[Drew]

Originally Posted by metalfiend666

Doesn't TDW tune to low F on a 56 gauge?

TDW also gets no respect.

[bostjan]

Or Dick Dale and his fricken .016" high E. Keep in mind that SRV usually tuned down a half step, too, making the tension a little more manageable.

Here's the way I interpret things:
Ultra Light Strings: Great for ultra-lite touch playing, but they sound wimpy clean.
Extra Light Strings: Seems to be what most beginners like. Middle of the road tone and easy to bend.
Hybrid Light Strings: Thin highs but reasonable lows
Light Strings: More well-rounded sound. Great for many styles.
Medium Light Strings: Beefy lows and round highs.
Mediums: Great clean sound. Beefy overdriven sounds with low gain, turns to mud with high gain/heavy distortion.
Heavy Strings: I never saw a use for them, personally. If you play your guitar with a nickel instead of a pick or if you tune down, they work fine.

[Drew]

My take, Bostjan, is that the heavier the string, the more compressed its attack is. This is why a peizo on an electric never sounds quite like an acoustic unless you run heavy strings.

This kind of leads indirectly to what you're talking about - a sharp, snappy attack really helps you cut through heavy gain, whereas a more compressed attack gives you a richer, more balanced clean tone, but won't jump out of a high gain tone as much.

[Nik]

Originally Posted by Drew

Oh, well you don't have to hit the open string - playing a line on the low F# string in the 12th position is going to put you in what would be like the 2nd position on the low E string, without moving out of range to go up to the high E 12th fret. That's a HUGE intervallic range for one position, hence my excitement here.

Anyway, would you also be ok with a 25.5"-28 fan?

Yeah, that's something I wouldn't mind trying out, but the fanned frets would make it more playable than a non-fanned 28".

I know what you're saying, though, and I agree those possibilities are cool too. I'm just saying that, since we'll all be messing around with different tunings, and 8-string tunings are open to interpretation, then the scale should be a compromise and not something extreme

And I can't imagine tuning to F# with a 56. I have a 56 for my low B and flops like no other...

[urklvt]

We didn't really talk about this but are we talking 24 or 26 frets? At 28 5/8" my vote is for 26 especially for those who are used to the 24 frets on a 25.5" scale neck. I have 24 on my 28 5/8" just because it replaced a 22 fret S7420 neck, but would have preferred the extra 2. Also, I like the thought that on an 8 tuned to somewhat standard guitar intervals (eg. F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E) the highest note would be the same as the lowest. Any thoughts?

[bostjan]

Very true, Drew. The thicker the string, the heavier the damping. But even on a properly set up guitar with extra heavies, the tone can get a bit mushy. You have to go pretty darn heavy, though. If you ever played steel guitar, you would notice how there is a balance point were the strings sustain longer, but still have a nice singing upper midrange tone for cleans. This is usually around medium to medium heavy gauge (.011" or .012"). But if you ever try .013" on a les paul, tuned standard, you might notice that the beefy tone start shifting into a more rubbery sound. Or try .014"s on anything tuned standard. What happens at that point is that the tone of the string becomes shaped by the thickness instead of purely the length, especially on the lower strings.

I say the more frets, the better, but the higher the fret is, the less often I'll use it. 26 might be nice to extend the entire range five octaves in standard tuning.

[b3n]

Originally Posted by bostjan

Man, if I were to buy one, I would gladly add $100-$200 for the fret fanning.

+1

As Darren said it would be nice to save money in other areas by going for more 'generic' components & woods, thus keeping the fanned frets within the same price range.

* b3n thinks that as the specs in the other Rondo thread aren't going his way, this looks like a very interesting option for his next axe.

[Nik]

Originally Posted by urklvt

We didn't really talk about this but are we talking 24 or 26 frets? At 28 5/8" my vote is for 26 especially for those who are used to the 24 frets on a 25.5" scale neck. I have 24 on my 28 5/8" just because it replaced a 22 fret S7420 neck, but would have preferred the extra 2. Also, I like the thought that on an 8 tuned to somewhat standard guitar intervals (eg. F#-B-E-A-D-G-B-E) the highest note would be the same as the lowest. Any thoughts?

lol, here we go with the extra frets again

I'd generally prefer 24 frets, but if you guys really want extra frets, I don't care, as long as it doesn't raise the price! Keep in mind we're shooting for a really cheap, no-frills 8-string.

b3n - I also don't like where that thread went, but this sounds more interesting anyway

[urklvt]

Originally Posted by Nik

lol, here we go with the extra frets again

Just curious, what do you mean by extra frets? How many is an instrument SUPPOSED to have? As if 8 strings means 2 EXTRA strings.

An 8 string 26 fret 28 5/8" scale guitar has nothing extra on it if it has 8 strings, 26 frets, and has a 28 5/8" scale.

[Nik]

Originally Posted by urklvt

Just curious, what do you mean by extra frets? How many is an instrument SUPPOSED to have? As if 8 strings means 2 EXTRA strings.

It's just a reference to the other Rondo thread where a couple of people were going crazy over the prospect of having a 27-fret guitar. While there is no truly established fret-number, 24 is nice because you get exactly two octaves per string.

As I said, I don't have anything against the idea of 26 frets as long as it doesn't really add to the cost of the guitar. I can see, from a theory standpoint why you'd want those two extra frets in there.