# My DIY 8-string



## Chonker (Jun 5, 2008)

I've been reading alot on here about the 8's and since I bought my 7 I've decided there really is no disadvantage to adding more strings so I figured why not?

A friend of mine's father built his own guitar a few years back using melvyn hiscock's book which I've borrowed and read through a couple of times now, doesn't seem too bad, It's been years since I've done any woodwork though so that's my biggest problem.

I've spend quite a bit of time on the design, originally it was going to be a 750mm (just shy of 30") scale neckthrough with ebony fretboard and facing and look something like this:







However I decided that I didn't really want to spend that much on woods just to foul it up through my ineptitude, so I'm shelving that concept for later (if this goes okay who knows?). I've also decided that I'd really like to have a go with a compound scale instrument, they seem a great compromise to get the scale lenght needed at the low end.

My final concept is this:






This is a fully dimensioned CAD model which I will be working from.

I've picked up the wood, Maple for the neck, Basswood for the body wings and a rosewood fretboard






The rosewood is quite nicely figured but the others are quite plain.

I've also started getting the hardware together, I'm waiting for my locking sperzel tuners to arrive, have recieved my BKP warpig 8, and a set of 8 piezo bridge saddles from graphtech.






Wish me luck!


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## Thrashmanzac (Jun 5, 2008)

good luck 
oh and it looks like a killer design mate, only thing is im hopeing your not gonna leave the edges square like in the designs are you?


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## Chonker (Jun 5, 2008)

Nah I had an argument with my CAD software's curve tool


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## Blackrg (Jun 5, 2008)

looks great! 

Go for it 

And watch out for those pesky splinters


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## canuck brian (Jun 5, 2008)

Good luck dude - just remember to plan EVERYTHING that you're going to do and remember that templates are going to be your best friend here.

Couple of things - what are the scale lengths that you're going to be using? Also - that maple looks flatsawn - you might want to look into cutting the board and gluing it up as laminates so your grain orientation is all nice. It would suck for your work to twist near the end and that's coming from experience.

The BK may not be the best pickup in this case while you're using multiple scale lengths unless you're going to slant it as well, which would no longer align the polepieces. Something like an EMG or other bar magnet pickup might be best unless you're going to custom order/make a slanted pickup. If you use the 1 scale length, let me know, I have an 8 string humbucker template on the way which I could probably duplicate for you.

Head over to Project Guitar.com :: Guitar Project.com as well if you've just read the book; it's a wealth of guitar building information that will probably give you a lot of ideas and a lot of answers on questions you haven't even asked yet. 

I'm lookin forward to seeing another 8! Make it happen!


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## Apophis (Jun 5, 2008)

Good luck


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## yevetz (Jun 5, 2008)

Good luck


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## Chonker (Jun 5, 2008)

I've already recieved the BKP 'pig, ordered it back when I intended to do a straight scale, was going to just fit it straight close to the bridge on the top string. 

I'm treating this as a bit of a prototype really, which is why I've spend vastly more on hardware than on the woods. If it goes well the mk2 will be replacing it before too long 

As for splitting the neckblank up, I don't really have access to a table saw capable of doing this (it's being made in my garden with a portable workmate and handtools!), the wood came from a luthier suppliers and I'm assured it is well seasoned.


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## Durero (Jun 5, 2008)

Best of luck! 

I completely agree with Brian about slanting the pickup. 
But very awesomely cool that you're going with a multi-scale design! 
What scale lengths did you choose?


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## darren (Jun 5, 2008)

Good to see you have a copy of Melvin Hiscock's bible there. May it serve you well.


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## Chonker (Jun 5, 2008)

Problem is if I slant the pickup the polepieces wont be under the strings as the spacing's not wide enough.

The scale lenght on the top is 635mm and bottom is 725mm


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## Randy (Jun 5, 2008)

darren said:


> Good to see you have a copy of Melvin Hiscock's bible there. May it serve you well.



Best purchase I ever made.


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## darren (Jun 5, 2008)

Well-seasoned or not, i'd be a little concerned about a single-piece of flatsawn maple holding up over the long term under the tension of 8 strings. A multi-laminate neck or at the very least, graphite or titanium reinforcement rods would help keep it a bit more stable.

Maybe there's a local wood shop that could cut and plane that plank? You just need to make two cuts, then flip the middle piece lengthwise end-to-end so the grain runs in the opposite direction. Then plane the cut edges smooth and glue them back together.


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## Shawn (Jun 5, 2008)

Very nice. I can't wait to see how it comes out.


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## Ruins (Jun 5, 2008)

cool i like it
looking forward for more pics and stories


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## Ishan (Jun 5, 2008)

darren said:


> Maybe there's a local wood shop that could cut and plane that plank? You just need to make two cuts, then flip the middle piece lengthwise end-to-end so the grain runs in the opposite direction. Then plane the cut edges smooth and glue them back together.



What he said


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## Desecrated (Jun 6, 2008)

Good luck!


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## Chonker (Jun 7, 2008)

Made a start on the fretboard and rough cut the body wings this morning


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## TimSE (Jun 7, 2008)

cool so far
that board has one nice grain to it


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## Chonker (Jun 8, 2008)

Okay didn't get a reply on project guitar so I'll try my luck here 

I'm a bit confused with what to do for the trussrod. I've already bought one which is an aluminium square shaped channel with an open side with a steel rod running inside.

I've read through Melyn Hiscock's book, which doesn't directly deal with these rods, but does suggest that they should be glue into a flat bottomed channel cut into the neck face beneith the fretboard, and that they don't require a fillet.

I've also read Dennis Waring & David Raymond's book and it suggests a similar rod which isn't filleted but they do not mention gluing at all.

I have also read this Project Guitar :: Making a Guitar Neck and the rod used looks alot like what I have, but he makes a curved channel and covers with a fillet.

This has left me really confused, I really don't want the hassle of cutting a curved channel or making a fillet so, do I need a different type of rod? Also (and this is really a stupid question I guess) it fits with the open side of the channel down?


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## JimboTheHobo (Jun 8, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Made a start on the fretboard and rough cut the body wings this morning



Dude i love the F/B

Good luck!


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## canuck brian (Jun 8, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Problem is if I slant the pickup the polepieces wont be under the strings as the spacing's not wide enough.
> 
> I'm a bit confused with what to do for the trussrod. I've already bought one which is an aluminium square shaped channel with an open side with a steel rod running inside.





K - the polepiece thing I already addressed in post #5, but for your trussrod, I know which one you've got there. You want to cut a rectangular channel. Don't worry about a fillet. 

I cut my truss channel, drop the rod in so the squared off side sits flush with the neck and flush against the fretboard. I use epoxy in the channel to keep the bugger in place.

Did you keep the offcuts from the body wings? Makes things a lot easier when you glue the wings to the neck blank.


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## Chonker (Jun 11, 2008)

yup kept the offcuts as clamping cauls as Melyvn instructed 

Despite your good advise (and I do appreciate it) I've not laminated the neck, I simply couldn't figure out a way of doing it with the tools I have so I'm pretty much going to just hope for the best (and expect the worst).

I'm going to leave the pickup route until I've strung it up and set it up, then I'll mount my BKP warpig upside down over the strings in a few positions and see if it sounds okay. If it does, brilliant, if not I'll be buying some alnico rods from ebay and making my own.

Thanks for the info on the trussrod, that's what I'll do then.

Bit more progress (nothing stuck just put together to make it vaguely guitar shaped)


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## Thrashmanzac (Jun 11, 2008)

looking great man!


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## canuck brian (Jun 11, 2008)

Looking like nice clean work there man. Just take your time and plan it out and it'll turn out awesome.


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## kershyboy (Jun 11, 2008)

so far so good. looking good indeed


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## Ruins (Jun 11, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Okay didn't get a reply on project guitar so I'll try my luck here
> 
> I'm a bit confused with what to do for the trussrod. I've already bought one which is an aluminium square shaped channel with an open side with a steel rod running inside.
> 
> ...


in mz current project i just made square tunnel and fit the rod in it sits tiggt there no waz to escape anywhere and i didn't use any glue to glue it
but i think some glue excess did get there when i was gluing the fretboard 
i think its nothing worse it will still function well.



Chonker said:


>


looking good so far


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## skinhead (Jun 11, 2008)

I preffer to glue the wings before cutting them. Is only my prefference, and the way I like to do it.

Nice project, its going very well


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## Chonker (Jun 12, 2008)

Got a bunch more done, picked up a die to sort the trussrod out too turns out it isn't imperial it's metric but with an odd .8 thread pitch 

Trussrod channel routed, head profile finished and roughly cut out, tuning post holes drilled.





Rough carved neck (loads of carving still to do though)


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## TripleFan (Jun 13, 2008)

Chonker said:


> turns out it isn't imperial it's metric but with an odd .8 thread pitch



Sounds like a M5 thread then which would be approx. the right size for a trussrod and has a 0,8mm thread pitch.


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## Chonker (Jun 13, 2008)

Guess that was a size missing from my set then, definately didn't have a threadguage for it. Sorted the trussrod now, cut down to size and ready to glue in


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## Chonker (Jun 17, 2008)

Trussrod installed, neck carve done too it's really coming together!

Can't wait to play this thing!


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## Zoltta (Jun 17, 2008)

i question the tension on that thing since its a reverse headstock


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## loneguitarist (Jun 17, 2008)

Zoltta said:


> i question the tension on that thing since its a reverse headstock



That's a common misconception actually - only the vibrating length of the string affects the tension, not any distance either side of the nut or bridge.


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## Zoltta (Jun 17, 2008)

true but are there even strings out there that are long enough? Or i assume he will obviously use a bass string for the 8th?


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## Desecrated (Jun 17, 2008)

Zoltta said:


> true but are there even strings out there that are long enough? Or i assume he will obviously use a bass string for the 8th?



SIT guitar strings are long as hell.


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## Durero (Jun 17, 2008)

Zoltta said:


> i question the tension on that thing since its a reverse headstock


There's a pretty thorough discussion of this issue in this thread if anyone's interested: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/10364-reverse-headstock-misconception.html



Zoltta said:


> true but are there even strings out there that are long enough? Or i assume he will obviously use a bass string for the 8th?



I play a 32" - 36" multi-scale 7-string and most strings are just long enough to fit my headless design. The 8th string with 28" scale and reverse headstock should have no problem I'd guess, but probably worth checking before finishing the build


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## Chonker (Jun 18, 2008)

Actually I was really worried about string lenght, it's going to be stringthrough body so that requires a bit more. That's the reason I went with the reverse headstock in the first place as I'm really not a fan of the look, but it means the longest strings are the thickest. 

Bottom two will be bass strings


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## jammy (Jun 18, 2008)

loneguitarist said:


> That's a common misconception actually - only the vibrating length of the string affects the tension, not any distance either side of the nut or bridge.



Not quite true that. Though the truth is actually the reverse of what most people think.

Overall string length, though it doesn't have an effect on the tension will have an effect on the feel of the instrument. Strings with longer lengths (even if the vibrating length is the same) feel looser, and are easier to bend on. This is because when you fret the string, or bend it your stretching a longer length overall. This means each unit length of the string is stretched less, thus it's easier to do! (if that makes sense)

This is why you'll notice guitars with tailpieces and floating bridges generally feel looser - loads of extra string on the other side of the bridge!


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## JimboTheHobo (Jun 18, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Trussrod installed, neck carve done too it's really coming together!
> 
> Can't wait to play this thing!



this is awesome dude!


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## Snorelax (Jun 18, 2008)

Nice work, its looking good. I can't wait to see it finished.




Durero said:


> I play a 32" - 36" multi-scale 7-string and most strings are just long enough to fit my headless design.


Holy shit, thats long.

What do you tune that thing to?


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## Durero (Jun 19, 2008)

Snorelax said:


> Holy shit, thats long.
> 
> What do you tune that thing to?



I tune in all 4ths: G#1 C#2 F#2 B2 E3 A3 D4

The clarity from the low G# string was even better than I expected. Multi-scale designs are just fantastic for extended-range instruments.


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## Chonker (Jul 14, 2008)

Your guitar looks amazing!

Been a while since I posted any progress I'm still working on it. Fitted fibreoptics in the fretboard for the side position markers. Been working on the body now, almost done!


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## MF_Kitten (Jul 16, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Your guitar looks amazing!
> 
> Been a while since I posted any progress I'm still working on it. Fitted fibreoptics in the fretboard for the side position markers. Been working on the body now, almost done!



hotness! now finish it really fast, so i don´t have to wait for the result!


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## ibznorange (Jul 16, 2008)

hot damn!


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## MrRedRaider (Jul 23, 2008)

Damn I need to build my own guitar... thats looking great man. Post as many pics as you can for us!


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## Desecrated (Jul 23, 2008)

Looking good so far-


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## Bygde (Jul 23, 2008)

Not crazy about the body shape, but the headstock ws cool though! And you are a PG member if I'm not totally retarded


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## Chonker (Aug 31, 2008)

I am indeed a PG'er, great site 

Progress is getting slower but I'm getting there..


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## Desecrated (Aug 31, 2008)

Are the edges suppose to be that rough or are you smoothening them out later ?


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## Chonker (Aug 31, 2008)

Still got loads of sanding to do to get it all smooth but I'm keen to get it strung up and check it's all okay first before putting all that time and effort in.


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## Desecrated (Aug 31, 2008)

Chonker said:


> Still got loads of sanding to do to get it all smooth but I'm keen to get it strung up and check it's all okay first before putting all that time and effort in.



that makes sense.


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## FredGrass (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey there, Luke. This project looks really awesome, especially since it's almost entirely manual. Respect.

I just thought I'd bump this post and see how the dress rehearsal went. You about done, sir? Updates, please!


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## sworth9411 (Oct 15, 2008)

this looks looks amazing. Very Inspiring....can't wait to see the finished product.


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 15, 2008)

Sick Gitfiddle you're building there!


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