8 & 9 String guitars....

[Ermz]

Not really sure how I feel about them. Ever since Meshuggah exploded onto the scene with them on 'Nothing' I've not really heard anything to convince me they are the 'way forward' in riffing or guitar design. There is something about droning on the low notes that is extremely samey sounding. I don't know, maybe the current crop of bands using the instrument are just extremely derivative and uninventive, but the whole thing just sounds very homogenized to me.

Guitars are pretty tough instruments to keep sounding clean. Even a 6-stringer can have this problem, so once you decide to keep adding strings, you just add to the clutter - to the sympathetic resonances.

Having said that, the 6-string in concert pitch has existed for a long time. People have pretty much used it in just about every capacity it was ever going to get used in. Some deviation is necessary to keep things fresh for the new generation. I'm just unsure whether 'lower, lower, LOWER' is always better.

I'm a middle-ground guy. My favourite tuning is Drop C#. Tight enough to thrash out, low enough to groove out, but not so far down that it loses the inherent edge it possesses by being a guitar - an intrinsically midrange-focused instrument.

 

[Toxic Grind Machine]

I would prefer a 4 string guitar to be honest.. only use the top strings for rhythm work since im average doing solo work lol.

 

[AD Chaos]

I'm a middle-ground guy. My favourite tuning is Drop C#. Tight enough to thrash out, low enough to groove out, but not so far down that it loses the inherent edge it possesses by being a guitar - an intrinsically midrange-focused instrument.

I'm always going back and forth between C and D.

D is indeed very tight and tuning friendly, C however is darker. C# is too much accidentals and a weird vibe for me.

 

[locus_coeruleus]

That was not my point, I meant that it's not adding anything new to the table. IMO anything lower than A is not heavier, just muddier.

That's why I love his stuff, it's not meant to be heavier! Yeah, he uses the 8th string on some sections and not on all songs, but having an 8th string does not mean that you have to use it ALL the time. His songs have some really interesting riffs using that string and they wouldn't sound as cool if he played them an octave lower or in A. And I do think his music brings a lot of new stuff to the table, specially the fact that he incorporated very dissonant sax lines on a lotta songs.

 

[Kenny Lee]

Hehe ... old azz thread... I love my 9 stringers I had a RG2228 and rarely played it for the first 5 months I had it as everything I did sounded Meshuggah'ish. But we're using 9's in pretty much everything we're doing now (3 projects -- Death/speed Metal .... Symphonic Doom Metal ... and a just straight ahead heavy project). It's easy to get stuck in a chuggah chuggah rut with these guitars because they just sound frickin' mean.

I have mine tuned different, just to be different... just because haha. For the Speed / Death project my tuning is >>
B Db Ab Db Ab A Db Ab Db

FF to 1:00 it'll kick in :Smokin:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqXTVkNAOB0&feature=relmfu[/ame]

 

[egan.]

i am not fan of Meshuggah either (even though i enjoy Djent music)

I stopped reading here.

 

[Genius Gone Insane]

Here is a mathematical equation: the pitch you tune to is inversely proportional to the size of your penis.

Not true. If this were so, I would be playing much much lower than my current Bb tuning, particularly during the winter.

 

[colonel kurtz]

I stopped reading here.

haha...touche

the way i see it, in most instances, 8 or 9 string guitars are just a novelty, just like 7 strings were there for a while. while there's a handful of artists who use these instruments to break the mold so to say, and do something that's completely unique and have their own style, a lot of people latch onto the shit as a trend. meshuggah and korn started playing metal on 7 string guitars, then a bunch of kids went and copped their style...then meshuggah pushed it to 8 strings, followed by stef carpenter, and a bunch more kids bought into that shit.

honestly though, it's pretty much the same thing that goes for standard 6 string guitars, regardless of the tuning - most of the people out there playing the shit are mediocre at best, while a select few outshine the rest with their overall creativity and playing abilities.

 

[Ola Englund]

UPDATE : I never got a 9-string...

the only problem with my 8-string that I have is that I haven't received the Duncan Distortion 8 for it.
After that I'll be 8-stringing all over the place.

But I mainly play my 7-strings of course. I have one 8-string song that I did and a couple of cool ideas but my main stuff is played on a 7.
But in the coming future I will be playing 6-strings in C again.

 

[Uros]

I take it that Duncan Distortion is your go-to pickup then?

 

[Ruins]

I stopped reading here.

good for you.

 

[AD Chaos]

But in the coming future I will be playing 6-strings in C again.

That's my tuning also! <3

Can you tell which gauges would you be using for that?

 

[Robert W]

I remember reading that a numbers of Agile 8 string users were getting very good results with Bare Knuckle's Warpigs and Miracle Mans

 

[Ola Englund]

I take it that Duncan Distortion is your go-to pickup then?

go-to forever pickup yes!

 

[Ola Englund]

That's my tuning also! <3

Can you tell which gauges would you be using for that?

I have no idea since the guitars arriving will have 27.5" and 26.3/16"
We'll see I guess

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Not true. If this were so, I would be playing much much lower than my current Bb tuning, particularly during the winter.

Touche my man, touche!

I have no idea since the guitars arriving will have 27.5" and 26.3/16"
We'll see I guess

Speaking of which, that is going to be my next guitar, a Stricly 7 Solar 7 in white. The 26 3/16 scale on the 6 string and 26 frets is exactly what I have been looking for. I am going to have a few things custom however I think (pickups and wood), I might have to hit you up Ola regarding a few things in the near future.

 

[coreysMonster]

To all the people who say that you can only do Meshuggah rip-off stuff if you have an 8-string, have you ever even TRIED to write on one? I've found that the 8-string has done nothing but expand the capabilities of what I can compose on a single guitar. I mean, just because lots of people use 8-strings to write chuggah-chuggah stuff (and I will admit, I do that too, because it's fricken fun), doesn't mean that that's the only use for them.

Unnecessary self-plug of a song I recorded years ago to prove my point:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8_QLv4_-nA&feature=relmfu[/ame]

That song would be impossible to play on any less than 7 strings, and it's a lot easier to play with 8.

 

[Ola Englund]

Speaking of which, that is going to be my next guitar, a Stricly 7 Solar 7 in white. The 26 3/16 scale on the 6 string and 26 frets is exactly what I have been looking for. I am going to have a few things custom however I think (pickups and wood), I might have to hit you up Ola regarding a few things in the near future.

Sweet man you're going to be so happy with it. Send me a msg on facebook when you need answers!