Eight-string guitar: Difference between revisions

An '''eight-string guitar''' is a [[guitar]] with two moreeight strings than the usual six, or one more than the [[Russian guitar]]'s seven. Eight-string guitars are less common than six- and seven-string guitars, but they are used by a few [[Classical guitarists|classical]], [[jazz]], and [[Heavy metal music|metal]] guitarists. The eight-string guitar allows a wider tonal range, or non-standard tunings (such as [[major-thirds tuning]]), or both.

Eight-string electric guitars gained popularity among metal bands, largely inspired by Swedish [[progressive metal]] band [[Meshuggah]] (formed in 1987). Contemporary use outside of metal has picked up in the last decade, and owes much to [[Animals as Leaders]] and their stylistic eclecticism.

Seeking a [[guitar tuning]] that would facilitate jazz [[improvisation]], [[Ralph&nbsp;Patt]] invented [[major-thirds tuning]] in 1963.<ref name="Griewank1" >{{harvtxt|Griewank|2010|p=1}}</ref><ref name="Kirkeby">{{cite web|first=Ole|last=Kirkeby|date=1 March 2012|title=Major&nbsp;thirds tuning|ref=harv|url=http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/|publisher=m3guitar.com|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411064851/http://v3p0.m3guitar.com/|archivedatearchive-date=11 April 2015|id=cited by {{harvtxt|Sethares|2011}} and {{harv|Griewank|2010|p=1}}}}</ref><ref name="Patt">{{cite web|url=http://www.ralphpatt.com/Tune.html|first=Ralph|last=Patt|publisher=ralphpatt.com|location=|work=Ralph&nbsp;Patt's jazz web page|title=The major&nbsp;3rd tuning|ref=harv|date=14 April 2008|accessdateaccess-date=10 June 2012|id=cited by {{harvtxt|Sethares|2011}} and {{harvtxt|Griewank|2010|p=1}}}}</ref> Patt's tuning is a [[regular tunings|regular tuning]], in the sense that all of the [[interval (music)|interval]]s between its successive [[open string (music)|open string]]s are [[major third]]s; in contrast, [[standard guitar tuning]] has one major-third amid four [[perfect fourth|fourth]]s.<ref name="Sethares2001">{{harvtxt|Sethares|2001}}</ref>

[[Seven-string guitar]]s are needed for major-thirds tuning to have the E-e' range of the standard tuning.<ref name="Sethares2001"/><ref name="Peterson37">{{harvtxt|Peterson|2002|p=37}}: {{cite journal|title=Tuning in thirds: A new approach to playing leads to a new kind of guitar |first=Jonathon |last=Peterson |location=8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma WA 98408: USA. |url=http://www.luth.org/backissues/al69-72/al72.htm |journal=American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers |publisher=The Guild of American Luthiers |issn=1041-7176 |volume=72 |date=Winter 2002 |accessdateaccess-date=9 October 2012 |pages=36–43 |ref=harv] |url-status=dead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021185726/http://www.luth.org/backissues/al69-72/al72.htm |archivedatearchive-date=21 October 2011 }}{{rp|37}}</ref> Having an eight-string instrument allowed Patt's guitar to have G{{music|sharp}} ([[enharmonic equivalency|equivalently]] A{{music|flat}}) as its [[open note]].<ref name="Peterson37"/> Patt purchased six-string [[archtop guitar|archtop]] [[semi-acoustic guitar|hollow-body guitar]]s that were then modified by luthiers to have wider necks, wider pickups, and eight strings. Patt's Gibson ES-150 was modified by Vincent "Jimmy" DiSerio c. 1965.<ref name="Patt"/><ref name="Peterson37"/> Luthier [[Saul Koll]] modified a sequence of guitars: a 1938 Gibson Cromwell, a Sears Silvertone, a c. 1922 Mango archtop, a 1951 Gibson L-50, and a 1932 Epiphone Broadway; for Koll's modifications, custom pick-ups accommodated Patt's wide necks and high G{{music|sharp}} ([[enharmonic equivalency|equivalently]] A{{music|flat}});<ref name="Peterson37"/> custom pick-ups were manufactured by [[Seymour&nbsp;Duncan]]<ref name="Peterson37"/> and by Bill&nbsp;Lawrence.<ref name="Patt"/> Roy Connors, former member of the 1960s folk singing group, the[[The Highwaymen (folk band)|The Highwaymen]], reconfigured a Martin O-28 six-string guitar to an eight-string of his own design and received a U.S. Patent on it (#3269247).

Solid-body eight string guitars are also used by many bands today. The construction of a solid-body eight-string guitar is comparable to that of seven- and six-string variants. The standard tuning (from low to high) is F{{music|#}}, B, E, A, D, G, B, E.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.guitarcasa.com/2014/02/17/8-string-guitar-tuning/|title=8 String Guitar Tuning - All You Need To Know!|website=GuitarCasa.com|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref> Many prefer to tune the F{{music|#}} to a low E (E1), the same note as the lowest string on a four-string [[electric bass]] in standard tuning, and providing the guitar with a fuller sound by having three different E strings. <ref>{{factCite web|date=July2020-10-08|title=List 2018Of Most Common 8 String Guitar Tunings - Guitar Lessons|url=https://pickuptheguitar.com/list-of-most-common-8-string-guitar-tunings/|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Pickuptheguitar.com|language=en-us}}</ref> This tuning is equivalent to tuning a six-string guitar to [[Drop D tuning]].

The main design issue faced with an eight-string guitar is tuning stability with the lower strings. This is due to the neck being constructed too short, bridge problems such as improper intonation, uneven spacing for floating bridges, or the use of wrong string gauges. Other problems associated with tuning stability rely on the proper setup of the guitar.

[[Paul Galbraith]] began using an eight -string guitar in 1994 when, in collaboration with luthier [[David Rubio]], they designed the [[Brahms guitar]]. Galbraith generally tunes AEADGBEA.

Hungarian born Australian Jazz guitarist [[Laszlo Sirsom]] plays 8-string jazz guitar made by Phil Carson Crickmore He's tuning as a normal guitar on the midlemiddle plus High A and lower B. [[Charlie Hunter]] plays a hybridan eight-string guitar made by Ralph Novak of [[Novax Guitars]]. Five of the strings are tuned to the standard guitar's upper five (A, D, G, B, E), while three of the strings are tuned to the standard [[bass guitar]]'s three lowest (E, A, D). The bass and treble sections have separate pickups and are sent to separate amplifiers. Hunter also has a ten-string guitar based on the same principle—a combination of standard six-string guitar and standard four-string bass.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVmfrospvLYC&pg=PA180 |page=180 |title=Masters of Jazz Guitar: The Story of the Players and Their Music |last=Alexander |first=Charles |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2003 |isbn=0879307285}}</ref>

The eight-string guitar is used by modern [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] guitarists such as [[Fredrik Thordendal]] and [[Mårten Hagström]] of [[Meshuggah]], [[Dino Cazares]] of [[Fear Factory]], [[Stephen Carpenter]] of [[Deftones]], [[Greg Burgess]] of [[Allegaeon]], Simon Girard and Kevin Chartré of [[Beyond Creation]], Justin Lowe and Trent Hafdahl of [[After the Burial]], Josh Travis of [[Emmure]] (ex-[[The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza]] and ex-[[Glass Cloud]]), Per Nilsson of [[Scar Symmetry]] and Meshuggah as a touring member and others. The instrument is particularly associated with the “[[djent]]” sound popularized by Meshuggah, [[Vildhjarta]], and other[[Periphery contemporary(band)|Periphery]], metalamong artistsothers.

[[Tosin Abasi]] and Javier Reyes of [[Animals as Leaders]] tuneprimarily theiruse eightha stringsdrop-E totuning (where the samelowest lowstring E asmatches the lowest stringE1 on a standard four-stringtuned bass guitar,) and useincorporate the"thumping," instrument'san versatilityadaptation toof incorporatedifferent bass guitar techniques—suchtechniques as— stringthe thumpingterm (onblankets "Earthall Departuresorts of possible note groupings, Anbut Infiniteprimary Regression")influences include a style á la funk bassist [[Larry Graham]] and the double thumping technique pioneered by [[Victor Wooten]]'s double thumping technique — as well as harp-like arpeggios extending across the full range of the instrument.

Guitarists Lucas Mann and MilesJoel Dimitri BakerOmans from the [[technical deathcore]] band [[Rings Ofof Saturn (band)|Rings Ofof Saturn]] also useduse eight-string guitars, with Mann primarily making use of a nine-string guitar for the band's 2019 album [[Gidim (album)|Gidim]]. JoelMiles OmansDimitri Baker, one of their former members, also used one.

Chris Andrews of the [[death metal]] band [[Devourment]] uses eight-string guitars, starting with the album ''[[Obscene Majesty]]''.

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