# NGD: ESP STEF-B8



## AlexWadeWC (Jul 8, 2011)

Got a new 8 string from ESP, it's the Stef-B8. I was really needing something with a 27" neck because 25.5" on an 8 string is pretty much useless. This guitar is so gorgeous and classy. The craftsmanship on the artist signature series ESPs is really insane, everything on this guitar is perfect (minus the odd neck pickup and EMG 808s hahaha).

Be sure to check out my new ESP LTD H-1007 in the seven string forum as well!


----------



## jon66 (Jul 8, 2011)

Wow looks great man! I've never really noticed how awesome the fret access is on these until your pics! Congratz


----------



## leonardo7 (Jul 8, 2011)

jon66 said:


> Wow looks great man! I've never really noticed how awesome the fret access is on these until your pics! Congratz



I have a ESP Stef B7 and the fret access on it is seriously the best Ive ever seen. Its even better than my custom ESP! Its ridiculous, especially with the little cutaway. Thats the best 8 string you can buy for sure. No companies are offering a quality 8 with 27" like this one. Congrats on that. ESP are hooking you up!! How are you liking the 808's? Im gonna bug Scott Ferrara about them doing an 81-8 pickup. I dont hate the 808 though.


----------



## AlexWadeWC (Jul 8, 2011)

leonardo7 said:


> I have a ESP Stef B7 and the fret access on it is seriously the best Ive ever seen. Its even better than my custom ESP! Its ridiculous, especially with the little cutaway. Thats the best 8 string you can buy for sure. No companies are offering a quality 8 with 27" like this one. Congrats on that. ESP are hooking you up!! How are you liking the 808's? Im gonna bug Scott Ferrara about them doing an 81-8 pickup. I dont hate the 808 though.



Hahaha trust me, we were telling him they need to do an 81-8 in 2009 on Mayhem when we met up with him. I think the tighter low end and sharper qualities of the 81 would be better suited for the 8 strings. I don't HATE the 808's either, but I would much prefer an 81-8 or 8 string Aftermaths.


----------



## kevdes93 (Jul 8, 2011)

looks awesome! lets see it get put to good use for a next album...? 

whats the huge difference between the 808's or these "81-8's" that you speak of?


----------



## MikeH (Jul 8, 2011)

Where is this ESP Custom you spoke of last year?


----------



## Tobi (Jul 8, 2011)

Happy NGD, 
how do you like the neck pickup being pretty much in middle position? what sort of pros and cons does it have to it? I never really got why they do that..


----------



## Rook (Jul 8, 2011)

If you don't like the EMG's 18V mod them before you change, and then I'd probably give the 808-X a go. There won't be an 81-8 as such because the 808 isn't an 85-8 like the 707 is, it's just a name I believe.

Yeah 18V will give much more clarity, the 808X sounds more like a passive. I hate EMG's, but I've made mine in my 2228 work for me 

I love ESP and the Stef B8 is so ridiculously cool. Happy NGD dude.


----------



## stevo1 (Jul 8, 2011)

saw these on the facebook. Lookin' good!


----------



## Dvaienat (Jul 8, 2011)

Very classy guitar, congrats.

What happened to the CS Tele 7 you had in the works?


----------



## ESPfanboy (Jul 8, 2011)

That think is gorgeous. Happy ngd!


----------



## rogrotten (Jul 8, 2011)

dude if someone steals that guitar at the anaheim stop of the summer slaughter........ it wasn't me......


----------



## simonXsludge (Jul 8, 2011)

love those, just wish they weren't all black. that old green stef B7 was so pretty. this as an 8 and i couldn't help myself anymore.

enjoy the new axes, dude!


----------



## m4rK (Jul 8, 2011)

Wow, so clean! I love those curves! Congrats!


----------



## Explorer (Jul 8, 2011)

Inbefore someone asserts that the E1 on each of my three 25.5" 8-strings is useless....



AlexWadeWC said:


> I was really needing something with a 27" neck because 25.5" on an 8 string is pretty much useless.



Aw... ninja'd in the very first post!

*laugh*

Looks pretty! I would have gone for one of these, but I didn't care for the pickup placement. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!


----------



## Ben.Last (Jul 9, 2011)

Sigh... if only they made them in lefty.


----------



## cow 7 sig (Jul 9, 2011)

i put blackout in mine.love it to death.


----------



## AlexWadeWC (Jul 9, 2011)

Ibz_rg said:


> Where is this ESP Custom you spoke of last year?



Getting it in August. They take 12+ months to arrive once you place your order.


----------



## AlexWadeWC (Jul 9, 2011)

cow 7 sig said:


> i put blackout in mine.love it to death.



What differences would you say there are between the Blackout 8 and EMG 808?

May try the 18volt mod and see how that goes!


----------



## stevo1 (Jul 9, 2011)

Blackouts have more mids than the emgs, and more low end. To me, they sound like an emg 81, but hotter, and with more mids/ lows. The high end is similar I find. As in aggressive, grindy, ect.


----------



## MF_Kitten (Jul 9, 2011)

very nice!

have you thought about going drop f# at any point? just get really thin strings for the high f#, like a .08 or .07!


----------



## Kamikaze7 (Jul 9, 2011)

Congrats on BOTH NGD's man! Gotta love just getting guitars handed to ya! . I would have looked at the SC-608B, but chose for the normal pickup placement and I have my SC-7 anyhow... But still very nice!

One of these days I'll wind up ordering a Custom Shop - if I ever hit the lottery... (not holding my breath though...) If the other guys don't post pics of thier customs, be sure to get pics and post for them so the rest of us can be jealous...


----------



## ROAR (Jul 9, 2011)

This is most impressive.
Record something with it!


----------



## mountainjam (Jul 9, 2011)

awesome ngd


----------



## vampiregenocide (Jul 9, 2011)

I'm trying the 18v in my 2228 soon as it happens, 808s are horrible.


----------



## natspotats (Jul 9, 2011)

hopefully this will inspire some more sick ass riffs for me to headbang to


----------



## BrainArt (Jul 9, 2011)

Congrats, Alex! 



Tobi said:


> Happy NGD,
> how do you like the neck pickup being pretty much in middle position? what sort of pros and cons does it have to it? I never really got why they do that..



They place the pickups like that, because Stephen Carpenter wants it like that.


----------



## orakle (Jul 9, 2011)

yeah im interested about that neck pickup placement

does it change much the lead tone or is it like a different rhythm sound ??


----------



## MF_Kitten (Jul 10, 2011)

i can imagine the middle position humbucker is mostly for fatter chords.

remember his old sig models with the passive pickups? he had two humbuckers, and then a slanted single in the neck. when he went active, he just dropped the single in the neck.


----------



## cow 7 sig (Jul 10, 2011)

stevo1 said:


> Blackouts have more mids than the emgs, and more low end. To me, they sound like an emg 81, but hotter, and with more mids/ lows. The high end is similar I find. As in aggressive, grindy, ect.



thats a very good description,couldnt have put it any better.i will add imo the blackouts have an overall bigger clearer sound.in Aussie slang they piss on the 808
do it Alex,put a set in.i think you will love them


----------



## Kamikaze7 (Jul 10, 2011)

orakle said:


> yeah im interested about that neck pickup placement
> 
> does it change much the lead tone or is it like a different rhythm sound ??





MF_Kitten said:


> i can imagine the middle position humbucker is mostly for fatter chords.
> 
> remember his old sig models with the passive pickups? he had two humbuckers, and then a slanted single in the neck. when he went active, he just dropped the single in the neck.



It is a little different tone-wise... I find it has a little more of a warmer tone than the bridge, but yet not as warm as the neck so it's like a happy medium. Although in my SC-7, I have a 707TW-R, so it has a really deep and warm neck position tone to it. Luckily to balance the tone out of all 3 pickups, I just swapped the wiring position on the switch so the 707TW-R is neck and the SA-7 single coil is in the middle. Even with the SA-7 in the neck and being wired for middle, it balances really well and sounds amazing with either the 707TW or the TW-R in single coil mode too!!!


----------



## Grolli (Jul 10, 2011)

That's one gorgeous guitar you've got there! Wouldn't mind having one in the collection myself  
Some great guitars have been coming out of ESP's Stef line over the years, that's for sure!


----------



## Decipher (Jul 10, 2011)

She's a beaut!

Also, I swapped the Blackouts in for the 808's on my RG2228. The Blackouts had more aggresive mids, and a WAY tighter attack on the low F#. I fucking love 'em. The 808's aren't bad but I definitely prefer the Blackouts.


----------



## digitalpig (Jul 11, 2011)

Decipher said:


> Also, I swapped the Blackouts in for the 808's on my RG2228. The Blackouts had more aggresive mids, and a WAY tighter attack on the low F#. I fucking love 'em. The 808's aren't bad but I definitely prefer the Blackouts.



This.

I put a Blackout in the bridge position of my RG2228 and experienced exactly what you just described. In the neck position, there's still the stock EMG808.

Unfortunatley, I literally lost my middle position with the pickup swap - the Blackout simply overpowers the 808 when the two are combined, so there's very little to no difference when switching from bridge to both pickups.

But that problem should be solved when I swap the neck 808 for the Blackout 8 neck in a few days...


----------



## Interloper (Jul 11, 2011)

Gratz, that's about the only sig model I really like.


----------



## capone1 (Jul 11, 2011)

shitsøn;2561671 said:


> love those, just wish they weren't all black. that old green stef B7 was so pretty. this as an 8 and i couldn't help myself anymore.
> 
> enjoy the new axes, dude!



Agreed Green B8 FTW

Sorry for the Hijack

Love the sexy black fiddle


----------



## TheBloodstained (Jul 12, 2011)

I have never ending GAS for a SC608B! 

I love my RG2228, but looking back I can't stop wondering why I choose that over the SC608B. The features and look of the ESP is more appealing to me?
Been tempted to try and sell my RG2228 a few times, but I think I'll hold onto it for now...

ontopic:
Nice axe! Gratz!


----------



## tuneinrecords (Jul 12, 2011)

I can feel that guitar in my imagination right now. I had Carpenter some years ago and it was like a big caddy. It did feel classy. Awesome for you man!


----------



## MF_Kitten (Jul 12, 2011)

TheBloodstained said:


> I have never ending GAS for a SC608B!
> 
> I love my RG2228, but looking back I can't stop wondering why I choose that over the SC608B. The features and look of the ESP is more appealing to me?
> Been tempted to try and sell my RG2228 a few times, but I think I'll hold onto it for now...
> ...



I think the 2228 will be a more compact and secure design though, if that makes any sense? It has the same scale length, no difference there. Same pickups, but with less difference between them. The rg has a locking bridge with fine tuners, and a locking nut, so you get a really stable tuning. The two are mostly the same, and differ the most visually. The rg is more versatile with the pickups placements, and has more "tricks" to it with the hardware choises. Don't sell it. Change pickups, try new string gauges (try optimised sets, where the string tensions are balanced!), but don't sell it. Good axes.


----------



## ffcwoods (Aug 9, 2011)

What's difference in the feel of the neck on the RG2228 and the sc-608b? I have the RG and have always wondered how the ltd felt. Also Alex, what string gauges are you using on the 8 now that you have the 27"?


----------



## JPMike (Aug 9, 2011)

I love that headstock, but the pickups placing is awfull to me.

Overall, beautiful guitar! Grats and happy playing!!


----------



## TheBloodstained (Aug 10, 2011)

MF_Kitten said:


> I think the 2228 will be a more compact and secure design though, if that makes any sense? It has the same scale length, no difference there. Same pickups, but with less difference between them. The rg has a locking bridge with fine tuners, and a locking nut, so you get a really stable tuning. The two are mostly the same, and differ the most visually. The rg is more versatile with the pickups placements, and has more "tricks" to it with the hardware choises. Don't sell it. Change pickups, try new string gauges (try optimised sets, where the string tensions are balanced!), but don't sell it. Good axes.


yeah, I'd have to admit it's mostly a question of esthetics. The ESP has the look I want and the RG has the playability I want. The RG neck is incredibly comfortable, no doubt. I'd like to try the ESP some day, but 8's (and 7's) are extremely rare here. I tried the SC607B in a musicstore once, and if the SC608B is anything like that I'd be all over it! 

Does anyone know if there's any difference on the neck between the SC608B and B8 (LTD vs. ESP)?


----------



## Neogospel (Aug 10, 2011)

I have owned several ESP STEF guitars, and custom shop craftsmanship is amazing!

Congratulations I know how does it feels to have that beast at home


----------



## caskettheclown (Aug 11, 2011)

Guitars are like sex, we all want a few extra inches to make it soo much better 


Kickass that you got an ESP and not a high quality LTD.


----------

