# Unicut Guitars Custom 8 String Build Thread



## RubenBernges (Jun 18, 2011)

I've been a lurker ever since I became interested in extended range guitars, so I thought it would be nice to introduce myself by posting pics of my custom 8 string guitar that is currently being built by Florian Lüttke from Unicut Guitars. I wanted a guitar I could use for virtually any style of music despite it being an 8 string and I dislike black guitars and active pickups anyway, which left me with no options except Agile, but I didn't want to order from Rondo because of their lack of warranty for international buyers. 

That's why I saved up and specced my dream guitar and also my first 8 string: 

Scale length: 27 inches, 24 frets + zero fret
Body: RG style ash body
Neck: seven piece maple/walnut
Fretboard: maple, compound radius 16"-20"
Pickups: 2 passive Häussel humbuckers with split-coil option via 2 push-pull volume potis
Hardware: ETS custom bridge as suggested by Florian and Schaller M6 mini tuners

String spacing is slightly more narrow compared to the Ibanez 8 strings, nut width is 54 mm






The wood for the guitar, except for the walnut stripes. I was originally going for a swamp ash body, but Florian had a one piece body blank and a two piece body blank of ash that's been air-dried for 30 years in his stock. I chose the two piece because this guitar is supposed to last all eternity and I thought the figuring was rather interesting.





The body next to the neck blank, there's a thin stripe of rosewood in the middle





Detail shot of the headstock, it's got a nice ash veneer in order to match the body





The body + the neck with the fretboard on it - I just love how pronounced the grain of the maple is





The most recent one, showing the custom ETS 8 string bridge, which is looking pretty awesome in my opinion, and the ebony knobs I asked for. They're looking even better than I expected!
The Häussels are going to arrive in about a week and Florian says he's going to be finished in about a month. The build was started in April, so everything went smoothly and fast. On top of that, it's costing me around as much as a new RG2228 in Europe.

Concerning the natural finish, this is what's planned for the body and the headstock: http://www.conklinguitars.com/custo...String_Bass_Swamp_Ash_Black_Stain_3_large.jpg

That's it for my introduction. I am glad to be part of the biggest community for ERG guitars on the web.


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## BlackMastodon (Jun 18, 2011)

Welcome to SSO and congrats on your first custom 8! That bridge looks very comfortable. It's really awesome that you are getting a custom guitar for the price of the Ibanez 8, and that finish is gonna be amazing!


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## Necris (Jun 18, 2011)

This is going to turn out to be gorgeous.


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## scherzo1928 (Jun 18, 2011)

Ok, I need a bridge like that...


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## Erick Kroenen (Jun 18, 2011)

Really good... and that bridge 10+


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## adrock (Jun 18, 2011)

scherzo1928 said:


> Ok, I need a bridge like that...


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## theo (Jun 18, 2011)

Can't wait for updates!


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## RubenBernges (Jun 19, 2011)

Not really an update, but all of you seem to be interested in the bridge and I've still got a closeup, so I figured you might want to see that as well





In my opinion it's definitely much nicer looking than a Hipshot.


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## metalman_ltd (Jun 19, 2011)

That is going to be amazing when it gets all finished.


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## SirMyghin (Jun 19, 2011)

RubenBernges said:


> Not really an update, but all of you seem to be interested in the bridge and I've still got a closeup, so I figured you might want to see that as well
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I agree with you, hipshot guitar bridges (at least the saddle on plate style) look inherently cheap. I know they are good ,but I like the look of these, which is closer to the bass bridges they make.


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## Erick Kroenen (Jun 19, 2011)

really nice bridge!


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## Jontain (Jun 20, 2011)

more love for that bridge right here


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## noizfx (Jun 20, 2011)

Really liking the bridge there... if I knew about that one earlier...

Oh well, I'm getting a fan-fretted guitar now, so I wouldn't need that bridge anymore, but still good to know! Maybe one day I'll wait to get a fixed scale 8, who knows?


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## Elysian (Jun 20, 2011)

Bridge looks nice but no string through no care 

Interested to see where this build goes though


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## RubenBernges (Jun 22, 2011)

Mini Update: 







Got a flight case for the guitar. Fits nicely 

Flo made the body about 1 cm wider than that of a RG2228, so the proportions are closer to a regular six string. It's also taking care of possible neck dive issues along with the upper horn that has been made longer and the small headstock with non-locking tuners and light-weight ebony tuning pegs.

Right now I'm on the fence about getting an arm bevel or not. I don't like Ibanez-style bevels because they are too extreme for my liking, so my initial plan was to leave the body completely flat, however I might go with a more subtle Fender-style bevel.



Elysian said:


> Bridge looks nice but no string through no care
> 
> Interested to see where this build goes though



That bridge can be bought either way actually, there's at least one six string Flo built with it in a string-through configuration.

It's going to be awesome  unfortunately, there'll be no updates from now un until the häussels arive though


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## RubenBernges (Jun 25, 2011)

Proper Update: Got new pics!





The back





Awesome neckjoint + almost finished neck


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## Khaine88 (Jun 25, 2011)

That Bridge is Godlike, is it the Tuning fork or the Transmissions? Liking the build thus far anyways, and liking the sound of those Häussels 

Moar updates!


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## RubenBernges (Jun 26, 2011)

Khaine88 said:


> That Bridge is Godlike, is it the Tuning fork or the Transmissions? Liking the build thus far anyways, and liking the sound of those Häussels
> 
> Moar updates!



It's the regular tuning fork.

I'm excited about the Häussels as well! Hoping for some great all around pickups.

Right now it's to think about the placement of the potis and the toggle. The great thing about having a custom instrument built is that you can spend literally days contemplating minor stuff instead of doing things you ought to.


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## celticelk (Jun 26, 2011)

RubenBernges said:


> Right now it's to think about the placement of the potis and the toggle. The great thing about having a custom instrument built is that you can spend literally days contemplating minor stuff instead of doing things you ought to.


 
Except for the part where the instrument doesn't get built until you make a decision. =)


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## RubenBernges (Jun 28, 2011)

Well, I got one new pic today, the back of the headstock:


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## Solodini (Jun 28, 2011)

I'm well keen on the 5+3 headstock. It's what I've intended for when I start building stuff. Much less confusing to move from that to a 3+3 headstock on a 6 string.


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## RubenBernges (Jul 2, 2011)

Small Update: Positioning of the potis and the toggle





My intention was to have the volume poti for the neck pickup in close reach in order to perform volume swells and to stay in control of volume during melodic playing in a band context.




Solodini said:


> I'm well keen on the 5+3 headstock. It's what I've intended for when I start building stuff. Much less confusing to move from that to a 3+3 headstock on a 6 string.



To be honest, I just didn't find any existing 8 string headstocks I liked and I thought having a 5+3 headstock would be rather cool. I was right .


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## RubenBernges (Jul 21, 2011)

Update: We're pretty close to completion now





control cavity + cover





the recessed input jack





the fretwork





Flo slapped the tuners on there to get an idea of the final look. The tuning pegs are ebony.





the back





The häussels were delayed quite a bit, however they finally arrived yesterday so the build is going to be completed in about a week.





Can't wait for the finish...


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## JamesM (Jul 21, 2011)

Sickkkk.


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## Thrashmanzac (Jul 21, 2011)

is that a zero fret i see? what is the plan to guide the strings onto the zero fret?
this build is looking amazing mate, congrats


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## RubenBernges (Jul 21, 2011)

Thrashmanzac said:


> is that a zero fret i see? what is the plan to guide the strings onto the zero fret?
> this build is looking amazing mate, congrats



Indeed, I'm not to fond of open strings, so I chose to have a zero fret. Flo says that zero frets are actually superior to regular nuts, so I'm curious to see how beneficial the zero fret will be for the action.
There's going to be a bone nut behind the zero fret, you can see that the slot for it is already cut.


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## Thrashmanzac (Jul 21, 2011)

very nice indeed, i have yet to have a play on a guitar with a zero fret, but i am really interested in them


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## XEN (Jul 21, 2011)

As a long time Steinberger player I can attest to the awesomeness of the zero fret system.


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## technomancer (Jul 21, 2011)

That's looking really cool, love the bridge 

And zero frets are indeed sweet


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## vansinn (Jul 21, 2011)

What I like the most about zero frets is getting the same tone off open strings as fretted, and being able to easily level the zero fret when doing a fret dress.

Cool project, and a cool bridge.
I didn't see the 8-string version on STC's site; are yours a custom, and what's the pricetag?


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## RubenBernges (Jul 21, 2011)

vansinn said:


> What I like the most about zero frets is getting the same tone off open strings as fretted, and being able to easily level the zero fret when doing a fret dress.
> 
> Cool project, and a cool bridge.
> I didn't see the 8-string version on STC's site; are yours a custom, and what's the pricetag?



To be honest I don't understand what you mean by STC. Are you talking about the bridge? If so, yes, that is made to order, but I don't know details concerning pricing.


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## Daken1134 (Jul 21, 2011)

that is GORGEOUS, I love the bridge, looks way nicer than the standard hipshot 8


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## theo (Jul 21, 2011)

looking seriously rad! What is the idea behind having a zero fret though? I'm new to that idea.


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## knispler (Jul 22, 2011)

The idea is about having a frettet sound when playing empty strings. It is also easyer for the luthier to set up the guitar the right way, because even though you need to have a nut, it does not need to be filed down as exact as usual, the nut is not the "pivot-point"(dont really know how to say it) anymore, it is just there to keep the strings in line. So, less problems in any way.


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## RubenBernges (Jul 22, 2011)

theo said:


> looking seriously rad! What is the idea behind having a zero fret though? I'm new to that idea.



The idea is to have open strings that sound closer to fretted notes. Guitars with regular nuts have open strings oscillating between the nut and the bridge while fretted strings oscillate between the fret and the bridge. Using a zero fret is supposed to diminish the difference in sound existing for that reason. Zero frets also improve the action on the first few frets of the fretboard.
It's not exactly common on electric guitars (but Vigier does it, for example) yet it's pretty popular on classical guitars.


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## vansinn (Jul 23, 2011)

RubenBernges said:


> ...Zero frets also improve the action on the first few frets of the fretboard.



That's an overgeneralization. Clearly a nut can be adjusted for the same low action as a zero fret.
I do agree on the other parts


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## RubenBernges (Jul 23, 2011)

vansinn said:


> That's an overgeneralization. Clearly a nut can be adjusted for the same low action as a zero fret.
> I do agree on the other parts



Possible, I was just repeating what I had read.

Update: Routes for the pickups are done!





And now the finish really is all that's left.


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## TimSE (Jul 23, 2011)

some truly excellent work man


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## RubenBernges (Jul 28, 2011)

Blissssssssss.

Huge pics:

















Incredibly versatile due to 2 volume/push-pull potis.
Total weight: 3,4 kg. Win.


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## ShadowFactoryX (Jul 28, 2011)

total win, a clean, nice build
best part is that bridge though

how much did that run you?


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## xwmucradiox (Jul 28, 2011)

knispler said:


> The idea is about having a frettet sound when playing empty strings. It is also easyer for the luthier to set up the guitar the right way, because even though you need to have a nut, it does not need to be filed down as exact as usual, the nut is not the "pivot-point"(dont really know how to say it) anymore, it is just there to keep the strings in line. So, less problems in any way.



Its also less work which is why you used to see zero frets on a lot of inexpensive guitars in the past. Granted its not proof that a guitar is cheap but it often allows factories with less experienced workers to put out good quality instruments. When you see it on a high end guitar its pretty much always done for tonal or playability reasons though.


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## drenz (Jul 28, 2011)

I really really like the look of the whole guitar 

...but i HATE the space around the pickups.


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## scherzo1928 (Jul 28, 2011)

That finish!!!!


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## Murdstone (Jul 28, 2011)

vansinn said:


> That's an overgeneralization. Clearly a nut can be adjusted for the same low action as a zero fret.
> I do agree on the other parts



I don't know, I've never come across a guitar with a standard nut that has anything close to the action of my guitar with a zero fret.


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## FarBeyondMetal (Jul 28, 2011)

Very nice!


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## 3amsleep (Jul 28, 2011)

That finish came out completely awesome!.... damn now im thinking of doing something like that to mine instead of the ebony top


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## RubenBernges (Jul 28, 2011)

ShadowFactoryX said:


> total win, a clean, nice build
> best part is that bridge though
> 
> how much did that run you?



As much as a new RG2228 costs in Europe.



3amsleep said:


> That finish came out completely awesome!.... damn now im thinking of doing something like that to mine instead of the ebony top



Well, this will probably get you more attention while playing out - it's screaming attentionwhore rather loudly for a finish as simple as it is 
I love it.


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## RubenBernges (Jul 31, 2011)

The guitar arrived yesterday and I just made a NGD thread containing a video:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/166254-ngd-unicut-custom-8-string.html


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## SynapseResponse (Aug 2, 2011)

:O Gorgeous!

Jealousy is brewing deep inside me.


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## MF_Kitten (Aug 30, 2011)

if this had a 30" or more scale length, it would be exactly to my specs, i think!. Awesome guitar, bro!


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## Sonofthe7thSign (Sep 1, 2011)

very nice indeed!!!


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