[Karl Hungus]

This is something I've been thinking about recently. I've a friend who used to tune one of his 7s up to C, which lead to some interesting open voicings and overall, lots of fun. It's something I'm playying to toy around with myself.

Now, as I'm pretty much a 25.5" scale fan here, the idea of a 27" or upwards 8 string scares me for standard tunings, and actually being able to play to the same degree as I do on the upper register, would it even be feasable to tune up with an 8 string? Lets say I wanted to tune up to G, or even A, would it even be possible without the string tension being like garotte wire? Would I actually have to get a custom built 8 with a shorter scale lenth if I wanted to tune up?

Anyway, food for thought at least.

[Papa Shank]

Garry Goodman has his super strong strings that can tune upto a high A on ~27" scales.

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Karl Hungus

Now, as I'm pretty much a 25.5" scale fan here, the idea of a 27" or upwards 8 string scares me for standard tunings, and actually being able to play to the same degree as I do on the upper register, would it even be feasable to tune up with an 8 string?

Have you actually tried a 27" scale guitar? its not that much different to my hands than a 25.5". its essentially only a fret give or take longer. And keep in mind, my hands are really average sized, i dont have any weird alien vai-type fingers. go try a baritone or something out in a store.. its actually not that big of a stretch.

[Karl Hungus]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

Have you actually tried a 27" scale guitar? its not that much different to my hands than a 25.5". its essentially only a fret give or take longer. And keep in mind, my hands are really average sized, i dont have any weird alien vai-type fingers. go try a baritone or something out in a store.. its actually not that big of a stretch.

Schecter's 26.5" makes a fair bit of difference in tension. Bare in mind I play with 9s, so I love my bends and vibrato.

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Karl Hungus

Schecter's 26.5" makes a fair bit of difference in tension. Bare in mind I play with 9s, so I love my bends and vibrato.

I know. i've owned one.. and a 25.5" and a 27" scale. Its all in what strings you put on it. I love vibrato too. i got 9s on my GrooveTools in standard (w/ a 65 B) and 10-68 on my 1077XL (27") tuned down 1 step and they feel roughly the same, tensionwise. i think a 9 E gives you bout 13~ lbs of tension and a 10 D on a 27" gives you about 14~ lbs of tension.

[Karl Hungus]

Originally Posted by Metal Ken

I know. i've owned one.. and a 25.5" and a 27" scale. Its all in what strings you put on it. I love vibrato too. i got 9s on my GrooveTools in standard (w/ a 65 B) and 10-68 on my 1077XL (27") tuned down 1 step and they feel roughly the same, tensionwise. i think a 9 E gives you bout 13~ lbs of tension and a 10 D on a 27" gives you about 14~ lbs of tension.

Yes, but what would, say 10 tuned up a step on a 27" be like?

[urklvt]

I was actually thinking of doing something like that on the Halo 8 when it comes out. I tune my standard scale 7s to low A, so on the 27" scale 8 I would just drop it one half or one whole step further and add another string on the high end, making it low G/G# to high F/F#. It would not be a drastic adjustment for me at all. I would go lower if the scale were longer. My 28 5/8" baritone can handle a low F# with a 0.074 string, but at 27" that string would be floppy as hell tuned that low. We'll see...

[Metal Ken]

Originally Posted by Karl Hungus

Yes, but what would, say 10 tuned up a step on a 27" be like?

I dont see why not. it'd be a fuck of a bunch of tension, i'd imagine. I'd probably get an .008 if i were tuning up a step. I tuend up a step with 009's on my 007 Blackjack when i had it.