I've been at Bothners Plumstead, Claremont, and Marshall in Retreat the last week and no 8-strings unfortunately.. not even 7s! >

For what it's worth I own an 8 string, with D-activator 8s in it, if you'd like to meet up sometime and check it out let me know ?

Yeah the extended range scene here seems to be non existent.

Thanks for the offer man, I might take you up on that when I get some free time. Very nice of you.

I keep arguing with myself whether or not I NEED an 8 string guitar. Usually gear purchases have very little to do with needs I realize, but when I feel the GAS building I usually ask myself if cash is better spent elsewhere. Plus I do enjoy my 7's a hell of a lot.

What made you start slinging an 8 stringer Chad?

Chris Pieterse wrote: What made you start slinging an 8 stringer Chad?

I really wanted the extra range, cause I think I'm possibly a pianist trapped in a guitarists body... ?

The other main inspiration was this 11 string bassist I got into, he uses it as a multihanded tapping instrument, but the style of play isn't Chapman stick esque, it's something different more oriented around more regular technique, I find that now with my 8 string I can have a similar approach in some respects, as an example here's Jean Baudin:





The second track is especially one of my favourites ?

Oh, and Meshuggah, Catch 33 basically changed my life ?

So I use it for a lot of expansive two handed parts, cause I'm the only guitarist in my band, so covering a lot of sonic ground when it's called for is useful. I'm going to use this as a needless spam example just for an audio example:



This is a track of my band's that I used my 8 string on, in the beginning I'm playing octaves and then later chords with my right hand while tapping out a melody with my left, our bassist is actually doing the swelling chords behind me through this part, and then in the section around 5:15 I'm tapping down chords with my left and using it as a sort of chordal capo while playing the melodic part with my right hand ?

If you find that a lot of the songs you're covering force you to tune down way too low, or you're always using pitch-shifters just to get there, then its probably time to get an 8!

If you love bass guitar but still need that high range then its great too.
I also need to check out those D-activators some time..

Julian Emdon wrote: I also need to check out those D-activators some time..

Let me know when you're free then ? It's been fricking ages

I think what is drawing me to it is having that bass like element on the low strings. Love the sound of bass, but I also like my high end. I also do enjoy meshuggah and AAL etc. Thanks for the explanations.

Hmm so I'm looking at maybe starting with a budget Ibanez rg8, so if I end up disliking it I can maybe just try and flip it on gumtree. I doubt it, but have either of you tried one? I've read decent things about it as a starter 8 and modding platform.

I also got offered a jackson JS328q off gumtree but the scale length is 26.5 which worries me a bit. Plus the pickups are that odd sized 8 pickup route. Ugly when replaced.

Any thoughts?

Your track is awesome by the way Chad. Very inspiring!

Chris Pieterse wrote: Hmm so I'm looking at maybe starting with a budget Ibanez rg8, so if I end up disliking it I can maybe just try and flip it on gumtree. I doubt it, but have either of you tried one? I've read decent things about it as a starter 8 and modding platform.

I've heard good things about the RG8, but if you want a guitar that you'd like to consider modding I don't think it's really the one cause even if you get a good price on them you'll most likely end up spending more than half what the guitar's worth on pickups alone - I'd say looking a little bit higher in the series would probably be your best bet, for instance the RGA8 has the locking fixed edge bridge (Which seriously kicks ass) and the Iron Label RG8 comes with EMG808s as stock, now I'm not the biggest fan of EMGs but the 808s are kinda okay and sound fairly acceptable when you 18v mod them and are definitely better than Ibanez's oem pickups.

Chris Pieterse wrote: I also got offered a jackson JS328q off gumtree but the scale length is 26.5 which worries me a bit. Plus the pickups are that odd sized 8 pickup route. Ugly when replaced.

26.5" is not too terrible depending on the tuning you wanna go for and the string gauges you want to use, in standard tuning with the right gauges it's a non issue, if you wanna drop the F# down to E then you're gonna run into tension issues, and also having tried a JS32-8 I know that the nut and machinehead would need modification if you wanted to put any string gauge higher that .074 on it, I tried putting a .080 gauge on and it just wasn't gonna happen.

The JS32-8 and the cheaper Ibanez 8s, that have no name passive pickups in them all suffer from the same issue which is that these no name passive pickups are bigger than a passive 8 string pickup by say Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan but smaller than an 8 string pickup in a soapbar style housing like EMG. I just took the EMGs out and threw the Dimarzios in, yeah the slightly larger route doesn't look perfect but it isn't detrimental to tone or playability, you can also get unmarked EMG style housings to put normal size passives in, or pickup rings, though I hold the opinion that direct mounted pickups respond better so I'd advise against the rings. Or you could get a Seymour Duncan or Bareknuckle in a soapbar housing, cause they make passives to fill the routes, Dimarzio are either late to that game or they're just not interested in filling that niche.

Chris Pieterse wrote: Your track is awesome by the way Chad. Very inspiring!

Thanks for giving it a listen ?

Yes you might have a bad time with a short scale, and I'm sure you'll want to explore different tunings.
My RGA8 stays in tune even with the nut unlocked, so I'm always jumping between standard tuning (low F#, eg Chimp Spanner) and dropped-E (eg AAL). Meshuggah use both tunings. I don't have a 7 string ( :'() so I even sometimes drop my B to drop-A and its all good.

The Iron Label looks like a great guitar, I probably would have got one if they were out when I was looking for an 8. I paid R6K for the RGA8 and have just discovered it will cost me about R5.5K to install some Nazgul and Sentient pups. I'm not completely sold on them though...

Many people will try and tell you that playing an 8-string is some sort of 'fad' or that 'the novelty will wear off' but I get more and more excited about this instrument as time goes by, its like the guitar is supposed to have those extra strings ? Anybody who disagrees should meet up with me and Chad for 'indoctrination' hehe!

I am keen on the RGA8. Have been hoping to snag one used by some miracle for a while now. I'm still holding on to hope with that one. Also I heard they fixed the bridge issue in the later 2011+ models which makes me even more keen. I could seriously get behind the quilted model (RGA8qm)...yum...

I don't mind spending the extra cash on the pickups because I can always migrate those over to a better guitar later. The RG8 also uses standard emg style soapbars which is now, as you say, easier to buy for given Seymour Duncans intelligent decision to put passives in active housing. Interested in the Nazgul and Sentient combo. So yeah the RG8 is still a decent option for me.

The Jackson I'm still unconvinced. The guy is asking R4k for it which to be fair isn't bad but I know that if the pickups don't fit properly it would drive me crazy. I know it won't affect the playability or tone necessarily but aesthetically I'm a bit of a stickler. I still worry for the scale length but that's based off internet hearsay. I likely will keep it in F standard, so half step down.

The planet waves tuners on my Jackson can't take a fricken .066. I Had to unwind the top string and put the core in, which worked like a charm actually. It's not an issue I would just take a drill to any tuners that won't comply. ?

I phoned around now and heres the price list I got for anyone else who might be keen.

RGA8 - R7500 from Bothners
RG8 - R4699 from Sound Select, R5000 from Marshall
Jackson JS328q - R4900 Bothners
Jackson SLATFXMG 3-8 - R10900 Bothners

These prices might be different depending who quotes you though, so they are not set in stone.

Didn't check the iron Labels as I really do detest emgs even with the 18v mod. Also do not enjoy that fat Gibraltar Bridge.
Also didn't check the S8 as the pickup routes are the same as the Jackson. Saw a pick on sevenstring.org and it looks a right mess.

Alternatively it might just be a good idea for me to wait and see what 2014's lineup from Ibby and Jackson brings. Or if someone out there on gumtree wants to rid themselves of an rga8.

Thanks again and sorry for the wall of text.

The Iron Label looks like a great guitar, I probably would have got one if they were out when I was looking for an 8. I paid R6K for the RGA8 and have just discovered it will cost me about R5.5K to install some Nazgul and Sentient pups. I'm not completely sold on them though...

It looks great, I lurv me some black guitar with white binding. I just can't get over the emgs and the Gibraltar. Granted I haven't played the 8 string version so I might be talking out my ass, but I tried one on a sixer and found it quite uncomfortable. I suppose I could also try and flog the emgs on gumtree and put the cash towards better pups. Sounds like I'm whining...

I paid R6K for the RGA8 and have just discovered it will cost me about R5.5K to install some Nazgul and Sentient pups.

Might be cheaper to look on ebay for the pups and install yourself? I've ordered pickups through ebay before and they are pretty reasonable on shipping and tax etc. Plus installing passives is pretty easy, especially since the RGA8 already has a ground wire coming from the bridge, so no drilling...

Many people will try and tell you that playing an 8-string is some sort of 'fad' or that 'the novelty will wear off' but I get more and more excited about this instrument as time goes by, its like the guitar is supposed to have those extra strings Cheesy Anybody who disagrees should meet up with me and Chad for 'indoctrination' hehe!

Yeah I don't see it as a fad, it just gained popularity and was brought more to the forefront. Which essentially just makes it more accessible to the general public which is an awesome thing! I will say it is daunting though, even coming from 7 strings, I've got this fear that I will just be lost lol... nonsense really.

Chris Pieterse wrote:

The Iron Label looks like a great guitar, I probably would have got one if they were out when I was looking for an 8. I paid R6K for the RGA8 and have just discovered it will cost me about R5.5K to install some Nazgul and Sentient pups. I'm not completely sold on them though...

It looks great, I lurv me some black guitar with white binding. I just can't get over the emgs and the Gibraltar. Granted I haven't played the 8 string version so I might be talking out my ass, but I tried one on a sixer and found it quite uncomfortable. I suppose I could also try and flog the emgs on gumtree and put the cash towards better pups. Sounds like I'm whining...

With regards to the Gibraltar, the new ones one the Iron Label series are a low profile version of the Gibraltar bridge, they don't have as pronounced "shoulders" so it's a lot more comfortable on the hands, however if it's an aesthetic thing then you'll have to look elsewhere.

With regards to selling the EMGs, I've had my 808s advertised on Gumtree a number of times and the only interest I ever got was someone who was quite dissapointed to hear that they were guitar pickups and not bass, and I've advertised them for R1500 for the set including pots and selector, which is about the same price as just one pickup.

Chris Pieterse wrote:

Many people will try and tell you that playing an 8-string is some sort of 'fad' or that 'the novelty will wear off' but I get more and more excited about this instrument as time goes by, its like the guitar is supposed to have those extra strings Cheesy Anybody who disagrees should meet up with me and Chad for 'indoctrination' hehe!

Yeah I don't see it as a fad, it just gained popularity and was brought more to the forefront. Which essentially just makes it more accessible to the general public which is an awesome thing! I will say it is daunting though, even coming from 7 strings, I've got this fear that I will just be lost lol... nonsense really.

From what I understand the guitar as an instrument started out with more than 6 strings originally, so it's not a fad, it's a ressurection or a return to form ?

Seriously though, it's just a tool for expression, maybe you'll jive with it, maybe you won't, never know till you try ? But seeing as you enjoy 7 strings you're already almost there so you may have a positive response ?

Ah I see, those were your 808's up on gumtree that i've seen every so often. So that takes care of that idea.

Also a follow up on pricing:

Iron Label RG8 is R9595.00 Bothners
RG8 - R5399 Bothners
RGA8 - R9999 Claremont Bothners
Jackson SLATXMG3-8 - R11995, the trans green one. Apparently they have one in store in Claremont if anyone is keen. Might go play it just to see how it feels.

These prices are also the "discounted" prices by the way not the normal selling price.

I'm really leaning towards an RGA8, RG8 or perhaps something that might come up next year. Bothners tells me that the RG is discontinued, which leads me to believe that they will introduce another entry level 8 string or perhaps a revised edition. Hopefully they won't do a Gio in it's place to push the Iron Label series as their Mid range instrument.

Also just read that there is an iron label S8 that comes stock with d-activators. So I'll get a quote on that when it becomes available.

Shot for all the advice guys ?