8 String Guitar Measurements And Specs.

[RestorationAD]

We have a lot of 8 string builders on the Forum. 8 strings are harder to build because there are so few to copy, however the same laws of physics apply to them.... I have played the Ibanez 8 string and was not impressed with the scale length. I think we have some great builders on the site that can give us all great guidlines for several different types of 8 strings

Prostheta has offered up some info on how he builds them and I am starting a thread (per his request to keep all the info in.)

Per Prostheta:

'''I work out my neck measurements by formula so I guess it depends on your neck specifics as I would recommend making them to what your preference is. Widthwise, the neck is 56mm at the zero fret and about 67.5mm at the 12th fret as I measure it with the calipers. The string spacing is 74mm string-to-string at the bridge and 49.5mm at the zero fret. I work out the fretboard dimensions using those plus 3mm either side for string overhang. The neck thickness is 21mm in the middle of the first fret and 23mm in the middle of the 12th fret.'''

We all agree that Wenge is awesome. And I have been converted to Padauk as my main back wood.

I will post my measurements for my 8 when I get them figured out.

[Tristan]

Cool to know, I wanted to ask some questions about measurement for 8 strings, but wanted to wait until I started building one. I'll have to remember this thread. Thanks!

[Kenny]

glad this was brought up!

albiet that ive never built an 8 string, but i did build a fanned 7 string, and faced similar problems

i am not much a fan of copying other guitars, i like to take ideas that i like and incorperate into my design (although i did copy the bridge on my most recent guitar from eriks v8 build) ive found that its much more gratifying to come up with a unique design that fits all your presonal needs.

heres what i found.

fanned frets are beautiful for 7+ strings, and really work out the issue of the long scale lengths for me, personally for my 7 i did a 27-25" scale with the 12 perp. it feels very natural. i had to do some reverse engeneering to get the fingerboard mesurments though. they are also surpisingly easy to make aswell. (granted i use a cad style program, ACDsee canvas, so i just print out my design and use that as a guide, i dont measure anything by hand, just double check, haha)

i decided the distance that i wanted my strings in from the side of the fretboard, and used my string spread (first thing i did was chose the saddles i was going to use) and personal preference for string spacing to get the nut width. i then did some simple math and found the taper i would need to keep the distance to edge of the board, which gave me the width at the end of the board (the length had been established by then)

the same basic prinicple can be appllied to an 8 string i guess. but this was just my workings with an abstract design, and how i got to where i did.

naturally i also compensated for string guages

i think soon i will build an 8 string

i just want to crank out maybe 3 or 4 "normal" guitars before i do

Edited September 28, 2008 by Kenny

[WezV]

fanned frets are beautiful for 7+ strings

the same effects you get on 7+ long scale strings are just as important over 6 normal scale strings. I love my first fanned fret 6 -it has 25-26" scale lengths, usually in standard or drop D tuning... it made me realise FF makes just as much sense on 'normal' guitars as it does for extended range instruments!! if i wasnt so stuck in the traditional i might consider doing everything FF

anyway, there are certain things i wouldnt build unless i could do them fanned fret.. for me an 8 string is one of those - i do keep talking about building one at the moment, possibly with quite a compact body like a N4 - i like a lot of neck!! My current 6 string baritone build was borderline on being fanned fret or not - we went for it and i think it was the right decision for the low B