FEATURE: 8 Is Enough… for now – Production 8-string guitars
The 8 string electric guitar isn’t a totally new phenomenon – Meshuggah fans have been lusting after their own readily available version for years now – but since Ibanez made the brave move into the mass-produced world of the low F# string, other companies have stepped up with their own monstrous creations. Here are a few readily available production 8 strings. All feature EMG 808 active pickups, and all are tuned F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E at the factory, but of course you’re free to come up with your own tunings. Personally, I’d probably drop the F# down to E. You’ve already gone down that far, why not get all the way down to bass territory? Then again, following that philosophy, I’d probably want a 9 string so I can go as low as a 5 string bass… Hehehe.
Ibanez RG2228
SPECS:
basswood body, 5-piece maple/wenge neck w/rosewood fretboard,
24 jumbo frets
27” Scale
Gotoh Tuners
Edge III-8 fixed bridge,
2x EMG 808 pickups
CLICK HERE to see the Ibanez RG2228 on eBay.
ESP LTD FM-418
SPECS:
Neck-Thru-Body
Basswood Body, Maple Neck w/ Rosewood Fretboard
24 XJ Frets
25.5″ Scale
Grover Tuners
Hipshot Fixed Bridge
EMG 808 pickups
CLICK HERE to see the ESP LTD FM-418 on eBay.
Schecter Hellraiser C-8
SPECS:
Manhgay body, Mahogany Neck w/Rosewood Fretboard
26.5” Scale
Schecter Locking Tuners
Hipshot Fixed Bridge
EMG 808 Pickups
CLICK HERE to see the Schecter Hellraiser C-8 on eBay.
HALLOWEEN BRUTALITY – ESP George Lynch Skulls & Snakes
Here’s another one that goes back to my very first guitar magazine, the March 1991 issue of Guitar World with ZZ Top on the cover. George Lynch appeared in a Seymour Duncan ad for his Screamin’ Demon pickup, posing with this guitar. Naturally it was the coolest f***ing thing in the world to my 13-year-old self, and I’ve never stopped lusting after this guitar.
Features include a blot-on maple neck on an alder body, rosewood fretboard, 45mm neck width, George’s custom neck conour, 22 extra jumbo frets, Gotoh tuners, Floyd Rose bridge, George’s Screamin’ Demon bridge pickup, and an ESP SH-100 Rail pickup in the neck position.
CLICK HERE to buy George Lynch’s 1993 solo album ‘Sacred Groove’
NEWS: Caparison Michael Romeo signature
Caparison’s signature model for Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo, the Dellinger-MJR Pro.White, arrives in stores this month. It’s based on Caparison’s Dellinger model, with a few custom touches. It includes a Dimarzio Tone Zone humbucker in the neck, and a Dimarzio X2N humbucker in the bridge.
CLICK HERE to buy the latest Symphony X album, Paradise Lost
GEAR: Strociek TurboTrem
Strociek currently offers 3 models of TurboTrem: threaded, collared, and pop-in. The company says the TurboTrem is compatible with any Kahler tremolo system and all original and licensed Floyd Rose single and double locking tremolo systems, such as the Ibanez Edge series, Schaller, Gotoh, ESP, Peavey, Jackson and Charvel and more.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com