond that. Good luck with your hunt, and I'd definitely recommend talking with Brian @ The Low End about options.
 
#11
VroomVroom said:
I had a Benavente seven-string for a while, and really enjoyed it. The playability was great, and I had very few issues...beyond my wedding ring hitting the C & F strings whenever I'd play lower strings in upper positions. (Boy, did that sentence suck...sorry about that.) For a quick minute I even considered an eight-string, mulling over the idea of a low F#, but decided against it. Aside from playability concerns - and the notion of how often I'd actually leverage that much range - one of the other things that held me back was strings. I couldn't find an 'F' that did anything for me, so my expectations of going lower than a 'B' were hindered as well.

Ultimately for me it just came down to too much instrument - weight, managing that neck, electronics, etc. I'm an avid six-string fan, but I no longer have the urge to go beyond that. Good luck with your hunt, and I'd definitely recommend talking with Brian @ The Low End about options.
Click to expand...

Well I am going to be getting a six string first and if I fall in love with that (which I'm sure I will), then I will start thinking seriously about an 8 or more.
Thanks for the heads up about the problems with playability.

I checked out those krappy basses and was quite impressed with the prices! much lower than I was expecting. I'll probably be going there if I get one. Thanks for the link Lo end!
 
#12
Took me about 10 seconds to figure out that a low F# on a short-scale bass just isn't going to produce a musical sound. So I've tuned my 9-string from low B to high E-flat, giving me the total combined range of a 5-string bass and a normal guitar. That high string is .007 gauge! So the resulting instrument is a bass only because calling it anything else would be even more misleading and confusing.

Incidentally, I moved my wedding ring to my other hand for this same reason...
 
#14
~Ethan~ said:
Well I am going to be getting a six string first and if I fall in love with that (which I'm sure I will), then I will start thinking seriously about an 8 or more.
Thanks for the heads up about the problems with playability.

I checked out those krappy basses and was quite impressed with the prices! much lower than I was expecting. I'll probably be going there if I get one. Thanks for the link Lo end!
Click to expand...

Kevins a good guy and he teaches and does live shows outside of building basses. He makes sure he has exactly what you want before he gets started and he will allow you to submit your own body style. Mine should be completed real soon. There was a great Krappy thread going on here if you do a search.
 

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