# Ever seen an 8-string that was thrown together?



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

Here's the "progress" so far on my 8-string Jackson RR conversion...

I threw this thing together with maybe 8 hours of work and $12 in wood from Home Depot in addition to a bunch of crap parts I had sitting here doing nothing. Everything was pretty much eyeballed and done by hand just to get it "playable" as fast as possible. The idea being to see if I feel it's worth spending any additional money/time on an actual high quality 8-string...

I haven't bothered to install frets yet nor finish shaping the back of the neck or put the oil finish on, but I just couldn't wait to get strings on it!

Enough rambling, let's see the guitar!

Before:







After:


























(Yes I know it looks like a piece of crap! Making something actually good was NOT a point of this project!)


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 26, 2009)

I hear halo's hiring.


----------



## Krankguitarist (Mar 26, 2009)

Boy, I'd say "fail", but you didn't actually "fail" at "failing". You succeeded pretty darn well at failing.

So, kudos, then...how doyalike yer 8 string?


----------



## wannabguitarist (Mar 26, 2009)

At least the amp is awesome



Metal Ken said:


> I hear halo's hiring.


----------



## darren (Mar 26, 2009)




----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

This might already be better than a Halo. Maybe I'm overqualified?

I forgot to mention what the $12 of Home depot wood got me:

The neck is a 3-piece Poplar-Oak-Poplar with an Oak fingerboard and headstock veneer. 

Yes. I rule.


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

are you taking orders?


----------



## vehemence (Mar 26, 2009)

ive never seen 2 "tune o matic" and a flaoting trem! you my good sir GET REP!


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

ok i just cant stop staring. that is freaking amazing. i love it. jesus christ its so awful that its beautiful.


and i LOVE all the different tuner brands!!

i think it wouldve been so much cooler if you wouldve put a p bass pickup instead of a j bass pickup LMAO!!


----------



## Fenrisulfr (Mar 26, 2009)

David Bowie's 8 Strang?

How much yo want fo it?


----------



## vehemence (Mar 26, 2009)

i think its fretless TOO! WITH NO TRUSS ROD! lol wahts the back of the neck of that mosnter looks like?!?!!


man that guitar is awesom.... it looks like 09 heavey metal had a a baby with disco and 80s rock and aborted it into a blender


----------



## Fenrisulfr (Mar 26, 2009)

LMFAO I JUST SAW THE BRIDGE ROFL WTF IS THAT


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

he stole my idea actually 

i was gonna put a 6 string kahler on my intrepid and just cut 6 saddles worth of bridge off the fixed bridge so the low strings could be fixed and the regular 6 could have a trem! i know its pure genius!!!


----------



## vehemence (Mar 26, 2009)

Fenrisulfr said:


> LMFAO I JUST SAW THE BRIDGE ROFL WTF IS THAT


its superior halo guitars is what it is

lmfao jp i think its a couple of tune o matic saddles


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

you should work for gibson, you would totally make their guitars so much more interesting.


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 26, 2009)

vehemence said:


> its superior halo guitars is what it is



Yeah, you can put strings on without havint to take the bridge off


----------



## vehemence (Mar 26, 2009)

Metal Ken said:


> Yeah, you can put strings on without havint to take the bridge off


this is the best thread EVAR!


wow i cant wait to read this in 12 hours....


----------



## eelblack2 (Mar 26, 2009)

Absolutely outstanding. The color scheme - I'd totally hit.

And I mean why settle for fixed or floating when you can have both FTW?!!


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

someone needs to send that to kurt


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

Hey there is a truss rod. I'm not THAT lazy!

The neck is pretty fat. Basically a Rectangle that I quickly rounded the corners on using the belt sander.

The fingerboard is slotted but not fretted atm. It's also totally flat.

You guys aren't going to believe this, but the thing is actually playable and ROCKS!

Sadly right now I just have 2 high E strings because I don't have any octave4plus strings for a high A nor anything big enough for a low F# at the moment.

The Bartolini + fretless leaves it pretty weak in terms of output so I'm playing with my gain nearly maxed out, but it is still TONS OF FUN!

It's just as easy to play as anything else I've ever picked up... WTF?

Youtube clip coming soon!


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

fucking sweet!!!! i cant wait to see!!!!


----------



## Fenrisulfr (Mar 26, 2009)

I bet Suicmez will be knocking at your door when he want's a 8 string.


I hope everyone knows who I'm talking about... .. ... ..


----------



## vehemence (Mar 26, 2009)

troyguitar said:


> Hey there is a truss rod. I'm not THAT lazy!
> 
> The neck is pretty fat. Basically a Rectangle that I quickly rounded the corners on using the belt sander.
> 
> ...



DO IT NOW!


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

The vid has been recorded. It sucks, but hey I'm drunk and have never played an 8-string before...

I'll update the thread when the upload is complete!


----------



## HumanFuseBen (Mar 26, 2009)

hahahaha oh holy shit, this is a guitar of LEGEND. fucking awesome, man, i can't wait to see and hear it in action. as a side note, i really like that headstock design a lot! 

those colors.... wow.........


----------



## thebhef (Mar 26, 2009)

What a totally amazing, excellent discovery.


NOT.









Actually, no. If it plays well, that's pretty cool.


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

The Suck-Cut. It Sucks as it Cuts!

...well it certainly does suck



Oh god. Apparently I sound like Nigel Tufnel when I'm drunk and have more strings than I'm used too...


----------



## AeonSolus (Mar 26, 2009)

Duuuudeee! i wish i had that! hahaha.. i actually see lots of potential on that guitar man, if it was mine this would be my to do list:
-Ebonize the fretboard then fret it
-fill the neck, bridge pickup and trem routing to put in a homemade bridge
-Sand the finish off, stain it to a satin finish
-Cut a bit of the wood to make it a bit fret accessable
-get an intrepid pickup
-put in my homemade bridge

i think that it would be less than 120 bucks just because of the agile pickup, which is like 80 bucks... Keep at it man!! it really has lots of potential of becoming a monster...well another kind of monster different from the one it is now  

BTW, if you're interested in the bridge idea i got, let me know, i'd be happy to share ..if you wan't to change the tremhard hybrid that is.. tremhard...hmmm sounds very wrong.


----------



## hufschmid (Mar 26, 2009)

Thats was so awesome! Good work man


----------



## AeonSolus (Mar 26, 2009)

Wanna know something funny? i thought the first picture with the 8 string neck was a mockup


----------



## Apophis (Mar 26, 2009)

wow, that is great


----------



## dpm (Mar 26, 2009)

love it


----------



## 7 Dying Trees (Mar 26, 2009)

That is amazing! 

Plus, it's already a million times superior to a DeVries as well!


----------



## E Lucevan Le Stelle (Mar 26, 2009)

7 Dying Trees said:


> That is amazing!
> 
> Plus, it's already a million times superior to a DeVries as well!



That's what I was thinking... that's actually awesome, and definitely a league above a "Devries Custom Guitar"... 

That 6+2 bridge setup with the trem on the high 6 is actually something people have thought about doing before and a rather cool idea, in addition to being random and easy


----------



## MF_Kitten (Mar 26, 2009)

haha, that&#180;s awesome in the only way crappy things can be! 

i&#180;ve thought about the same "conversion" being done, but the idea i had in mind was a proper conversion with a proper neck, new bridge, etc. 

how the hell did you do the fixed/floating bridge? it&#180;s awesome and weird! 

edit: oh, and do you have any clue what scale length that is? did you plan out a scale length, or did you just smack on a good length of wood?


----------



## Sroth Saraiel (Mar 26, 2009)

troyguitar said:


>




FS??

tell me yes!!!, how much do you want? 

I totally need that thing in my walls  lol!

no no, for real... how much?


----------



## hairychris (Mar 26, 2009)

Fucking awesome.


----------



## TimothyLeary (Mar 26, 2009)

it has sound!  

nice work


----------



## Abhorred (Mar 26, 2009)

Sroth Saraiel said:


> I totally need that thing in my walls  lol!
> 
> no no, for real... how much?





There is no place on any mere wall worthy of housing such a creation. It needs to be played at every possible moment, just to keep its immeasurable amounts of win from spontaneously combusting under the pressure.


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

MF_Kitten said:


> how the hell did you do the fixed/floating bridge? it´s awesome and weird!
> 
> edit: oh, and do you have any clue what scale length that is? did you plan out a scale length, or did you just smack on a good length of wood?



It's 25.5" 

The bridge is just a regular Jackson jt580lp with part of the baseplate cut away to make room for a 2-string hardtail bridge. Pretty easy really.


----------



## OzoneJunkie (Mar 26, 2009)

Wow. It's alive! Nice!

Interesting bridge stuff going on there. Wonder where that idea came from 

Glad to see you followed through on this. And dude. $12 neck? Jebus


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

The truss rod cost me as much as the wood.


----------



## AVH (Mar 26, 2009)

Dude! That's just so hideously cool, way to go! 

And when I saw the title, like everyone else I also thought: why yes, yes I have. It was Sponge's Halo I recently worked on...


----------



## Tommy Van Dyke (Mar 26, 2009)

Good god, troy, you are the man! How do you like playing without frets?


----------



## darren (Mar 26, 2009)

We should do a Home Depot Guitar Build-Off.


----------



## phaeded0ut (Mar 26, 2009)

Man, that's an interesting beastie... Have to agree, that I'm impressed by the addition of the two extra saddles to the trem system. Can think of a few other folks, who would claim to have inspired that beastie, too... (Won't mention who, because both of them do not need the advertizement and both of them show up on these forums often enough like a bad cheque.)

Congrats!



darren said:


> We should do a Home Depot Guitar Build-Off.



Why am I getting visions of multiple forum posters racing around Home Despot, carts smashing into each other trying to find the wood area within said store, set to the music of Meshuggah?


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

darren said:


> We should do a Home Depot Guitar Build-Off.


 
YES 


dont change a thing on that guitar dude, it SOUNDS amazing! dont even fret it i love the way you were sliding and doing your vibrato with the whole fretless thing going. actually thats making me think seriously about a fretless shred guitar!!!


----------



## Elysian (Mar 26, 2009)

You should go work with Debries, he could really use the help on QC.


----------



## ross25 (Mar 26, 2009)

hahaha that picture just made my day!!!!


----------



## Tommy Van Dyke (Mar 26, 2009)

You know, I was looking at it again and I think the neck needs either pink tape binding or pink marker binding to really take it to another level


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

hey lets get a shot from the back. id like to see what that neck joint looks like lol.


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

Oh it is epic... there's one neckplate cut in half and another one perpendicular to it for a 6-screw "L"-shaped bolt pattern.

Hopefully I'll get a shot of it late tonight.


----------



## ross25 (Mar 26, 2009)

i just hope this wasnt your main six! hah


----------



## technomancer (Mar 26, 2009)

Fr00ty Frankenstein 8 

That is seriously cool for a quick thrown together project


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 26, 2009)

ross25 said:


> i just hope this wasnt your main six! hah



I guess it was in a sense. I recently sold all of my 6-strings except for the RR.

Currently the only guitars I own are the Squier-7 and this RR-8.

I'm probably buying 2-4 of the new Agile Interceptor 8's, depending on how finances work out.

I also have some actual nice wood for a "real" guitar build that I probably won't start until the summer:

Purpleheart neck-through blank, figured Shedua body blank, Macassar Ebony fretboard


----------



## OzoneJunkie (Mar 26, 2009)

Bridge/Vibrato system name suggestion: "Rhythm in dump. Crapping close to you."



(no offense intended or implication of quality - just having fun with the name)


----------



## B36arin (Mar 26, 2009)

"showing off my new eight string of pink sparkly doom" 

You sir, are made of epic win! Best tread ever


----------



## ShadyDavey (Mar 26, 2009)

Thats just madness incarnate - I don't know if I should say "GJ" or what....

I'll go with GJ!


----------



## Fred (Mar 26, 2009)

That is actually amazing, haha. I love the completely random placement of the tuning pegs. Spectacular finish too!


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 26, 2009)

GOTM totally.


----------



## B36arin (Mar 26, 2009)

possumkiller said:


> GOTM totally.



Hell yeah!


----------



## canuck brian (Mar 26, 2009)

darren said:


> We should do a Home Depot Guitar Build-Off.



I'd seriously go for that. Get it done in a weekend.


----------



## AVH (Mar 26, 2009)

canuck brian said:


> I'd seriously go for that. Get it done in a weekend.



Fuck that Brian, you don't qualify.  You're already a budding luthier with mad skills, so thereby you already have an unfair advantage.  

Let all the laymen hack it out.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic (Mar 26, 2009)

That color is retina burning


----------



## Sroth Saraiel (Mar 26, 2009)

possumkiller said:


> GOTM totally.



 +1


----------



## cyril v (Mar 26, 2009)

holy hell... wtf.

i actually like the headstock shape quite a bit honestly, if it didn't have that huge gap though. that color scheme is straight out of the 80's, kinda reminds me of a pair of keds i had when i was in 1st grade. haha, nice.


----------



## dpm (Mar 27, 2009)

How about a division for pro luthier folks. Maybe limit the materials so we can't use anything that's an actual guitar part?


----------



## Daemoniac (Mar 27, 2009)

dpm said:


> How about a division for pro luthier folks. Maybe limit the materials so we can't use anything that's an actual guitar part?



 That would be epic!


----------



## vampiregenocide (Mar 27, 2009)

Holy crap its the MacGyver 8 string sig!


If you can build a sick 8 converted from an RR with the most random materials ever, imagine what you could do with proper materials, hardware and time lol


----------



## Koshchei (Mar 28, 2009)

dpm said:


> How about a division for pro luthier folks. Maybe limit the materials so we can't use anything that's an actual guitar part?



Yes! And to make it interesting, over-the-counter home renovation or auto repair materials only.

Can't wait to see an ignition-coil pickup


----------



## AeonSolus (Mar 30, 2009)

Duude, i'm still waiting to see that neck joint/neck profile


----------



## Thin_Ice_77 (Mar 30, 2009)

Why would you ruin a perfectly good guitar?

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't realise it wasn't serious! There was a guy on UG a while ago who was building an RR style guitar and it was absolutely piss-poor. The sides weren't even cut in a straight line but he refused to change it because he thought it looked cool.


----------



## troyguitar (Mar 30, 2009)

Be patient. AWESOME new progress shots will be up in the next few days...

Fingerboard has been upgraded to metal for improved sustain like a Vigier Surfretter.

I'm going to finish up that upgrade, then finish shaping the neck and oil it before getting new pics + vids up.

...I also might learn how to better play fretless so the playing doesn't sound so sad!


----------



## AeonSolus (Mar 30, 2009)

So you leaving the guitar fretless at the end? ... Talk about pioneership, the first Jackson RR8 with deaftone woods and fretless fingerboard, with a hybrid bridge  Nice.


----------



## possumkiller (Mar 30, 2009)

totally man. take your time. this thing is badass. to be honest your fretless playing wasnt that bad!


----------



## Krauthammer (Mar 31, 2009)

that is one wicked-looking 8stringer. I really like the 6string trem with the 2 separate saddles. I've wanted to do something similar; have the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd string be floating, and the 4-8 strings with no springs. Then you could wham all day with a low drone note(s)... but major props on your 6 to 8 conversion-assembly. it feels good to play 8strings


----------



## ssskai (Mar 31, 2009)

haha this is utter jokes, cnt wait to see this finished .


----------



## El Caco (Mar 31, 2009)

+  +  + 

There is no emote that expresses what I am feeling right now.

The home depot build off thing is a cool idea but rather then restrict what you can and can not use why not make it a build to a price point thing and no cheating with prices, like if you have expensive parts sitting around you can not say $0, you would have to put a price that the part could be sold for, same goes with parts you have been given. The exception would be if you can score something legitimately cheap on the bay or classifieds.

No fuck those rules I just remembered the antique ivory lamps I have, they are damaged but I have been told they are worth a fortune anyway because of the age and being made out of ivory. I have been deciding what to do with them, ivory frets anyone? 

I'd love to see more projects like this with guitars built out of unique materials, combinations of parts etc. Cheap Frankenaxe FTW


----------



## darren (Mar 31, 2009)

I think a price cap would force people to cut corners in ways that can seriously detract from the playability of final product... cheap tuning machines, for example. Yeah, you can buy a cheap set of stamped machine heads for $12, but for a little more, you get a vastly superior product that would result in the finished instrument staying in tune MUCH better.

That's why i was thinking there could be a few exceptions for some of the core elements (which people are of course free to find alternatives for if they wish) and to focus on building out of "everyday" commonly-available materials.


----------



## WhiteShadow (Mar 31, 2009)

Two words....Halo Guitars.


----------



## El Caco (Mar 31, 2009)

You're right Darren.


----------



## Konfyouzd (Mar 31, 2009)

"pink sparkly doom"... i don't think i could have put it any better myself haha


----------



## arktan (Apr 1, 2009)

MY EYEEEEEES....... AHHHHHH, MY EYESSSSSS!!! 


This is so awesome


----------



## vansinn (Apr 1, 2009)

Pity I have PC issues, so can't watch your tube clip.
What a refreshing thread, can't wait to see what'll come out of this baby  Bring on the pics, troy 

Such a quick'n'dirty effort reminds me of the (Sweedish?) luthier who clamped two MDF (IIRC) boards together, even without glue, attached a neck, and had someone do a blindfold test with quite surprising results :laugh:


----------



## powergroover (Apr 1, 2009)

THAT'S CRAZY

and the color is funy too


----------



## highlordmugfug (Apr 29, 2009)

My, that is one gaudy guitar.
I kind of like it though.


----------



## Æxitosus (Apr 30, 2009)

Metal Ken said:


> I hear halo's hiring.


+1

I want to know what the back of the neck looks like.
and how you put this together in 8 hours

it looks like a piece of crap but its better than I could have done...well that's not saying much


----------



## troyguitar (Apr 30, 2009)

It plays fine, sounds fine, and stays in tune. Can't really ask for more


----------



## highlordmugfug (Apr 30, 2009)

How did you get the 8 string neck to fit properly onto the 6 string body?
I've never built a guitar or done anything like this, but now I am seriously wanting to.


----------



## MaxOfMetal (Apr 30, 2009)

Æxitosus;1485791 said:


> +1
> 
> I want to know what the back of the neck looks like.
> and how you put this together in 8 hours
> ...



Halo?! I'm thinking more DeVries!!!


----------



## LordCashew (Apr 30, 2009)

WHAT?!? How have I not seen this until now? TOTALLY AWESOME!

Dude, we need videos with the new metal board.


----------



## highlordmugfug (Apr 30, 2009)

LordIronSpatula said:


> Dude, we need videos with the new metal board.


This, oh god this.


----------



## All_¥our_Bass (Apr 30, 2009)

possumkiller said:


> you should work for gibson, you would totally make their guitars so much more interesting.





That is such an awesome axe. That "color" scheme ownz.


----------



## damigu (Apr 30, 2009)

you know, i actually like it. the headstock works, too.

i have an extra rhoads body that you're making me consider similarly mutilating!


----------



## troyguitar (Apr 30, 2009)

I've been holding off on vids because my fretless playing is just atrocious. At least on the first incarnation I had the lines marking off the fingerboard. Now there aren't even side-markers...


----------



## Æxitosus (Apr 30, 2009)

troyguitar said:


> It plays fine, sounds fine, and stays in tune. Can't really ask for more


 
huh...well it looks better than I thought it was going to
actually, aside from the whole trem thing (and the finish) It looks pretty decent. You make it sound like its a piece of shit, and it might be, I havent played it, but from looks its not that bad


----------



## possumkiller (May 2, 2009)

your headstock design would look rather nice on a fanned fret guitar.


----------



## The Hiryuu (May 6, 2009)

s7eve said:


> +  +  +
> 
> There is no emote that expresses what I am feeling right now.
> 
> ...



I'm a little late-in-the-game on this thread, but I have an extra Sega Genesis around, kinda tempted to use it for a guitar body like I've seen done before. I got a couple extra 7-string pickups lying around (Both bridge pickups, though...haha.) I unfortunately lack the building know-how.

And personally I think the finish looks fucking awesome.


----------



## MatthewK (May 6, 2009)

I lol'd a great deal. That is awesome.


----------



## phaeded0ut (May 7, 2009)

My vision is impaired, I cannot see! My vision is impaired, I cannot see!

Hahahahaahahahaha! Congrats man, I am really digging the whole concept of this guitar, although it is really not me at all. The fingerboard is awesome, though I'd be a bit concerned with those edges.

Thanks again for sharing this beastie with us.


----------



## ktulu909 (May 11, 2009)

This.....is.....awesome.....


----------



## WhitechapelCS (May 12, 2009)

Wheres the devries logo?
Usually if it doesnt have a devries logo, it isnt a devries.
....


----------



## Giamatti (May 14, 2009)

^ I lol'd. Best guitar.


----------



## troyguitar (May 14, 2009)

WhitechapelCS said:


> Wheres the devries logo?
> Usually if it doesnt have a devries logo, it isnt a devries.
> ....



You're forgetting that mine is completely playable!


----------



## WhitechapelCS (May 14, 2009)

^ good point


----------

