Do only atheists and satanists play 8 string guitars ?

[Howard Is]

Although I have yet to name an instrument (but I have called them names at times) our bass player has names for all her basses. I have noticed those instruments get very temperamental if you forget their names...

Animism is deep.
And vanity is even deeper

 

[Mindmaster]

View attachment 33907
I just bought this.
Generally speaking, only heavy metal heads use them. And they all seem to be atheists or satanists.
And usually, they choose black.

Seven and eight string guitars are perfect for those who like to djent, with brain melting overdrive.

I bought mine to play through a Boss SY-300 guitar synth. Having five octaves of range lets me fully exploit the synth, especially because the SY-300 allows layering of its three oscillators in different frequency ranges. Plus I run a direct out to a parallel channel to mix in standard guitar tones/fx.

The fanned frets are way cool. Longer strings for lower frequencies.

I plugged and played it for the first time today. The combo is freakin’ amazing. Through a bi-amped system, 2x100 watts, a sealed cab with a 12” Infinity subwoofer, and an open-back cab with a Celestion Vintage 10.

It really is evil.

No, I'd say Satanists largely use six-strings in standard tuning. (If I were to quickly inventory the most Satanic bands I know, and then think about it a bit.) They definitely don't use guitar synths either.

I'm sort of an line of thought that if you just wanna go darker than a standard guitar seven strings are fine, but if that's not enough and you want to extreme doom metal that **** then just get a baritone as nothing will beat it. Though, I dislike baritone guitars tendency to step on the bass in a mix sometimes the melodic variety that is possible on that instrument is just leagues above a bass.

But, on a practical note since I play guitar and bass I found no reason to play the lower notes. Throw some fuzz on a bass and omg it does the same thing... it even goes lower..

 

[Mindmaster]

Here's a live performance from 1998 that shows his finger positioning on the frets. Looks like he plays the bass line with his thumb.

Common for people with large hands to do -- you think we're trying to be cool... It's because there is no where for the fingers to go.

Generally, if someone plays that way they do a "Drop D" tuning so the first two notes barred like that always make a power chord form.

 

[Jainarayan]

Most of us old rock and blues players can't count much higher than six on our best days....

I loves me a 12 string. I thought about getting rid of mine, but I'm rethinking that. Unfortunately if a 12 string gets even slightly out of tune it sounds like the neighborhood cats fighting.

 

[Jainarayan]

View attachment 33918

This is my 19 string.

I always wanted to learn. I mean, learn really bad. My two faves... acoustic guitar (6 and 12 string) and sitar.

 

[BSM1]

I loves me a 12 string. I thought about getting rid of mine, but I'm rethinking that. Unfortunately if a 12 string gets even slightly out of tune it sounds like the neighborhood cats fighting.

Had a 12 string once. Played two songs on it and traded it the next day. Love the sound but the durn thing was way too high maintenance for me.

 

[BSM1]

I always wanted to learn. I mean, learn really bad. My two faves... acoustic guitar (6 and 12 string) and sitar.

Would like to get my hands on a sitar...

 

[Howard Is]

No, I'd say Satanists largely use six-strings in standard tuning. (If I were to quickly inventory the most Satanic bands I know, and then think about it a bit.) They definitely don't use guitar synths either.

I'm sort of an line of thought that if you just wanna go darker than a standard guitar seven strings are fine, but if that's not enough and you want to extreme doom metal that **** then just get a baritone as nothing will beat it. Though, I dislike baritone guitars tendency to step on the bass in a mix sometimes the melodic variety that is possible on that instrument is just leagues above a bass.

But, on a practical note since I play guitar and bass I found no reason to play the lower notes. Throw some fuzz on a bass and omg it does the same thing... it even goes lower..

Yeah, the satanist thing was a silly trope to attract attention.

And you’re right, metal heads aren’t generally interested in guitar synths.

I’m not a metal head. Couldn’t name current bands. I had no real interest in 7 or 8 strings until I realised what it would mean with the SY-300, which is a unique signal processor. It’s not MIDI. Uses a standard 1/4” guitar jack. Has some crazy algorithms that convert the guitar sound into synth oscillators. Perfect tracking, and all the dynamics are in the sound, even harmonic squeals .

With 8 strings and 24 frets I have 5 octaves to play with, and layers can be mapped to different pitch zones. So the synth can be fully exploited, with an orchestral range. And it is a very sophisticated synth.

I also just acquired a TC Helicon Voicelive 3, which is a looper, vocal processor and guitar FX.

Live psychedelic jazz rock is where this is going.

 

[Jainarayan]

Would like to get my hands on a sitar...

IKR!?

 

[Jainarayan]

Had a 12 string once. Played two songs on it and traded it the next day. Love the sound but the durn thing was way too high maintenance for me.

Yeah, they're a bit to handle. I bring it to a shop for restringing. I tried doing it once. Once.

 

[Howard Is]

Would like to get my hands on a sitar...

Sitar was my first instrument. Apart from a short stint on tenor horn in a high school band.

For whatever reason, I got deeply into Indian classical music when I was 15. I bought a sitar at 16, and found a Sikh doctor/musician who gave me lessons.

Weird really. It was the western suburbs of Sydney in the early 70s...White Australia.

Then I bought the first synth I saw in a shop, and decided that I wanted to make psychedelic ethnic electronic music.

No wonder I wasn’t getting laid.

 

[Howard Is]

I'm sort of an line of thought that if you just wanna go darker than a standard guitar seven strings are fine, but if that's not enough and you want to extreme doom metal that **** then just get a baritone as nothing will beat it.

Check this out. This guy is cutting edge in technique and composition.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Check this out. This guy is cutting edge in technique and composition.

Okay, we need a "Wow!" rating. And it certainly looks like a tool of the Devil!

 

[David1967]

You're talking my language !
As you'll see further into the thread, I also play a Nuno, Through a Laney LC15. I have a Celestion Vintage 10 in the Laney.

My favourite speaker of all time is the Celestion Vintage 30.
I have drooled over the Lionheart.

Although, the Bogner Shiva is the amp I would love to own.

I love my Laney. I have had everything from Randall to Marshall to the Crate Blue Voodoo. I got a good dealer discount (I own a music shop) on the Laney and took the plunge. It has no weaknesses. Chrystal clear on the clean tones and nasty as you want it to be on the distortion channels. Nothing fancy about the Nuno guitar, I just love the way it plays and sounds. I totally agree with you on the Celestion Vintage 30.

 

[David1967]

I used to insist im much more of a bassist and not that good of a guitarist, but anymore I find I'm a decent guitarist. I'm still vastly better at bass than guitar, but compitency in guitar is just a matter of practice. And mastering 6 first? Not really a logical goal. Just jump in and do it. I'd still be on a fretted bass if I held onto that attitude while I was considering fretless.

Joking of course about the 7 and 8 string. I've been playing guitar in rock and metal bands for a lot of years and simply prefer the six-string tuned low.

 

[Howard Is]

Nothing fancy about the Nuno guitar, I just love the way it plays and sounds.

Yeah, I'm right with you there. The only thing I didn't like was the Floyd Rose. Those springs are a sonic disaster. You bend a string and all the others detune, And the springs themselves add lots of non-musical noise.

So I put an almost solid block (layers of solid and compressable materials) behind the tremolo block , so I can still get a touch of vibrato, with my palm because I detest whammy bars, and I stuffed a Chux superwipe cloth around the springs to shut them up, and...voila ! Perfect.

I have a bunch of guitars, but the Nuno rules.

 

[Howard Is]

Yeah, they're a bit to handle. I bring it to a shop for restringing. I tried doing it once. Once.

It is a task. The sympathetics take a while, and tuning is tricky with those wooden pegs.
I have some new strings that have been sitting there a while, because I know it isn't a five minute job like guitar.

But when it's all tuned up...it's bliss. Just plucking and strumming open strings is so nice.

 

[David1967]

Yeah, I'm right with you there. The only thing I didn't like was the Floyd Rose. Those springs are a sonic disaster. You bend a string and all the others detune, And the springs themselves add lots of non-musical noise.

So I put an almost solid block (layers of solid and compressable materials) behind the tremolo block , so I can still get a touch of vibrato, with my palm because I detest whammy bars, and I stuffed a Chux superwipe cloth around the springs to shut them up, and...voila ! Perfect.

I have a bunch of guitars, but the Nuno rules.

Yeah, whammy bars are an acquired taste. I personally like the Floyd Rose on my Nuno. But then again, I am very good at setting them up. I bury that thing and it still stays in tune. I switched to the new Ernie Ball Paradigm strings and it stays in tune even better..... Man, I could talk about this stuff all day.

 

[Howard Is]

Man, I could talk about this stuff all day.

Well I might pick your brain later. I would now but it's 6 am in Melbourne. I've just done an all-nighter and the birds are singing. And I have that pleasant kind of tinnitus and visual snow that immediately precedes coming unwound.
But it was nice rambling on about music instead of ...you know, all that other stuff, lol.

We'll continue later I hope.
It's goodnight from me.

 

[Jainarayan]

It is a task. The sympathetics take a while, and tuning is tricky with those wooden pegs.
I have some new strings that have been sitting there a while, because I know it isn't a five minute job like guitar.

But when it's all tuned up...it's bliss. Just plucking and strumming open strings is so nice.

At this point I’d probably just pluck and strum. Maybe pluck some melody lines from songs I know. I know almost nothing about Indian music theory. I might even just do glissandos. I love sitar glissandos.