Any other 8 string guitarists out there?

[GreySeraph]

I'm feelin' lonely

 

A little about my 8 string history...I'm a classical guitar major and jazz minor who just absolutely fell in LOVE with Paul Galbraith's Bach transcriptions, did some research, and found out that he played 8 string. I had to get one so I did. Here's some pics:

 

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v363/188/86/551450098/n551450098_4395315_3504.jpg

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/101/l_7cf19b351343899b28c3093a7ce37aa8.jpg

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/98/l_cb07f953f598d57147906f97a66f8305.jpg

 

I got my guitar custom made by luthier Darren Hippner from Washington. It's got an Englemann spruce top, Indian rosewood sides/back, ebony fretboard and a snakewood strip at the top for good measure! I might buy another 8 string, but it would be more like a Brahms guitar that Galbraith plays (it's a fan fretted 8 string with a cello-like endpin that helps him sit the guitar between his legs). So far I've done about 5-6 transcriptions, such as Mallorca by Albeniz and a few Bach pieces.

 

The reason why I posted this is because I hope you might share your 7 or 8 string experiences with me (We're sorta rare and far between sadly). I'm also interested in any multi-string steel-string-acoustic or electric dudes out there! (I might head in that direction too)

 

edit: btw, if you guys aren't 8 stringers and are interested, come talk!

[doc taz]

That's a wonderful looking guitar.

 

I have a 7 string electric, the ever popular (and often heavily modified) Ibanez RG7321.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/DocTazz/other/musicgear/IbanezRG7321-Indo2005or06/IMG5202s.jpg

 

As for myself, I haven't been actively gigging for several years, but still try to keep my musical senses in shape, and jam whenever I can. I don't know of anyone else personally that owns a 7 string (much less an 8). My dad did try my guitar for a few days, then concluded that the 7th string is a bit much for him.

 

I generally listen to metal, but am also a fan of classical, blues, experimental music, funk, some r&b and jazz, among other genres. I love the Pizzarellis (father Bucky and son John), partly because of their use of 7 string guitars.

 

If you're looking for a 7 and 8 string centric forum, try sevenstring.org. It seems to be oriented towards hard rock/metal fans like myself, but we're open minded enough to take in various folks. I haven't posted there much, but I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms. I'm registered there as i_love_tazzus.

 

Still, we hope you can impart your experiences to us here. There aren't many classical players that I come across in these parts.

 

Welcome.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

I don't play one, but my former instructor Robert Conti plays one. See my sig below for his website which has videos. Most of the NAMM videos have him playing the 8-string. It's most effective for chord melody playing where you have a walking bass line along with the chord melody.

[GreySeraph]

Haha isn't it just a trip that other than online, it's so hard to find other 7 or 8 stringers? I know 4 guys who play 7 string electrics, but so far no 8-stringers haha. That's great that you're open to so much It's always awesome to be passionate about MUSIC and not GENRES

 

But yeah, I do listen to a lot of metal as well, although I can be finicky about my tastes (like I sorta prefer a lot of Euro bands over American bands, though that's not always the case). I'm a closet shredhead and a fellow Ibanez brotha too! I play on an '04 JEM7VWH (The only year with the ebony fretboards and the edge pro trem...all the ones before that had lo-pro trems, and all the ones after that have rosewood boards)

 

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/11/l_7057abaa0ba1e9024a14286c2e1201cb.jpg (I'm holding my guitar)

 

As far as electric multi-string, I'm really moved by Vai's work. After that, some other guys that get me are our brethren (and by that, other guitarists hehe) from Meshuggah, John Petrucci, and Ron Eschete (a SoCal jazzer). Dude I love the Pizzarellis too. And hey, I'll probably sign up on sevenstring.org soon. They wouldnt happen to have a classical section in their forums would they?

 

Oh and how do you like your 7321? I was considering buying a new 7 string electric (or 8) in the near future, and was considering either that or a few other things like the Universe, that Ibanez prestige 8 string RG, Conklin guitars, and Novax guitars.

[GreySeraph]

I don't play one, but my former instructor Robert Conti plays one. See my sig below for his website which has videos. Most of the NAMM videos have him playing the 8-string. It's most effective for chord melody playing where you have a walking bass line along with the chord melody.

 

Where could I find these NAMM videos? I tried searching but no luck

 

Oh and definitely for the walking bass line with the chord melody, especially for jazz. The 8 strings are also great for transcriptions from other instruments as the extended range helps to keep the song intact, so you dont have to make changes on existing pieces so they fit within 6 string guitar ranges. A lot of the pieces I've arranged are piano pieces and orchestral pieces, and even then, sometimes you have to shift things up octaves in order to make things work haha I'll have to upload some of em sometime.

[OldTuna]

For some excellent acoustic seven-string playing, there is a series of CDs called: "Beatles 'n' Choro" (four disks total) on the DeckDisc label from Brazil. They're worth tracking down as the playing is all virtuosic and the recordings are super. It's also very refreshing to hear the Beatles songbook filtered through this style of Brazilian pop music.

[Caevan O’Shite]

(I'd be a fellow 8 player, if it weren't that there are sooo many guitars, and so little time (and MONEY)... Hell, I'd have 7s, 8s, 10s, 12s (14s & 16s)... harp-guitars, baritones, fretless versions of every type (classical, flat-tops, carved-tops, electrics, resophinics) including baritones, everything... IF i could afford 'em! I couldn't even afford to string 'em, right now...)

 

Oh, that guitar looks sweet!

 

Is the string-spacing of your Hippner 8 a little closer than standard classical dimensions?

 

If so, I think I'd like that about it; I like to use a lot of partial-barres, slanted-barres, double-stopps with either two fingers or sometimes one (sometimes even just the tip of one), so that would be a plus. I tend to like steel-strings (and electrics) with somewhat wide necks, yet standard, traditional classicals seem just a smidgen too wide; if a steel-string or electric had the same neck and nut width as a typical classical, I'd want a closer string-spacing similar to most steel-strung & electrics, just moved over towards the bass-side en masse, leaving extra space between the 1st string and the fretboard's edge to allow a little more vibrato room for the 1st-string.

 

How do you usually tune your 8?

 

Familiar at all with the even rarer 10 string classicals?

[picker]

Loverly axe, that 8 stringer! Bee-yoo-tiful to behold!

 

I do wish I could claim membership in that great multi-string bruthahood, but I have a hard enough time strangling six, although I do confess a penchant for 12 string guitars and 5 string basses. The gorgeous harpsichord-ish sound of a 12 string acoustic entranced me the first time I heard one. But then, so did the strident ring of Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker electric when I heard the Byrds do Mr Tamborine Man.

I LOVE having that low B on a five string bass. Being able to walk down to C, or even a B instead of having to go up to continue a line is so satisfying. But, being able to play lines in one position on the neck of a five that would take two or more positions on a 4 is neat too.

[GreySeraph]

(I'd be a fellow 8 player, if it weren't that there are sooo many guitars, and so little time (and MONEY)... Hell, I'd have 7s, 8s, 10s, 12s (14s & 16s)... harp-guitars, baritones, fretless versions of every type (classical, flat-tops, carved-tops, electrics, resophinics) including baritones, everything... IF i could afford 'em! I couldn't even afford to string 'em, right now...)

 

Oh, that guitar looks sweet!

 

Is the string-spacing of your Hippner 8 a little closer than standard classical dimensions?

 

If so, I think I'd like that about it; I like to use a lot of partial-barres, slanted-barres, double-stopps with either two fingers or sometimes one (sometimes even just the tip of one), so that would be a plus. I tend to like steel-strings (and electrics) with somewhat wide necks, yet standard, traditional classicals seem just a smidgen too wide; if a steel-string or electric had the same neck and nut width as a typical classical, I'd want a closer string-spacing similar to most steel-strung & electrics, just moved over towards the bass-side en masse, leaving extra space between the 1st string and the fretboard's edge to allow a little more vibrato room for the 1st-string.

 

How do you usually tune your 8?

 

Familiar at all with the even rarer 10 string classicals?

 

Dude I love Narciso Yepes! That guy is baller

 

(there's a vid for anyone that wants to check some 10 string action out!!)

 

My 8 string's string spacing is only SLIGHTLY smaller than normal. I also have a Byers concert classical 6 string that i use often, and they feel just a tad different. Hippner did the guitar for quite cheap so if you were looking to get an 8 string commissioned, he's cool for that--not to mention he builds 8 strings for Andrew Schulman, a prominent 8 string classical guitarist on the east coast.

 

http://www.hippnerclassicalguitars.com/

 

My guitar personally has two lower bass strings, a low D and a low A beneath it. I just recently bought replacement strings, and am ready to instead have a low A underneath and a high A on top I'm prayin' it works haha. (the first tuning is Schulman's tuning, the second is Galbraith's tuning). I end up having to use a low 10th A string hard tension by Hannabach just to get the sound to come out; before, it had slightly smaller strings that just made it impossible to hear anything on the bass end. I think I went through 20 different string combinations on this guitar so far and I've only had it for about half a year!

 

Btw Caevan, if you do consider getting an 8 string classical, don't get the extra fretboard lip though; it'll definitely get in your way as the fretboard is just sooo monster. Also, generally rock vibrato is not as prominent on nylon strings as it is on metal strings, as classical guitarists tend to vibrato parallel with the string like violinists. That being said, rock vibrato does get called for on classical guitars on the lower strings sometimes, but i'd just pull the strings toward the ground instead of up.

[GreySeraph]

I LOVE having that low B on a five string bass. Being able to walk down to C, or even a B instead of having to go up to continue a line is so satisfying. But, being able to play lines in one position on the neck of a five that would take two or more positions on a 4 is neat too.

 

nice! My jazz bassist at school that I play with often plays 5 string too! Yeah dude I really love that super mega low end; nothing makes me more happy than tones that just shake the room, almost making your body feel like it's being exposed to the brown note hahaha

[theTragicRich]

I have a 7-string from Schecter (C7 Blackjack) that I bought a couple years ago. Love it! I noticed in their catalog this year, they have a few 8-string models but they don't do anything for me, at least from an electric guitar stand point. That's crossing over into the bass frequencies and that's his job!

 

However, your 8-string classical is a nice option. Years down the road I may add a 7 or 8 string nylon to go along with my current nylon 6'er.

[GreySeraph]

What type of stuff do you use your C7 for? Also, 8 strings make for great lower timbres that wont step on anyone's toes if you play with a keyboarder that has a larger range. Those low strings are just soooo different in comparison tonally; it's like a completely separate instrument on the same guitar.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Oh, yeah, I understand the difference between blues/rock/steel-string and classical/flamenco/nylon-string vibrato techniques (getting used to playing with said techniques on nylons is another matter, though! The side-to-side vibrato technique is sooo ingrained in me... ). I was meaning, if I had a neck on a steel-str. as wide as that of a classical, I'd want to take advantage of that and have that extra wiggle-room on the 1st string. Thanks, though!

 

I do have one "classical guitar"- an early '60s Silvertone (Sears-Roebuck!) that was given to me as a gift a few years ago; it's an oddball guitar (big surprise, right? ), particularly as its profile is more akin to a downsized Martin than any traditional Classical or Flamenco guitar. And- don't throw things at me! - I tune it to Open-G6 most of the time, and often play slide and "fretting-behind-the-slide" stuff onnitt...

 

Hehh hehh! I almost forgot, it's the one in my avatar-image pic! D'oh...

 

Say, you dig Charlie Hunter? I know, I know, it's further apples-and-oranges...

[GreySeraph]

hahaha I love Charlie! Guy plays marvelous chord melodies And nah man, i wouldnt throw stuff at you for tuning it that way hahaha. I wish I could play slide better--it's one of the aspects of guitar that i never had a good influence in. I do tune my cheaper acoustics (I got an Alhambra 4P student classical) to crazy tunings too; I play Andy McKee and Michael Hedges stuff on it. (Would you like to hear a crappy recording of some?)

 

Dude my 8 string's fretboard is so damn wide. Stretch the farthest distance you can between your thumb and forefinger, and it'd be about that wide haha (a centimeter give or take).

[theTragicRich]

What type of stuff do you use your C7 for? Also, 8 strings make for great lower timbres that wont step on anyone's toes if you play with a keyboarder that has a larger range. Those low strings are just soooo different in comparison tonally; it's like a completely separate instrument on the same guitar.

 

Unfortunately, guitar has taken a back seat to my bass playing since I started bass in 2004. So my 7 string falls into that era of just playing around, but being a born and raised metalhead, that's primarily what I use it for. Though the C7 has a great electronics setup, Duncan jb/59 with tappable coils, so when played clean it sounds amazing.

 

An 8-string guitar sounds like fun, but I think a 6-string fretless bass is going to be my next purchase.

[GreySeraph]

how much did that guitar go for? Like I was talking to Taz, I've been considering a 7 or 8 string electric and what not.

[GreySeraph]

btw guys, here's my hero playing:

 

 

Paul Galbraith Props to the person who identifies the piece

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Where could I find these NAMM videos? I tried searching but no luck

 

Oh and definitely for the walking bass line with the chord melody, especially for jazz.

 

These aren't NAMM but give you an idea.

 

[video:youtube]SbeRo7uisyo

 

[video:youtube]zA7l4nS9C_0

[GreySeraph]

damn those vids were BADASS. I feel so small I swear that guy is so well rounded in his playing and he's got such great tone and everything. fack haha. I'm gonna go practice for 30 straight hours now...

 

What type of guitar is that 8 string?

 

edit: I totally forgot to say...THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME THOSE VIDS! You dont understand just how great it is when I get to see 8 string guitars in action; such things are so hard to find and that was just some phenomenal playing. Gawrsh

[GuitarPlayerFL]

damn those vids were BADASS. I feel so small I swear that guy is so well rounded in his playing and he's got such great tone and everything. fack haha. I'm gonna go practice for 30 straight hours now...

 

What type of guitar is that 8 string?

 

edit: I totally forgot to say...THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME THOSE VIDS! You dont understand just how great it is when I get to see 8 string guitars in action; such things are so hard to find and that was just some phenomenal playing. Gawrsh

 

You're welcome. I'm appalled that Guitar Player mag has NEVER done a cover story on Robert.

I think it's political....I really do.

 

I think the Tele style guitar is custom built by Saul Koll. The other is a Framus guitar that was custom built. Not sure what he's playing these days. He sells his own 6 string bguitar on his website. You might visit his website and email him. Robert Conti

 

And ask GP why they've never put out a cover story on him.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Niiiiice! I take it that Mr. Conti is using two low strings beneath the "regular" six standard-tuned strings?

 

I dug these up, and while they haven't had time to load for me to really scope 'em out (dial-up), they may well prove to be worth yer while:

 

Now, not an eight string- a seven- but with the "extra", seventh string being a "High-A", becoming the de-facto "1st"-string "up on top"...

 

EDIT: OK, so the 1st vid isn't terribly exciting- it's nice, very nice, and the clarinet guy's great, what tone and phrasing!- but it's not exactly guitar-ifically exciting, huh? (Note that, IIRC, Mr. Breau used fishing-line for his High-A 1st-string on his 7-string classical guitar.)

 

-BUT- check out the cascading picking-hand "harp-harmonics", and great playing in general, in the 2nd vid! (Note that he had a custom-made short-scale guitar to accommodate the tension of the plain-steel High-A 1st-string without constantly breaking those super light-gauge strings.)

 

[video:youtube]

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtWIXiMEdew&feature=related

 

Hey! I remember my High school having a Yamaha amp like the one he's playing in that second vid- I hated that thing! I don't envy him there, somebody should've gotten him something more worthy of him to play through!

[GreySeraph]

Haha there's a ton of great guitarists out there that never get any article in GP. I have a teacher who has a dual doctorate who's sponsored by just about everyone (Fuchs, Boogie, Aram (classical guitar company), James Tyler, etc). He plays as a session guitarist for several different places in SoCal, such as the Hollywood Bowl. Why would you expect it to be political? I mean, I havent even seen an article on the Assad Brothers, or the LA Guitar Quartet, both of which are considered just about the greatest classical guitar ensembles EVER.

 

Don't get me wrong; I would love to see an article (and perhaps a lesson) from Conti, as he's such a badass on that 8 string, and I dont mean to attack/argue with you. I think there's so many factors involved in running a magazine. Even if this magazine (or any magazine) NEVER repeated a story on anybody (Can anyone say Hendrix? The guy's in a guitar magazine of some sort every other month i swear), especially with how many genres GP covers, I wonder if they'd ever be able to tag every single professional, super-talented guitarist out there.

 

And like I said, please dont get offended by this. I'm really truly thankful for being able to watch the vid. Is there any bad blood between Conti and other people that would cause this to occur?

[Caevan O’Shite]

FWIW, GP ran a nice, big article on the Assad Bro's a number of years ago...

 

How d'ya like Lenny Breau's "High-A" take on the seven-string, 'Seraph?

[GreySeraph]

Really? I've only been playing guitar for 5 years, and really didnt do any listening of any music really before that (I'm 21 too and a music major; pretty weird no?). What year did the GP article get produced?

 

Regarding Lenny's take, I never knew he did that. I think it's nice though; sometimes it's so awkward having to shift up to grab higher notes. That high A makes things sooo damn easy to deal with sight reading when you don't wanna make a chore out of it, cuz no one wants to change positions if they dont have to. That means more work, and all work and no play makes Grey a freaking vegetable

 

haha if anything, you guys can call me Grey =P that's what everyone calls me on the vent server I go on.

 

If any of you guys have ventrilo btw, you can hop on the vent server that I frequent (it's my buddy's and he doesnt mind)

 

IP: 67.201.13.178

Port: 4967

 

my name on there is the same as the one on here.

 

edit: ohhhh i totally never saw that post u put after the other guy haha. I'll watch the vids now

 

edit #2: haha my original setup involved a low D and a low A beneath it, just like mr. Conti over there. It's a lot of fun, but the higher string added makes it waaay better. Galbraith uses a light tension high E string and tunes it up to A. fishing line is too inconsistent in my teachers' opinions hahaha.

[GreySeraph]

DUDE! That guitar comping behind the clarinetist is bomb!

[Caevan O’Shite]

Glad you like it, and I agree; I'm just used to most people not being blown away by subtle performances, no matter how excellent- so I expected it to go over with most like a snore...

[Eric Iverson]

I plan to check out Conti as soon as I can get to a local computer cafe, since I can't hear music videos at work (software not installed) or at home (ancient dinosaur of a computer).

 

But GP depends a lot on newsstand sales, and genius jazz guitarists don't sell magazines. It's not political, it's economics. But GP has a lot of great jazz guitar related stuff in its instructional columns and features.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

But GP depends a lot on newsstand sales, and genius jazz guitarists don't sell magazines. It's not political, it's economics. But GP has a lot of great jazz guitar related stuff in its instructional columns and features.

 

Bob has been around since the late 60s as primarily as Jazz player. He played in road bands in the late 50s/early 60s.

People at the magazine know who he is.

 

Many times, GP has run cover stories on equipment. There have been an endless number of opportunities to cover him. They put a largely unknown Eric Johnson on the cover in the 80s.

 

Bob is easily in the league of Johnny Smith, Joe Pass and others. There is absolutely no sane reason why they have not ,in 42 YEARS, given him a cover story.

 

Not even a feature that wasn't a cover.

 

No, something is fishy.

[doc taz]

Haha isn't it just a trip that other than online, it's so hard to find other 7 or 8 stringers? I know 4 guys who play 7 string electrics, but so far no 8-stringers haha. That's great that you're open to so much It's always awesome to be passionate about MUSIC and not GENRES

 

But yeah, I do listen to a lot of metal as well, although I can be finicky about my tastes (like I sorta prefer a lot of Euro bands over American bands, though that's not always the case). I'm a closet shredhead and a fellow Ibanez brotha too! I play on an '04 JEM7VWH (The only year with the ebony fretboards and the edge pro trem...all the ones before that had lo-pro trems, and all the ones after that have rosewood boards)

 

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/11/l_7057abaa0ba1e9024a14286c2e1201cb.jpg (I'm holding my guitar)

 

As far as electric multi-string, I'm really moved by Vai's work. After that, some other guys that get me are our brethren (and by that, other guitarists hehe) from Meshuggah, John Petrucci, and Ron Eschete (a SoCal jazzer). Dude I love the Pizzarellis too. And hey, I'll probably sign up on sevenstring.org soon. They wouldnt happen to have a classical section in their forums would they?

 

Oh and how do you like your 7321? I was considering buying a new 7 string electric (or 8) in the near future, and was considering either that or a few other things like the Universe, that Ibanez prestige 8 string RG, Conklin guitars, and Novax guitars.

 

I tend to prefer Euro bands, too. I'm awaiting the next release from Necrophagist, for instance. The main guitarist and growler Muhammed Suicmez hooked up with Ibanez just before the Xiphos came out, and had 2 custom Xiphos guitars built to his specs (incl. one 27 fret, 7 string model).

 

As far as the 7321 goes, It's not bad for my first taste of going beyond a 6. If my budget were bigger, I'd definitely want a Universe or a customized Carvin (pref. the DC747 with a Floyd Rose setup).

 

I've tried the Ibanez 8, and man, is that neck super wide. I can barely get around on it...

 

My dad's got a bunch of Lenny Breau on vinyl and CD, so I recognize some of the music that's been posted here.

[GreySeraph]

Last time I tried a xiphos (it's not really my type of guitar but i was like what the hell...), the bridge seemed really flimsy. I dont really like edge bridges except the edge pro because it keeps the tuning due to how deep it goes in the body cavity. I used to have an RG that had that and it caused me so many problems, from loosening parts to a bar that wouldnt stay in place to the knife edges rounding out super fast. I do think that Carvin is really great.

 

When playing guitars with more than 6 strings, you gotta have the guitar as tight on you as possible. You can easily eff up your wrists and give yourself carpal tunnel or tendonitis or w/e if you play such a wide bridge with a low strap position. Doing so will also help you reach and what not. I would like to get a custom 8 string by ibanez, like the ones Meshuggah uses, and not the normal Prestige one. Or maybe I could get a custom made Universe that's 8 string. I wouldnt mind spending for something that's GOOD u know? Just gotta work for a couple years.

 

edit: that being said, i really like Necrophagist and that guy sweeps really well. I dont understand why that guy's so unlearned about theory and what not when he can play so well technically.