# Good scale length for Drop E tuning on an 8 String?



## xHaVK (May 4, 2012)

So Agile's custom shop is open again, and I'm looking at this baby here: Agile Pendulum Pro Dual Custom w/Case (Deposit for November 2012) - RondoMusic.com

Looking at the 8 string model, I wanna be able to put into Drop E (EBEADGBE).
What would ya'll think the best scale lengths would be? 27"-28.625" sounds good to me, but 27"-30" would allow me to use thinner strings on the low end. Also with the 27"-30", I'm worried the difference between the scales might be too much. Any opinions?


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## Stealthdjentstic (May 4, 2012)

27-30 is fine on an 8


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## sage (May 4, 2012)

I tune like that on an 82527 and have no probs


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## 2ManyShoes (May 4, 2012)

Stealthdjentstic said:


> 27-30 is fine on an 8



+1


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## Metal_Webb (May 5, 2012)

Just gonna add, I've got my 26.5" Schecter with a low Eb on there and it sounds fine. You just have to prepared to use the right thickness strings if you want a good tone out of it, that's all.


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## Dayn (May 5, 2012)

I use an .086 at 27" for E. I even have a .106 for C# at 27" and it's more than usable. Going to 30" would more than suffice.


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## mellis (May 9, 2012)

I've tried E on my 28.6 Intrepid with an .080 and it just sounds a little muddy to me, maybe it's just the stock Cepheus pickups? F sharp seems to be the limit of good note definition to my ears at least.


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## knuckle_head (May 9, 2012)

As a matter of record - a fwiw - half step increments in scale length based on a 25.5" standard are; 25.5 - 27 - 28.625 - 30.3 - 32.1 - 34


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## All_¥our_Bass (May 9, 2012)

26.5" if you don't mind thicker strings and the tone that comes with them-usually not as tight/bright/djenty, it's got a more beefy sound.
I have a Schecter 8 myself and use an 85 for F#-most people here use an 80 for F#/F on these I'm just heavy handed, so an 85-90 for E, probably.

27" and higher if you like like thin strings, and the tone they impart, also longer scale tend to sound brighter in general even with bigger strings, since it allows them to vibrate in a way that is closer to 'ideal' strings (nicer overtones, less inharmonic).


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## Jessy (May 9, 2012)

Nothing that you'd call a guitar will sound good at that pitch. Yes, I've heard Tosin attempt it and fail.


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## Razzy (May 9, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Nothing that you'd call a guitar will sound good at that pitch. Yes, I've heard Tosin attempt it and fail.



I've got to disagree. Tosin Abasi and Josh Travis get by just fine in E.


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## Jessy (May 9, 2012)

Razzy said:


> I've got to disagree. Tosin Abasi and Josh Travis get by just fine in E.


Example, please.

This is the best you're going to get, for that pitch. Why anyone thought 34" was adequate, I have no idea. There's a reason people love Dingwalls.


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## mattofvengeance (May 10, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Nothing that you'd call a guitar will sound good at that pitch. Yes, I've heard Tosin attempt it and fail.









sounds just fine to me, brah


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## AnarchyDivine88 (May 10, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Nothing that you'd call a guitar will sound good at that pitch. Yes, I've heard Tosin attempt it and fail.



Dude, do you know what forum you're posting on?  Why even go to the ERG section of the forum if you feel that way? Just wondering. It's like when someone comments on a youtube video of a band just to say how much they suck. I mean, if you don't like the band, why are you watching their video?


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## JP Universe (May 10, 2012)

Jessy said:


> bla bla bla Yes, I've heard Tosin attempt it and totally kick my fucking ass.



AGREED!


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## jeremyb (May 10, 2012)

I'd say at least 28.5", I find I need a .74 for F# on 27"...


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## Jessy (May 10, 2012)

AnarchyDivine88 said:


> Dude, do you know what forum you're posting on?  Why even go to the ERG section of the forum if you feel that way? Just wondering. It's like when someone comments on a youtube video of a band just to say how much they suck. I mean, if you don't like the band, why are you watching their video?


Just because you love ERGs doesn't mean you think that it makes any sense to tune them to unusable frequencies, even if that's the standard. If it weren't for KoRn, this forum wouldn't exist. How much positive talk of KoRn do you see around here?

All of the low notes in that Animals as Leaders clip sound like sludge metal. Floppy, out-of tune, no overtones. If you pretend to dig that, it's because you're too much of a pansy to deal with the pain of stretching your hand to a real scale, or you're too old to hear anything above 1 kHz.


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## Winspear (May 10, 2012)

As much as AAL are my favourite band and Tosin is my favourite guitarist, I do also agree that their low E sounds like ass. If you check out his lessons and videos of him playing clean you can hear how floppy it is and covered in fretbuzz. Pretty bad live too. Sounds fine on distortion though! A tighter string like a 90 would probably sort out the cleans but wouldn't sound as bright on distortion. I'd also say 30 or at least 28.625 is a far better option.
Must say I don't agree with your more extreme opinions though and think 30" is perfectly sufficient.


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## AnarchyDivine88 (May 10, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Just because you love ERGs doesn't mean you think that it makes any sense to tune them to unusable frequencies, even if that's the standard. If it weren't for KoRn, this forum wouldn't exist. How much positive talk of KoRn do you see around here?
> 
> All of the low notes in that Animals as Leaders clip sound like sludge metal. Floppy, out-of tune, no overtones. If you pretend to dig that, it's because you're too much of a pansy to deal with the pain of stretching your hand to a real scale, or you're too old to hear anything above 1 kHz.



I don't think anyone is pretending to dig that, I mean if no one liked sludgyness, than doom metal wouldn't exist. Personally, I like a tighter sound and feel also, but I think 27" or 28" is fine if you use the right gauge (for me anyway) and 30" is definitely enough, I mean come on, that's a short scale bass length.

BTW just so you know, I'm not the one that gave you neg rep. I never give neg rep, because I don't see the point in it. You're entitled to you're opinion like everyone else.


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## Andrenighthound (May 10, 2012)

I use a .090 on a 30" . Punchy as hell! Mostly play clean with it though.

Edit: I use a .090 for F# but I just ordered some .096 gauge labellas to drop to low E.


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## Tiger (May 11, 2012)

My agile 7 string is tuned as EADGCEA with a .072 on a 30 inch scale. I think it sounds great. Maybe I'm not cool enough to realize it sounds bad.


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## Rook (May 11, 2012)

Lol at the troll.

I managed an E just fine on my RG2228 at 27" with an 80. It wasn't real tight n stuff but it was fine, more than fine in fact.

I find that any decent gauge on any decent length is only half the story, you have to get the setup right (and by proxy have a guitar capable of being set up right) and have the right pickups or it won't work.

I have my 26 3/8" tuned to F# with a 68 - so short and thin by most standards on this site  - and it sounds great, better than the RG2228 in fact.

So yeah, scale and gauge is only half the story, but an 80 on a 27" will be more than fine.


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## Jessy (May 11, 2012)

Fun111 said:


> Lol at the troll.


Eat poop.  I'll keep on tuning up as far as I can!


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## Konfyouzd (May 11, 2012)

I like 27"+


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## Konfyouzd (May 11, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Eat poop.  I'll keep on tuning up as far as I can!


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## lucasreis (May 11, 2012)

Fun111 said:


> Lol at the troll.
> 
> I managed an E just fine on my RG2228 at 27" with an 80. It wasn't real tight n stuff but it was fine, more than fine in fact.
> 
> ...



Just because a person disagrees with people's point of view, it doesn't mean said person is a troll. He just expressed his opinion.


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## Rook (May 11, 2012)

He's in an ERG forum.

If it were constructive it wouldn't be trolling. Going into a thread an saying something unhelpful and potentially inflammatory is trolling...

If he'd said anything even remotely on point then I wouldn't have said anything. Obviously he's entitled to his opinion, as is anyone, but there's a time, a place and in this case a way to express it. Wasn't really a valid contribution was it, how does the OP benefit from that statement?

Let's not make this thread about that, eh?


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## lucasreis (May 12, 2012)

Fun111 said:


> He's in an ERG forum.
> 
> If it were constructive it wouldn't be trolling. Going into a thread an saying something unhelpful and potentially inflammatory is trolling...
> 
> ...



I understand your point completely. But at the same time, the guy may like ERG's but he is not into low E tuning for some reason. But I wouldn't go as far as considering it trolling. I do get your point though.


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## Danukenator (May 12, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Just because you love ERGs doesn't mean you think that it makes any sense to tune them to unusable frequencies, even if that's the standard. If it weren't for KoRn, this forum wouldn't exist. How much positive talk of KoRn do you see around here?
> 
> All of the low notes in that Animals as Leaders clip sound like sludge metal. Floppy, out-of tune, no overtones. If you pretend to dig that, it's because you're too much of a pansy to deal with the pain of stretching your hand to a real scale, or you're too old to hear anything above 1 kHz.



The KoRn point is interesting although completely wrong. Rickenbacker made the first electric guitar but I don't see them getting a lot of praise around here. 

I don't personally like KoRn but I can still like a seven string guitar. You can like something with having to like the people who pioneered it.

As for the rest: 


To the OP, I've seen it done on a 27" scale and sound fine. To keep every thing clear I'd go with 28" scale. I find I like the sound of a smaller string on a longer scale than a huge string on a short scale. I feel the thicker the string the more the "guitarish" character of the sound decreases.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

Now, I'm thinking about buying the same type of guitar (Agile Pendulum) tuning it standard (E B G D A E B F#) but I'd maybe like to have the possibility of dropping the 8th down to E so I'm wondering scale length as well. 

Would 25.5 to 28.625 be fine? My 6 string is 25.5 so I thought going from that on the higher strings would make sense but I might be wrong as I am no expert on these matters.

Hopefully you can help me.

First time poster, long time lurker.


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## The Norsemen (May 13, 2012)

Whenever I read about what gauges you guys use for your strings I don't know how you do it.
Is the difference in tension that different between 26.5" and 27"?
I just moved up to a .92 for F# and it works for E too but I'm not thrilled.
The idea of anything in the .70's is ludicrous to me. 
Maybe I just like tight strings?


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## Dayn (May 13, 2012)

28"~ would be fine for your lowest string. Not sure if I said on the previous page, but I use a La Bella .086 for E at 27" and it works perfectly. Intonated and sounds great with no buzz. Average tension, around 16.5lbs~. For my guitar, I think E is the limit for 27". I have a .106 for C# at the moment, but I'm afraid it's a bit too big for my tastes. I'd have to go longer for that, but I think E is excellent at 27".

If you go 28"~, your E would be similarly suited with an .080. And I suppose best of all, many companies make stock .080s so you have a lot more choice.



The Norsemen said:


> Whenever I read about what gauges you guys use for your strings I don't know how you do it.
> Is the difference in tension that different between 26.5" and 27"?
> I just moved up to a .92 for F# and it works for E too but I'm not thrilled.
> The idea of anything in the .70's is ludicrous to me.
> Maybe I just like tight strings?


Probably! I think my high E string is around 11lbs~ in tension, so I like 'em light, though I keep the bottom reasonably firm. I prefer the sound of thinner strings myself.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

Dayn said:


> 28"~ would be fine for your lowest string. Not sure if I said on the previous page, but I use a La Bella .086 for E at 27" and it works perfectly. Intonated and sounds great with no buzz. Average tension, around 16.5lbs~. For my guitar, I think E is the limit for 27". I have a .106 for C# at the moment, but I'm afraid it's a bit too big for my tastes. I'd have to go longer for that, but I think E is excellent at 27".
> 
> If you go 28"~, your E would be similarly suited with an .080. And I suppose best of all, many companies make stock .080s so you have a lot more choice.


OK so I'm guessing 28" might be the way to go, but if 27" works just as well that might be a better choice or what? I've never had to think about scale length before so sorry for the ignorance and possibly stupid questions. I just want to make sure I get exactly what I want when I get my first ERG.

Strange though that you are all talking about .080+ strings while Agile ship their guitars with .074 and sell only Labella .074 8 string sets.


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## iron blast (May 13, 2012)

The 27-30" fan should get you right where you want tension wise or you could do 25-28" if you want less tension on your high strings.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

iron blast said:


> The 27-30" fan should get you right where you want tension wise or you could do 25-28" if you want less tension on your high strings.


The only thing I'd be worried about would be that the 27" would be hard to get used to for lead playing, but I guess it's not that big of a jump between 25.5" and 27".

I just want to be able to (comfortably) shred the hell out that guitar and still be able to tap melodies while playing bass lines with my left hand with everything sounding clear. As I'm used to 25" on a six string it sounded logical but possibly you were answering the original post...not really sure.

It would just be so amazing to get an 8 string that felt like/had the playability of a 6 string on the higher strings but kept the tightness of a longer scale 8 string on the lower strings (which is, obviously, why I'm buying a multi scale guitar) but like I said I have no experience with choosing scale length. 

I played an Ibanez RGA8 in a guitar store once and I didn't feel like the scale length made a big difference for me (with sweeps on the higher strings and such) and I believe that's 27" (correct me if I'm wrong) but didn't really like the guitar (haven't heard good things about it anyway) so perhaps 27" to 30" would be best for an 8 string tuned standard with the possibility of drop tuning. 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something but:
Does longer scale mean I can get away with having thinner strings with equal tension?
What I mean is: If I want a certain amount of tension on the 8th string, would I get a similar amount of tension out of say a .074 string on a 30" scale as I would from an .080 on a 27/28.625. Not accurate numbers but hopefully you know what I mean.


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## Winspear (May 13, 2012)

Yes that's what longer scale means. Each step (25.5>27, 27>28.265, 28.625>30) is one fret lower in terms of feel, and one semitone tighter given the same gauge. 
Yes you presume correctly about the gauges. 
Also for example if you are comfortable playing a .080 in F# on 25.5", you can detune it to E on 28.625 and it will feel as tight. Etc.


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## vansinn (May 13, 2012)

^ yes, longer scale => thinner strings.
Thinner strings => crispier tone.
But do note that not all music nessesarily works the best on crispy bacon 

Regarding tensions.. I normally prefer high enough tensions that strings don't bounce the pitch when fretted a Bit hard. This is both on my 6'ers and my Riot 8.
Then I bought this el cheapo Filmore Strat (£200) that came with a 009 set, and boy is it fun to play.

So, I tuned my Schecter Riot down half a stop (from the A1 tuning), and boy did it get fun to play 
The really weird thing is that the low 075 Ernie Ball bass string now sounds better at the lower tension!

This could change my opinion about how much tension is really needed on an expressive guitar, and I now better understand how on earth some of you can tune low on seemingly (in my former eyes) too thin strings.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

OK cool, then I got it right.

Still a little undecided between 25.5 to 28.625 or 27 to 30 but I must get to a conclusion after looking into it a bit more or if someone has something that, when said, will open my eyes to the one truth!!!...but I doubt it as it's most likely going to differ greatly between people.

Like I said I'm likely to mostly stay with the 8th in F# and I play progressive/technical metal with my band (has both clean, calm parts and raging shred metal stuff) along with a little jazz fusion on the side if that matters (because of the crispy bacon comment).

I'm feel like such a newb because of this so I'm really grateful for the warm welcome and quick answers. It really shows how great this forum is.


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## Dayn (May 13, 2012)

Nykur_Myrkvi said:


> OK so I'm guessing 28" might be the way to go, but if 27" works just as well that might be a better choice or what? I've never had to think about scale length before so sorry for the ignorance and possibly stupid questions. I just want to make sure I get exactly what I want when I get my first ERG.
> 
> Strange though that you are all talking about .080+ strings while Agile ship their guitars with .074 and sell only Labella .074 8 string sets.


A .074 works well for F# at 27". At least, from what I remember... I've never tuned to F# in such a long time! Those sets are usually for standard tuning, whereas the .080s+ I'm talking about are for tuning down to E. I order custom La Bellas, which is where I got my .086 from. They make up to .120, so no problems there.

So your concern is mainly about playability when playing fast leads? Personally I think my 27" neck is far superior to a 25"~ because my fingers would be too close together otherwise. If you're comfortable with 27" for lead, then that's okay. It'll be a bit longer as you go down, obviously, but yeah. The longer the neck, though, the more 'bright' your strings will be. I'm not sure I could go over 27" for my high strings now, as I already use .008/.011/.014 for standard tuning...

I think the better question to ask yourself is, how much chording will you be doing, and how complex is it? I do a lot of wide stretches near the nut, spanning 6-7 frets occasionally. Often though I'm limited to 5-6 frets depending on the phrasing, because fingers aren't omnidirectional. I find 27" to be the limit for me for complex chording. A fan to 28"~ might be doable for me, but I'm pushing my chord voicings as it is on 27". Is this something that particularly concerns you? Can you play the chords you want on it? I know if I got something along the lines of 30", I'd have to do less chording on it.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

Dayn said:


> A .074 works well for F# at 27". At least, from what I remember... I've never tuned to F# in such a long time! Those sets are usually for standard tuning, whereas the .080s+ I'm talking about are for tuning down to E. I order custom La Bellas, which is where I got my .086 from. They make up to .120, so no problems there.
> 
> So your concern is mainly about playability when playing fast leads? Personally I think my 27" neck is far superior to a 25"~ because my fingers would be too close together otherwise. If you're comfortable with 27" for lead, then that's okay. It'll be a bit longer as you go down, obviously, but yeah. The longer the neck, though, the more 'bright' your strings will be. I'm not sure I could go over 27" for my high strings now, as I already use .008/.011/.014 for standard tuning...
> 
> I think the better question to ask yourself is, how much chording will you be doing, and how complex is it? I do a lot of wide stretches near the nut, spanning 6-7 frets occasionally. Often though I'm limited to 5-6 frets depending on the phrasing, because fingers aren't omnidirectional. I find 27" to be the limit for me for complex chording. A fan to 28"~ might be doable for me, but I'm pushing my chord voicings as it is on 27". Is this something that particularly concerns you? Can you play the chords you want on it? I know if I got something along the lines of 30", I'd have to do less chording on it.


Well I want to be able to do quite a bit of chording on it so perhaps 30" is pushing it.

I've been thinking max 27" for the higher register and either 28.625 or 30" for lower but if 27" is actually pretty good for F# then it might be cool to have it fan from 25.5" to 27" (original idea was 25.5 to 28.625) as it would keep it pretty tight and pretty close to what I'm used to. The two things I want to avoid are uncomfortable playing on the high strings and sloppy low strings. As you pointed out the large spacing of a 30" would make it harder to do chords and I'm quite a fan of strange jazzy chords so I'm pretty sure I don't want to limit myself when it comes to that. I saw a video where a guy called Cameron Barton was playing an 8 string Agile Pendulum fanning from 25.5 to 27" and he commented on a really tight low Bb string but as he adds one higher string instead of a low one I wasn't sure if 28.625 was better for that situation. 

If the 27" is great with .074 tuned to F# I think I found my answer. That answer being 25.5 to 27 fanning if it was unclear. I'd love to hear others opinions though, and of course once I get it I'll post pictures and hopefully videos of me playing something written especially for my custom built beauty.

Edit:
This was what originally convinced me that 28.625 had to be the way to go:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/49977-rondo-8-string-scale-length-poll.html

A majority of users voted for 28 and said that they'd wish for 28.625 but 28 was close enough. It seems to be a dividing factor then. I'll do a little more research today and hopefully order it tomorrow.

Wish me luck


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Yes that's what longer scale means. Each step (25.5>27, 27>28.265, 28.625>30) is one fret lower in terms of feel, and one semitone tighter given the same gauge.
> Yes you presume correctly about the gauges.
> Also for example if you are comfortable playing a .080 in F# on 25.5", you can detune it to E on 28.625 and it will feel as tight. Etc.


Just tried this on my 25.5" scale Ibanez Jem. It's no problem for me to move two frets down so if I want a fanning from 25.5 to 28.625 it should be fine (I have, like my friend once put it, "piano fingers" long and thin).

So as a last question:

If I'd be comfortable with 28.625 scale on the lowest string would 25.5 - 28.625 be a better choice simply to have a better possibility of drop tuning to E or lowering the 7th string (B) to an A with .009 - .074 string sets if I want to? Because if the only downside is it possibly being a little harder to play I think I got that out of the way by testing the 2 frets down theory and I'd still have the scale I'm accustomed to for the highest strings.

Is 25.5 to 28.625 a winning combo for me if that's the situation or am I missing something?


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## MF_Kitten (May 13, 2012)

28" scale is my personal minimum for a low E. i currently prefer 30" scale or more. But it'll totally work on 28" scale too.


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## Winspear (May 13, 2012)

I'd say 30-27 would win, if you've found 2 frets down no problem at all you can surely manage 3.
Just means you'll want to lighten the gauges on the trebles to maintain the feel of 25.5, and you'll be playing leads 'one fret lower' in feel


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 13, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> I'd say 30-27 would win, if you've found 2 frets down no problem at all you can surely manage 3.
> Just means you'll want to lighten the gauges on the trebles to maintain the feel of 25.5, and you'll be playing leads 'one fret lower' in feel


Well I just tried and yeah, I guess 3 isn't a big deal either. I just played a bit on the bottom strings on my guitar, some shreddy riffs, 3 frets lower than usual, didn't really feel like it changed all that much. That should get me a really tight playing guitar both high and low I guess and as that's the most important thing I think a few days of getting used to 30" scale (if I need adjustment at all, play bass as well) is worth it for pretty much my dream guitar since Ibanez showed off the first Meshuggah 8 string back in...2007?

Lighten the gauge? Go thinner than .009? Isn't that going to a little too thin? Probably mostly personal preference I know.

But let's say I get 27-30 fanning, what would a good string gauge for the low F#/possibly dropped E be? Or if someone is feeling extra helpful, what would be a decent set from high to low?


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## Winspear (May 14, 2012)

Sorry, skipped over whatever you said about gauges! Well, a little too thin usually means in terms of tension. I.e a little too loose.
Small numbers do imply loose, but if the scale is longer it will be just the same.
You may not like the feel of that thin however, so comment taken.

Truth is you needn't really worry about it just going from 25.5 to 27. 
The tension of a 9 at 25.5 will be a semitone more at 27 which isn't a great deal. An 8 would actually be significantly looser. I'd rather keep the 9 and have it a little tight. 8.5 gauge would be perfect.

Low string gauge is quite a matter of preference...

How about you list your current scale length, gauges, and tuning, and I will suggest you a match tonight


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 14, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Sorry, skipped over whatever you said about gauges! Well, a little too thin usually means in terms of tension. I.e a little too loose.
> Small numbers do imply loose, but if the scale is longer it will be just the same.
> You may not like the feel of that thin however, so comment taken.
> 
> ...


Well, right now I'm just playing a standard issue .009 string set on a 25.5" Ibanez Jem tuned standard EBGDAE but having the high E string a bit tighter isn't really an issue. I actually think I'd like it that way. I was hoping, as Labella doesn't seem to ship custom orders my way (Iceland) I could get away with the standard set offered (.009, .012, .015, .022, .030, .040, .054, .074) but I'd find a way to get customs if these wouldn't work at all.

So I'm going for 27-30 as I tried quite a few things I play in my band as per your suggestion (1 fret lower for 27, 3 for 30) and it felt quite alright so after a couple of days of playing it should even feel natural.


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## Winspear (May 14, 2012)

Awesome  You will find the low E very satisfactory.

For EBEADGBE I'd recommend 9, 11, 15, 21, 28, 37, 50, 70 at 27"-30"
That will feel the same as your current sent and be nice in the low end too. 

Of course finding sets will rarely match up perfectly especially for fanned frets, but the set you linked wont be bad. Tighter in the low end of course because the set isn't made for fanned frets, but not too tight by any means! Probably very very nice.


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## Jordan Djenital Warts (May 14, 2012)

I am tuned to E on my 26.5" Schecter Hellraiser C-8 (using stock strings) and it is perfectly fine!

It is not the tightest string in the world but it serves me well... and doesn't sound flubby at all Djent Progressive Metal - Band in London EN - BandMix.co.uk (listen to sample 5 for a good example)


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 14, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Awesome  You will find the low E very satisfactory.
> 
> For EBEADGBE I'd recommend 9, 11, 15, 21, 28, 37, 50, 70 at 27"-30"
> That will feel the same as your current sent and be nice in the low end too.
> ...


Tight but not too tight sounds really nice.

Fun fact, I first read your string set up (EBEADGBE) as if it was high to low and I was like "WTF?" and I thought I had accidentally written something wrong but I figured it out soon enough.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 14, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Awesome  You will find the low E very satisfactory.
> 
> For EBEADGBE I'd recommend 9, 11, 15, 21, 28, 37, 50, 70 at 27"-30"
> That will feel the same as your current sent and be nice in the low end too.
> ...


Well, the basic set isn't available on the rondo website so I'll be ordering a custom set from Labella (it seems they send them my way, so yay for me) so should the 21 be 21 plain steel or 22 nickel wound? Sounds strange to have the D plain steel but maybe I'm misunderstanding something (if so, my excuse is definitely going to be that I'm a foreigner)

Also, since you say 70 would be what you recommend for drop E I think I'll take that rather than having it ultra tight when playing in standard F#.


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## Winspear (May 14, 2012)

Haha, I did the same with yours


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## Winspear (May 14, 2012)

I'd stick to wound for the D. Will start sounding a bit odd on riffs otherwise


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 14, 2012)

Yeah, that's what I thought. Only E B G plain steel then I guess.

Just realized though, after putting all the strings in my basket on the Labella website, that I'm not getting the guitar until November I think (custom shop) so I might not need the strings just yet. 

Thank you all for the help.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 14, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Awesome  You will find the low E very satisfactory.
> 
> For EBEADGBE I'd recommend 9, 11, 15, 21, 28, 37, 50, 70 at 27"-30"
> That will feel the same as your current sent and be nice in the low end too.
> ...


Man, had to check this again as I had to make sure, another place where I asked said something like 80 for drop E. Given that was for 28.625 but still that's a huge difference between gauges but I'm guessing your answer has some kind of math behind it and I'm inclined to take your word for it but is there a reason for this wide variety of answers?


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## Dayn (May 14, 2012)

Nykur_Myrkvi said:


> Man, had to check this again as I had to make sure, another place where I asked said something like 80 for drop E. Given that was for 28.625 but still that's a huge difference between gauges but I'm guessing your answer has some kind of math behind it and I'm inclined to take your word for it but is there a reason for this wide variety of answers?


String tension calculator! Make sure you put 'pl' for plain steel and 'nw' for nickel-wound. It's not entirely accurate beyond .080 because it uses the specs for unit weight provided by D'Addario. For example, Circle K strings seem to have a higher unit weight, so require a thinner gauge for similar tension compared to D'Addario.

But we don't need to be accurate to become familiar with how scale length affects things, so here are some examples using the calculator.

My .086 for E at 27": 16.76lbs~
.080 for E at 28.625": 16.58lbs~
.076 for E at 30": 16.50lbs~

Those would be my preferred gauges for the low string. A .070 for E at 30" is about 14.14lbs~, which is similar to an .080 for E at 27" for about 14.75lbs~. I gave up using that and opted for more tension.


Why the variation? We all prefer different tensions. It's taken me probably $200AUD~ worth of strings and 18~ months to settle on my desired tension profile. This is what I use at 27":
E .008 PL == 11.64#
B, .011 PL == 12.34#
G, .014 PL == 12.6#
D, .022 NW == 14.96#
A,, .030 NW == 15.75#
E,, .042 NW == 16.56#
B,,, .056 NW == 16.58#
E,,, .086 NW == 16.76#

Do you like the strings you use now? Then plug 'em in and have a look at your tension profile. If you want, adjust any string gauges to get the tension you want. Now that you have the tensions of each string you like, you shove in the values for 27-30" and try to tool around for a similar feel. For example, this is what I would use for drop E at 27-30". Given it's not a single scale, I divided the 3" fan by 7 to get the rough transition between each string. With that in mind, and the tension I like, I'd come up with this tension for myself. Copy-paste it and adjust to your liking:

len 27"
E .008 PL == 11.64#

len 27.429"
B, .0105 PL == 11.61#

len 27.858"
G, .0135 PL == 12.47#

len 28.287"
D, .021 NW == 14.82#

len 28.716"
A,, .028 NW == 15.16#

len 29.145"
E,, .039 NW == 16.69#

len 29.574"
B,,, .052 NW == 16.62#

len 30"
E,,, .076 NW == 16.5#

total == 115.52#


That's what I'd use for 27-30". Of course, when it comes to gauge, you _may_ have to compromise, because sometimes you simply cannot get a string in a particular gauge. For example, La Bella don't make a .0105, .0135, .021, or a .039, but other brands do. You may have to adjust your tension profile a bit, but it shouldn't matter too much.

I hope this helped, because I probably should have done my take-home exam instead.


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## Winspear (May 14, 2012)

Nykur_Myrkvi said:


> Man, had to check this again as I had to make sure, another place where I asked said something like 80 for drop E. Given that was for 28.625 but still that's a huge difference between gauges but I'm guessing your answer has some kind of math behind it and I'm inclined to take your word for it but is there a reason for this wide variety of answers?



I always use the calculator. It was based around the fact that you like 9's and like you said, 30"  
A lot of people here prefer 10's or 11's for example which would lead to 80 maybe on 30" definitely on 28.625.

The above method is exactly what I did for you, matching up your current set.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (May 15, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> I always use the calculator. It was based around the fact that you like 9's and like you said, 30"
> A lot of people here prefer 10's or 11's for example which would lead to 80 maybe on 30" definitely on 28.625.
> 
> The above method is exactly what I did for you, matching up your current set.


Yeah, I expected as much.

Now I just have to play the waiting game.

I felt like such a beginner, having to ask all these questions but I got nothing but helpful constructive answers. This place rocks.


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