# KxK 8-string, fanned fret V prototype



## noodles (Jul 21, 2006)

Rob just sent me a pic of this today, and I thought you guys might be interested in it. Scale range is 25.5-27", two trussrods, 5-piece maple/purpleheart laminate neck, cocobolo fretboard, mahogany wings, and two EMG's (35DC neck, 40DC bridge). 

This is obviously a work in progress, as he hasn't even carved the neck profile yet. Still, he said I was welcome to circulate the pic, so here it is. 

Estimated base price with case: $1499.

This will be available as a straight 27" scale as well.


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## Mykie (Jul 21, 2006)

That is gonna be sick...


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## 7slinger (Jul 21, 2006)

WOW what pups are gonna end up in that beast? what kind of finish?


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## Donnie (Jul 21, 2006)

Damnit, Dave... you're not helping with my G.A.S.


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## noodles (Jul 21, 2006)

Hey, Rob's not helping with mine. He said he's going to send it to me at some point to test it out.


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## Donnie (Jul 21, 2006)

Is it a customer guitar? Or just one for the hell of it?


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## noodles (Jul 21, 2006)

Rob Kaughman said:


> It is a multi scale. I wanted to make a different type of instrument for NAMM in Jan. I figured there won't be too may fan fret 8 string V's. Anyway I want to make it an available model so I need some good feeback. Yeah, I will also make regular fretted models
> as well.



He doesn't do summer NAMM, so this is for next year. I didn't know about it until today, so I guess it was just a bug that bit him. Win for us.


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## Donnie (Jul 21, 2006)

Hmmmm... methinks I need to have a chat with this Rob fellow.


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## D-EJ915 (Jul 21, 2006)

Dude, that's so badass that it's unbelievable \m/

I think the wings could be thicker and not as long but still, it's awesome.


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## Chris (Jul 21, 2006)

That fretboard is absolutely gorgeous.


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## BrianCarroll (Jul 21, 2006)

Yeap, beautiful fretboard !
But is 27" enough for a low F# ?


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## zimbloth (Jul 21, 2006)

Thats cool! Other than the headstock and the fanned frets, I'd get something like that.


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## Drew (Jul 21, 2006)

I agree with Chris here - what is that, pao-whatsitcalled, or just really busy rosewood? Gorgeous either way.


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## Jeff (Jul 21, 2006)

Drew said:


> I agree with Chris here - what is that, pao-whatsitcalled, or just really busy rosewood? Gorgeous either way.



Pao Ferro? As on the SRV signature Strat? 

No my friend, that is pure sex, which happens to be in the form of wood.


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## Drew (Jul 21, 2006)

Jeff said:


> Pao Ferro? As on the SRV signature Strat?
> 
> No my friend, that is pure sex, which happens to be in the form of wood.



Ahh. A common mistake, as pao ferro is usually at least decent head, in the form of wood. 

Um, that's a horrible pun, actually, that was totally unintended.


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## David (Jul 21, 2006)

a ton of people are getting into 8 strings, this is pretty sick.


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## Nik (Jul 21, 2006)

Hot damn!  I'm not a fan of Vs, but that is hot


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## noodles (Jul 21, 2006)

Drew said:


> I agree with Chris here - what is that, pao-whatsitcalled, or just really busy rosewood? Gorgeous either way.



Most likely cocobolo, considering that it is his standard fretboard wood of choice.


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## that guy (Jul 21, 2006)

yep cocobolo since hesays so in the first post ,ive been thinkng of asking him to build one.....hmmm


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## noodles (Jul 21, 2006)

that guy said:


> yep cocobolo since hesays so in the first post



I went back and added that.


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## zak (Jul 21, 2006)

Is it a Low F# or high A. And Noodles, is that for you?


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## nyck (Jul 21, 2006)

Interesting. Too bad I don't like V shapes. 

I'm interested in the mahogany wings though, that should sound different with the maple neck thru.


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## Desecrated (Jul 21, 2006)

It looks really welldone, the other guitars I have seen from that company has also have that high quality look to them. 

Do they give endorsment ?


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## Cancer (Jul 21, 2006)

Thanks Dave...no really... 

So lurking in the back of mind lately I've been thinking about buying a custom V, actually a custom X220.....

like this one...






Now, I know Carvin is NOT going to build this for me, I mean I'll ask them, but I'll be highly shocked, amused, and amazed if they build the X220, as a seven string, with an extended scale and a Floyd.

But I have a feeling that KXK will, and now this pict of an eight string appears....

Talk about GAS, someone light a match...please.


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## VforVendetta00 (Jul 21, 2006)

wow, that looks great. i can't wait to get my 7 from rob but apparently the X2N 7 is hard to get a hold of.


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## Elysian (Jul 21, 2006)

i'm not keen on the body shape, but seeing this thread gave me an idea for the V i want to build, now if only i had a roll of butcher paper and a bench so i could get to drawing...



VforVendetta00 said:


> wow, that looks great. i can't wait to get my 7 from rob but apparently the X2N 7 is hard to get a hold of.


erm i've gotten 3 of them already... and a 4th on the way sometime, but the 4th is coming straight from dimarzio, i actually need to call them up and see if its gone out yet, its been some time now...


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## VforVendetta00 (Jul 22, 2006)

well thats what rob told me, im itchin to get that guitar already, its been a while .


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## bostjan (Jul 22, 2006)

Pretty cool! An eight string flying V is just what the world will need in 2007.


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## darren (Jul 22, 2006)

That guitar looks awesome. KxK sure does seem to have their ear to the ground.


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## that guy (Jul 22, 2006)

noodles said:


> I went back and added that.



well fuck my ass and call me johnny, ill just shut up then


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## Mastodon (Jul 22, 2006)

That's tight. I wonder how much it will cost.


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## Durero (Jul 22, 2006)

That's gonna be one sweet guitar!


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## bostjan (Jul 22, 2006)

that guy said:


> well fuck my ass and call me johnny, ill just shut up then





Mastodon said:


> That's tight. I wonder how much it will cost.





Anyway, what's with cocobolo and eight strings?


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## metalfiend666 (Jul 23, 2006)

That's pretty nice indeed. I can see Noodles either refusing to give it back or it "accidentally" getting lost in the return post.


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## that guy (Jul 24, 2006)

bostjan said:


> Anyway, what's with cocobolo and eight strings?


 
you sir are a funny man

anyway the dude at kxk is awsome ,besides the fact he pretty much told me to go f**k myself


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## noodles (Jul 24, 2006)

that guy said:


> anyway the dude at kxk is awsome ,besides the fact he pretty much told me to go f**k myself



How so? Did you ask for a bolt-on or a copy of another manufacturer's guitar? If so, yeah, he takes offense to that. 



Desecrated said:


> Do they give endorsment ?



Yep. I'm one.


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## that guy (Jul 25, 2006)

i askedhim to make me a randy rhoads style guitar...so yeah i guess thats what happened

why would he take offense at a bolt on though?


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## Ancestor (Jul 25, 2006)

Purty. I like these extended range guitars with unusual body shapes (other than a strat style).


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## noodles (Jul 25, 2006)

UPDATE: Estimated base price w/case, $1499.



that guy said:


> i askedhim to make me a randy rhoads style guitar...so yeah i guess thats what happened
> why would he take offense at a bolt on though?



He hates bolt-on and set-neck designs. He only builds neckthrus.


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## Dive-Baum (Jul 25, 2006)

What is the purpose of fanned frets? BTW...cool guitar


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## darren (Jul 25, 2006)

Damn. That's a killer deal for a custom-built 8.


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## Donnie (Jul 25, 2006)

Damn, I want *that* guitar.


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## noodles (Jul 25, 2006)

Dive-Baum said:


> What is the purpose of fanned frets? BTW...cool guitar



It gives each string it's own scale length, which has a two-fold benefit: it intonates a lot better, and it makes the width of the fretboard much more managable when playing.



Donnie said:


> Damn, I want *that* guitar.



Dude, he's going to send it to me, and then I'm eventually going to have to send it back! How harsh is that?  

Rob is putting some cool electronics in it, too:



Rob Kaughman said:


> Also the V8 will have a 40DC and a 35DC for the pickups. EMG wouldn't (not yet any way) make a 81 in the 40 housing. The 707/81-7 will fit in the neck position but I'm not sure which will be better. I'll start with the 35DC and see if is ok(better match with the 40DC). I am including the BQC control so there will be a seperate Bass/Treble/Mid/Mid frequency controls since there will be bass pickups in it. And a Afterburner to give a little boost if needed. All these controls may not be needed but then what are prototypes for if not to experiment.


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## VforVendetta00 (Jul 25, 2006)

damn at that price im gonna have to put an order for one right after i get my KXK baritone 7!


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## noodles (Jul 25, 2006)

VforVendetta00 said:


> damn at that price im gonna have to put an order for one right after i get my KXK baritone 7!



Rob send you any more pics yet? He said he was putting the V8 on hold to finish up some customer guitars, so I'm assuming yours is one of them.


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## VforVendetta00 (Jul 25, 2006)

noodles said:


> Rob send you any more pics yet? He said he was putting the V8 on hold to finish up some customer guitars, so I'm assuming yours is one of them.



nope no new pics yet.but i hope its soon

on a separate note, it would be good if he offered other pickups other than EMGs. but i guess that would drive the price up.


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## noodles (Jul 25, 2006)

He does offer pickups other than EMG, and yes, they do cost more. He gets the EMG's at a bulk rate, but other pickups he has to buy individually.


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## Elysian (Jul 25, 2006)

noodles said:


> UPDATE: Estimated base price w/case, $1499.
> He hates bolt-on and set-neck designs. He only builds neckthrus.


lol we have a lot in common... though i'm not totally against building bolt ons, i would just prefer to build a neck through...


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## zimbloth (Jul 25, 2006)

I would so order one of these, but I just can't get past that it's going to have bass pickups in it. I can't imagine those sounding very good thru guitar rigs, unless they were custom wound like Dino's or whatever.


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## Elysian (Jul 25, 2006)

zimbloth said:


> I would so order one of these, but I just can't get past that it's going to have bass pickups in it. I can't imagine those sounding very good thru guitar rigs, unless they were custom wound like Dino's or whatever.


this clip can attest that it doesn't sound like a bass... at least in my opinion... this is a clip from a member of musicianwar.com, he goes by vibetronic, who has a LGM 8 string with the 40DC at least in the bridge, not sure whats in the neck spot on his... i couldn't tell you what his rig is, but all guitar parts are done on the LGM...

http://www.elysian-online.com/friday2.mp3

of course, you're probably going to hate it just on principle, but oh well

edit: actually i'm pretty sure his rig is some pod variant


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## Donnie (Jul 25, 2006)

I can hear that exact same, sort of "loose twang" that the big ass EMG had in my 9 string. It seemed that the only way I could make it sound better was to put so much gain on it that there was no definition.
So yeah, I'd prefer not to have EMGs too.


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## VforVendetta00 (Jul 25, 2006)

Elysian said:


> this clip can attest that it doesn't sound like a bass... at least in my opinion... this is a clip from a member of musicianwar.com, he goes by vibetronic, who has a LGM 8 string with the 40DC at least in the bridge, not sure whats in the neck spot on his... i couldn't tell you what his rig is, but all guitar parts are done on the LGM...
> http://www.elysian-online.com/friday2.mp3
> of course, you're probably going to hate it just on principle, but oh well
> edit: actually i'm pretty sure his rig is some pod variant



damn, that sounds great. a bit boomy tho. then again, i doubt i'd really need or really want an 8 other than to say i have it.


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## Elysian (Jul 25, 2006)

Donnie said:


> I can hear that exact same, sort of "loose twang" that the big ass EMG had in my 9 string. It seemed that the only way I could make it sound better was to put so much gain on it that there was no definition.
> So yeah, I'd prefer not to have EMGs too.


i'd say his has a fair bit of definition, granted it could be crisper for the riffing, but the lead work is pretty crisp and clear, this is the only 8 string tune this guy has posted, so i don't know if he's refined his tone or not, he posted this shortly after he got the 8...


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## darren (Jul 26, 2006)

I wonder if having the onboard active EQ with the sweepable midrange would help in nailing the sweet spot in the pickup's tonal range to optimize it for the 8-string.


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## Elysian (Jul 26, 2006)

darren said:


> I wonder if having the onboard active EQ with the sweepable midrange would help in nailing the sweet spot in the pickup's tonal range to optimize it for the 8-string.


i don't know, but if i do up the RG7421 i have, i'm gonna try and do this(if its even possible lol, i dunno)


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## darren (Jul 26, 2006)

I was browsing the EMG site today and noticed that in the bass pickup section, they have a "splittable" bass pickup that uses the 3.5" housing, the same as the 707 and 81-7. It's the 35TW. Plug one of those into a BQC active EQ and some cool tonal possibilities could be had.


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## LEWY7777777 (Jul 26, 2006)

Beautiful -Man o man I want it! I would love to have an 8 string. individual bridges wow. I want an inline reverse headstock on mine pure KXK! However this headstock looks alright too. What are the best pickups for an 8 string?


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## that guy (Jul 26, 2006)

lungren m8 

to me the bridges dont look sompletely spot on


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## LEWY7777777 (Jul 26, 2006)

Yeah I think someone pasted them on to invision their plans for the bridges.
I absolutely drool over the modernized KXK v shape it looks as if its flying at the speed of light. Hence flying V , a faster ship...



noodles said:


> UPDATE: Estimated base price w/case, $1499.
> He hates bolt-on and set-neck designs. He only builds neckthrus.


Neckthroughs forever!


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## zimbloth (Jul 26, 2006)

I'll check it out, if I'd be more than happy to be wrong, I want it to sound good. I'd really have to hear clips thru a real (non digital) amp to be sure though. Everything sounds the same in my experience with a Pod.


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## metalfiend666 (Jul 26, 2006)

darren said:


> I was browsing the EMG site today and noticed that in the bass pickup section, they have a "splittable" bass pickup that uses the 3.5" housing, the same as the 707 and 81-7. It's the 35TW. Plug one of those into a BQC active EQ and some cool tonal possibilities could be had.


 
That sounds very intersing. If only I hadn't just sold my EMG equipped 7...


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## nyck (Jul 26, 2006)

Elysian said:


> this clip can attest that it doesn't sound like a bass... at least in my opinion... this is a clip from a member of musicianwar.com, he goes by vibetronic, who has a LGM 8 string with the 40DC at least in the bridge, not sure whats in the neck spot on his... i couldn't tell you what his rig is, but all guitar parts are done on the LGM...
> 
> http://www.elysian-online.com/friday2.mp3
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot for that clip dude. The EMG sounds great.


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## noodles (Jul 26, 2006)

Donnie said:


> I can hear that exact same, sort of "loose twang" that the big ass EMG had in my 9 string. It seemed that the only way I could make it sound better was to put so much gain on it that there was no definition.
> So yeah, I'd prefer not to have EMGs too.



Rob has his doubts about it, too, which is why he is putting all the extra electronics in there. He was pretty sure a 707 or 81-7 would be wide enough for the neck, but not for the bridge. He asked EMG to put a 707 or 81-7 in the 40DC housing, but they refused to do it.  

Then Rob  at them, and the sheer power of his overwhelming metalness caused the EMG factory to crumble to the ground.  

In all seriousness, Rob would be willing use any pickups you want, but you'd have to provide him with them. He only has a deal with EMG, which is why you have to pay extra for Dimarzio or Duncan. He isn't a high enough volume operation to stock pickups in bulk from three different manufacturers, so he had to pick one. EMG was the most willing to work with him, and most of his customers prefer their pickups.


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## Matt Crooks (Jul 26, 2006)

noodles said:


> EMG was the most willing to work with him, and most of his customers prefer their pickups.



_Most_ of his customers have good taste in pickups.


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## noodles (Jul 27, 2006)

Matt Crooks said:


> _Most_ of his customers have good taste in pickups.



Yeah, he told me he gets lots of requests for Duncans.


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## Drew (Jul 27, 2006)

Elysian said:


> this clip can attest that it doesn't sound like a bass... at least in my opinion... this is a clip from a member of musicianwar.com, he goes by vibetronic, who has a LGM 8 string with the 40DC at least in the bridge, not sure whats in the neck spot on his... i couldn't tell you what his rig is, but all guitar parts are done on the LGM...
> http://www.elysian-online.com/friday2.mp3
> of course, you're probably going to hate it just on principle, but oh well
> edit: actually i'm pretty sure his rig is some pod variant



Take this clip with a grain of salt, though - Vibey's the caliber of player who could make damn near anything sound badass. He's also on the short list of players who can give Rusty Cooley a run for his money on sheer speed. I cried for joy when I saw him buy a UV77MC over on jemste, lol. 

Elysian, see if you can get the dude to sign up over here.


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## Elysian (Jul 27, 2006)

Drew said:


> Take this clip with a grain of salt, though - Vibey's the caliber of player who could make damn near anything sound badass. He's also on the short list of players who can give Rusty Cooley a run for his money on sheer speed. I cried for joy when I saw him buy a UV77MC over on jemste, lol.
> Elysian, see if you can get the dude to sign up over here.


 that is very true, he can make most anything sound killer... i hardly ever see him even post on the message board on MW, i think i've seen him in audio chat all of twice...


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