8 String Guitar Explained: Features, Types and Tips

Add two strings below a standard guitar and you do not just add range — you change the entire physical logic of the instrument. The neck is wider, the scale is longer, the lowest strings need heavier gauges and higher tension to stay in tune, and the techniques that work on a six-string need adaptation before they work cleanly on eight. Understanding why these things are true is most of the way to understanding what the 8-string guitar actually is.

Where the Extra Strings Go

The instrument adds two bass strings below the six-string tuning. The most common tuning is F♯–B–E–A–D–G–B–E from the lowest string to the highest, extending down approximately a fourth below the low E of a standard guitar. Many players tune the lowest string further down to E, producing E–B–E–A–D–G–B–E and reaching the bottom of a standard four-string bass's open range. The upper six strings remain in familiar guitar territory, so the transition from six-string is less dramatic in the upper register than it might appear.

Scale Length and Why It Matters

A longer scale length — the distance between nut and bridge saddle — produces greater string tension at a given pitch. For the lowest strings on an 8-string guitar, this matters enormously: a standard 25.5-inch scale does not produce enough tension to keep very low strings in tune and feeling solid. Most production instruments use scale lengths of 27 inches or more. Some players, and instruments associated with bands like Meshuggah, extend to 28 or even 29.5 inches.

Multiscale designs — where each string runs at a slightly different length, with the resulting frets angled rather than straight — offer a compromise: longer scale for the lower strings, shorter for the upper. These are increasingly common in the mid-to-upper price range.

The Two Main Types

• Fixed bridge eight-string — the majority of production instruments. A fixed bridge (typically a Hipshot or similar) gives stable tuning, easier string changing and better sustain for heavy playing. The simpler construction also generally means better value at lower price points.
• Tremolo-equipped eight-string — rarer and more mechanically challenging at this string count. Floyd Rose has produced extended-range versions, but balancing spring tension across eight strings is considerably more complex than with six. Most extended-range metal players use fixed bridges.

Pickups and Electronics

The lower strings on an eight-string produce frequencies well below what standard guitar pickups were designed for. Wide-aperture pickups — either purpose-built extended-range humbuckers from manufacturers like EMG, DiMarzio, Fishman or Bare Knuckle — are typically fitted. Passive pickups with higher output are common in metal applications; active pickups add consistency and articulation in high-gain settings, particularly useful for the lowest strings which can otherwise sound muddy through heavy distortion.

Piezo saddles or blended acoustic/electric electronics are less common but do appear, particularly in jazz and hybrid applications.

Technique Considerations

Playing extended range requires adjustment in both hands. The left hand must reach across a wider neck — typically 52–56 mm nut width versus 43–44 mm on a standard guitar — and muting becomes considerably more important because the extra bass strings ring sympathetically during chord and riff playing. Many players develop a dedicated thumb-over technique or use the edge of the palm for muting across all strings simultaneously.

Tosin Abasi, one of the most celebrated contemporary eight-string players, has developed an approach that treats the instrument almost like a percussion instrument, using tapping, hybrid picking, and percussive slapping to exploit the full register range rather than simply extending standard guitar technique downward.

Where It Fits Musically

The modern 8-string guitar is most strongly associated with djent and progressive metal — the rhythmically complex, tightly produced subgenre associated with Meshuggah, Periphery, and Animals as Leaders. But the instrument's history is wider than this: early eight-string designs appeared in 19th-century classical guitar; jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter used an eight-string instrument to play bass and guitar simultaneously; and classical player Paul Galbraith performs on an eight-string instrument designed for extended repertoire.

The format remains niche but has expanded steadily since the Ibanez RG2228 — the first mass-produced eight-string electric — appeared in 2007. For players whose music needs the extended range, it is a purposeful tool rather than a novelty. For a guide to choosing your first instrument, see our complete buyer's guide. For new players, our beginner's guide covers the transition from six-string in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions