seriously, playing an 8 stringer makes no sense to me. i have a strat with a normal strat neck tuned to beadgb. why not just thicken up your strings and play f#,b,e,a,d,g,b on a seven string. i mean how many notes will you lose for not having a high e, like 5? im with wes, its just too much. theres a bass player for a reason. my bass player is playing a 6 string bass and im playing a seven string which doesnt leave much of a gap.