# NGD: Novax Charlie Hunter 8 String!!!



## luca9583 (Mar 24, 2011)

Hey guys..i just picked up this Novax 8 string for really cheap..absolutely killer guitar!!!! I'm not going to be playing it in the Charlie Hunter style at all but the design is exactly what i've been looking for..a 22 fret multiscale 8 string that doesn't look like a "metal" guitar, which i can fully customize!!!

The fanned frets and the nut width (2 1/16") make this a really comfortable and easy guitar to play..much more playable than the Agile and Schecter models i've played/owned. The scale length on the bass side is 28-3/4" which feels great. The top scale length is probably somewhere between 24 and 25" so the high end of a normal 6 string guitar is preserved.

Having 3 bass tuners gives you a lot more options for string type and guage because you can try much thicker strings without having to modify the nut or tuners. This is something the big companies should incorporate in future designs.

The guitar is designed for playing bass and guitar at once, hence the current pickup design..but I'll be taking the 2 Bartolini guitar pickups out and replacing them with two BKP 8 String Black Dogs. 

Do you guys have any advice on how far from the bridge the bridge pu should be placed? It'll be slanted of course.

Also, what i really want to do is to be able to split the bridge Black Dog so that i can switch between a normal mode and a mode where the bottom 2 strings are sent to a separate ouput so i can play heavy riffs on the low strings with the bridge pu and funky chops on the top strings using the middle pu setting. Bare Knuckle said this wouldn't be possible with their pickups so another option might be some kind of hexaphonic pickup from www.ubertar.com

The other option is to have a 6 string blackdog in the bridge and then some kind of 2 string humbucker next to it with a switchable output.

Tuning wise it's tuned to E standard on the first 6 strings, and then B0 and E1 on the bottom 2. It's a hybrid tuning that works perfectly for my music. (The stock tuning is 5 normal guitar strings and 3 bass strings for low E,A and D)

Does anyone know any companies in the UK that make guitar strings between .090 and .100 guage? The D'Addario range only goes to .080. Might try Octave 4 Plus again.

Peace


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 24, 2011)

Epic.


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## highlordmugfug (Mar 24, 2011)

Sexy.


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## 77zark77 (Mar 25, 2011)

what a huge fan ! nice instrument though


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## JamesM (Mar 25, 2011)

My god, I want.

EDIT:
I can NOT believe you're thinking about routing that...


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

77zark77 said:


> what a huge fan !



It's a big fan but super playable..It also makes navigation around the neck really easy..compared to a non-fanned 8 string that feels like it has "too many frets"


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

The Armada said:


> My god, I want.
> 
> EDIT:
> I can NOT believe you're thinking about routing that...




The current pickup setup doesn't work for me which is why i'm changing it. The whole point of getting this guitar was to find a design i really like..test it out and then make it more sonically practical, without having to get a custom made guitar that might not work out in the end. This one is definitely a keeper so i'm not concerned with the guitar's value after i modify it.


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## Fred the Shred (Mar 25, 2011)

Snatched the one on ebay.co.uk, mate?


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## GATA4 (Mar 25, 2011)

Wow, awesome score dude. This is a really refreshing sight!


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

Fred the Shred said:


> Snatched the one on ebay.co.uk, mate?



Yes indeed! I managed to do a great deal with the seller. It was a no brainer because i knew the guitar's design would suit me perfectly. Now it's just a case of getting the right pickups installed. Am looking into some kind of octaphonic pickup for the bridge maybe


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## adrock (Mar 25, 2011)

gorgeous guitar man, very nice 



luca9583 said:


> The current pickup setup doesn't work for me which is why i'm changing it. The whole point of getting this guitar was to find a design i really like..test it out and then make it more sonically practical, without having to get a custom made guitar that might not work out in the end. This one is definitely a keeper so i'm not concerned with the guitar's value after i modify it.


i say go for it man, you sound like you've weighed the pros/cons enough. i know if it was me in the situation, i'd route it...


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

GATA4 said:


> Wow, awesome score dude. This is a really refreshing sight!



Thanks mate! I think so too..If you want 22 frets with the possibility of low tunings and playability, this is the design to go for!


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

adrock said:


> gorgeous guitar man, very nice
> 
> 
> i say go for it man, you sound like you've weighed the pros/cons enough. i know if it was me in the situation, i'd route it...



Thanks man. And great to see another Larry David fan btw..


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## brutus627 (Mar 25, 2011)

do you plan on relocating the p/u's then filling whats left and refinishing once that's all done? i think the guitar has a cool shape and once you've done everything and a halfway decent finish it actually might end up looking cooler than the way it does now...sweet score dude! can't wait to see the mods!


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## scherzo1928 (Mar 25, 2011)

Epic score, I'd love to try one of those out one day.


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

brutus627 said:


> do you plan on relocating the p/u's then filling whats left and refinishing once that's all done? i think the guitar has a cool shape and once you've done everything and a halfway decent finish it actually might end up looking cooler than the way it does now...sweet score dude! can't wait to see the mods!



Yeah..the pickups will be relocated and some sort of filling will need doing. Not sure about refinishing..i like the vintage woody vibe it has at the moment.


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## Winspear (Mar 25, 2011)

Good score!
Just wanted to mention, incase nobody else does - I presume you already thought of it and checked it's okay...You say a BKP 8 but angled? How will that be big enough?


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## Sebastian (Mar 25, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Epic.





looks really interesting


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

EtherealEntity said:


> Good score!
> Just wanted to mention, incase nobody else does - I presume you already thought of it and checked it's okay...You say a BKP 8 but angled? How will that be big enough?



You're right! I hadn't thought about that. A BKP 8 will be fine for the neck side (not slanted) but yes, an 8 string pu won't be wide enough for the bridge if it's mounted at an angle like the bridge itself. I haven't ordered any pickups yet because i'm waiting to hear back from Paul Rubenstein about a possible custom Octaphonic pickup for the bridge (i want to have a switchable mode where i can send the bottom strings to a separate output) 

Thanks for noticing that mate! Do you know any companies that make slanted pickups for extended range guitars? Or would it be a matter of getting a 9 string pickup (which wouldn't cover all the strings equally, right?)


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## Winspear (Mar 25, 2011)

luca9583 said:


> Thanks for noticing that mate! Do you know any companies that make slanted pickups for extended range guitars? Or would it be a matter of getting a 9 string pickup (which wouldn't cover all the strings equally, right?)



The required width of the pickup depends on the angle. Can't say for sure that a 9 string one will fit an 8 string. You can't just take the centre line either, you'd need to make sure the pole pieces on both sides fit. 
I'd expect that with such an angle, the pole piece on the bridge side on the lower strings with a 9 string pickup still might not reach, and the same with the neckmost polepiece on the treble side. The pole piece spacing wouldn't be accurate either.

If you can find a rail type pickup that is long enough both sides (or single coil type), that should be okay. Otherwise, you have the individual pole pieces to consider. I tried some alignment of technical drawings from Q-Tuner for my extremely fanned 9 string design, and even the 6 string bass pickup was not enough. However, maybe have a look at that, I think it would fit this..maybe. (87mm maximum string spread. Measure up and makesure that would cover it (without the corners missing as mentioned)).

There's quite a lot of companies that will do a complete custom build, which is probably the best option. A few names:
Lundgren, Merlin, Haussel, Nordstrand, Villex.

If you can't find enough info on the sound of these and aren't sure etc, I've heard BKP will rewire any pickup to sound like one of theirs. So if you were set on Black Dogs, find the cheapest quote from above and get it rewired 

This is a really neat guitar to mod..the fan looks lovely.

EDIT: I'm sure custom pickup builders could work with you for the complicated electronics ideas you have too. In answer to your distance question, I'd probably place it around 12-15mm from the saddle (contact point).


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## luca9583 (Mar 25, 2011)

EtherealEntity said:


> The required width of the pickup depends on the angle. Can't say for sure that a 9 string one will fit an 8 string. You can't just take the centre line either, you'd need to make sure the pole pieces on both sides fit.
> I'd expect that with such an angle, the pole piece on the bridge side on the lower strings with a 9 string pickup still might not reach, and the same with the neckmost polepiece on the treble side. The pole piece spacing wouldn't be accurate either.
> 
> If you can find a rail type pickup that is long enough both sides (or single coil type), that should be okay. Otherwise, you have the individual pole pieces to consider. I tried some alignment of technical drawings from Q-Tuner for my extremely fanned 9 string design, and even the 6 string bass pickup was not enough. However, maybe have a look at that, I think it would fit this..maybe. (87mm maximum string spread. Measure up and makesure that would cover it (without the corners missing as mentioned)).
> ...



Great..thanks a lot for your advice. I'm sending an email to Haussel pickups to see if they can come up with something that would work. Their website seems like the most informative of all the ones you mentioned. 

I also really like the design of your 9 string with the big fan. What pickups are you going for on that one?


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## Winspear (Mar 26, 2011)

luca9583 said:


> Great..thanks a lot for your advice. I'm sending an email to Haussel pickups to see if they can come up with something that would work. Their website seems like the most informative of all the ones you mentioned.
> 
> I also really like the design of your 9 string with the big fan. What pickups are you going for on that one?



Great 

Thanks  I'm going for Lundgrens, I think. Not entirely sure yet but I don't think I'm really going to give it much more thought until the build is underway and I am working with the luthier


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## luca9583 (Mar 26, 2011)

Just put a .080 D'Addario guitar string for the low E on the Novax. Sounds really good and a million times better than the bass string that was there before.

I'm waiting on an order from Octave 4 Plus for the B0 string, which i think will be in the range of .110- .118 gauge.

Surprisingly, even though i don't have a bridge pickup yet for the bottom 3 strings, the Bartolini bass pickup in the middle position sounds ok through a guitar amp with an eq pedal in front of the amp to get rid of all the boomy bass and to boost the treble. Eq in front of the amp is a great tool for low tunings on ERGs.


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## Nile (Mar 28, 2011)

wow ive never seen something like that


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## luca9583 (May 8, 2011)

UPDATE! The Novax guitar is now in the workshop at Siggery Guitars. Marty Siggery is making a custom angled 8 string bridge pickup and a 6 string neck pickup which will be routed into the guitar. There will also be some custom switching which i'll explain later.

I now have some custom made .116 gauge strings from Octave4Plus for the low B0, which sound great on the 28 3/4" scale of the bass side.

Marty makes some awesome guitars and can make custom angled pickups if you email/call him:

Hand Crafted Guitars


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## Aurochs34 (May 8, 2011)

congrats man! fucking awesome guitar


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## Winspear (May 8, 2011)

Brilliant news  Thanks for the info on Siggery - I'll bare that in mind if I for some reason decide against Lundgrens.


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## luca9583 (May 8, 2011)

EtherealEntity said:


> Brilliant news  Thanks for the info on Siggery - I'll bare that in mind if I for some reason decide against Lundgrens.



I actually emailed Johan Lundgren a month ago and he said that Lundgren no longer make angled pickups, which is a real shame


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## Winspear (May 8, 2011)

That is a damn shame..It was February he said maybe to me.
I was fairly set on those...I think I would actually prefer them to BKPs. 
As for anything else I have no idea what it sounds like and am fairly sure it wouldn't be as good (just a feeling - no evidence haha!) Lundgrens also looked the best by far out of anything I'd seen..haha! I guess I'd go for a rewire with BKP. 

What info do you have on the Siggery pickups soundwise? 
And how have you been getting on with this guitar?


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## luca9583 (May 8, 2011)

EtherealEntity said:


> That is a damn shame..It was February he said maybe to me.
> I was fairly set on those...I think I would actually prefer them to BKPs.
> As for anything else I have no idea what it sounds like and am fairly sure it wouldn't be as good (just a feeling - no evidence haha!) Lundgrens also looked the best by far out of anything I'd seen..haha! I guess I'd go for a rewire with BKP.
> 
> ...




From what i can understand, Marty can make custom pickups to your specifications. For my Novax, he's making 2 Les Paul style PAF humbuckers. The 8 string bridge pup will cost £80 which is super affordable, and the 6 string neck pup will cost slightly less. I haven't heard any examples of how his pickups sound but i remember someone on this forum owns some Siggery guitars and mentioned that the pups sounded great.

Siggery is actually very affordable in general. He makes custom fanned guitars starting at around £1,300, which might be a good option for your 9 string project. I like his designs in general..especially the 9 string Supernova he made which has bass sized tuners for the low strings similar to the Novax (bass tuners are crucial for experimenting with thicker string gauges..something which the big manufacturers fail to consider)

As far as the Novax is concerned, it's an amazing instrument. I got used to the large fan in a matter of minutes and it feels very natural to play. The stock Bartolini pickups do sound good, just not the sound/positioning i want. Once it's setup with the new pups and custom switching, it'll be a very versatile guitar. The big selling point for this guitar aside from the multiscale was that it has 22 frets, which for me is crucial so that the neck pup (and therefore the middle position) sounds right.


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