8 String Ibanez guitars

[Impy]

Has anyone heard anything about Ibanez making 8 strings?
A couple of my friends saw Meshuggah this friday and apparently they were playing 8 string Ibanez guitars, and they were standing about 2 meters from em so they didn't imagine it...

 

[Fredrik-Ablaze]

Posted - 17 May 2005 : 00:03:46
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Here's a clip with Marten telling you all about it... I saw them yesterday actually...
http://www.guitariste.com/interviews/meshuggah.html

 

[commandante]

As far as I know, if it is not in the production line you can't get those Ibanez guitars if you are not an important endorsee. They do have a custom shop, but it only works for their endorsees.

By the way, I watched that video... That guitar sounds like shit acoustically

 

[Torniojaws]

They are custom made for Marten & Fredrik only. They used to use Nevborn guitars, but I guess Ibanez made a good deal for them and they returned to Ibanez.

The interesting part is that they only use .009 - .070 strings on the 8 stringers. Hell, on my 7-string, I have .011 - .070. The strings must be very floppy on their guitars

 

[Razorjack]

They are custom made for Marten & Fredrik only. They used to use Nevborn guitars, but I guess Ibanez made a good deal for them and they returned to Ibanez.

The interesting part is that they only use .009 - .070 strings on the 8 stringers. Hell, on my 7-string, I have .011 - .070. The strings must be very floppy on their guitars

Isn't the extra string a high one? I've played 8-strings before and they've had a low B and high A.

 

[Kazrog]

I think Meshuggah's have a low F# string, and conceivably they might even go to drop E tuning (feel the thunder!) In any case, I haven't spent much time investigating this matter because I think their guitars sound like flabby ass ever since "Nothing."

 

[Razorjack]

I think Meshuggah's have a low F# string, and conceivably they might even go to drop E tuning (feel the thunder!) In any case, I haven't spent much time investigating this matter because I think their guitars sound like flabby ass ever since "Nothing."

low F# !! kinda explains the lack of tone on the new album

 

[Exsanguis]

Yeah, Meshuggah's definitely been going down an "interesting" path for the past few albums. I loved "I" but I thought Nothing sounded like crap and was really boring. Catch 33 has a cool atmosphere, but the programmed drums and the dull toneless guitars leave a lot to be desired. The 8 string guitar seems completely ridiculous to me, and has yet to be featured in a way that makes me go, "Oh, that's why they NEED an 8 string."

 

[axeman720]

their 8 strings are tuned F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb.

 

[Torniojaws]

It would be funny if they had one song in HEADACHE tuning

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Yes, if only H existed

 

[Impy]

H is another way of saying B

 

[Rich - Rannoch]

Fredrik's 8 string Ibanez (from Nottingham Rock City last June). Both Fredrik and Marten also used custom Ibanez 7 strings for this gig.

 

[DracWell]

The interesting part is that they only use .009 - .070 strings on the 8 stringers. Hell, on my 7-string, I have .011 - .070. The strings must be very floppy on their guitars

Uhm no. Not floppy. The guitar scale is 30"....

 

[Torniojaws]

Ah, that explains it

Yes, if only H existed

I don't know the names of the systems, but there are two:

CDEFGAHC - half a step lowered H is called B, which would be A# / Bb in the second system:
CDEFGABC

I think the lower is more common in US, the upper is what most places (music schools especially) use here in Europe.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Wow, never heard about that ! Thanks for the information

 

[Canis]

Ah, that explains it

I don't know the names of the systems, but there are two:

CDEFGAHC - half a step lowered H is called B, which would be A# / Bb in the second system:
CDEFGABC

I think the lower is more common in US, the upper is what most places (music schools especially) use here in Europe.

So it is. I was attending music school for five years while in elementary school. Piano and stuff. I still remember my confusion (when I started to play guitar two years ago) when I realized that H can be also B

 

[Skaldir]

I can't imagine that an 8string guitar with a low F# can sound any good. With drop E, it's the same tone as a normal tuned 8 string bass, and you know what distorted power chords on bass sound like. There's no power behind it anymore. For my ears Bb or B (H) should be the lowest, everything beneath begins to lose energy.
I knew a band who put bass strings on their guitars and even had to millcut the string-guideway and it just sounded like crap.

 

[Benny H]

They barely play chords on the 8 strings (if at all)

 

[Kazrog]

I knew a band who put bass strings on their guitars and even had to millcut the string-guideway and it just sounded like crap.

I know about 3 bands that do this. And I agree that once you get below B or Bb you start losing energy, particularly if your entire album is built around the low string. But not everyone else agrees with us apparently.