very interesting!

my 8-strings is a Wes Lambe based almost exactly on the Novax. frets a way more fanned than yours. it is good for the basses, but the 4th and 5th string somehow lose their characteristic sound and end up sounding more like a 3rd string, but lower. maybe i should increase the gauge even more. i haven't decided which strings are better and Wes Lambe didn't help me too much with it.

i'm trying to search for the 'perfect' 8-string acoustic. i'm mostly an acoustic player and the percussion on the body of the guitar is a very important part of my playing style. a carbon acoustic novax type would be a dream come true...

as you say, you can't overpower the bass. i play this guitar exactly the opposite way. on the Novax my main focus is the bass line and soloing over it.

at this moment i'm studying as much as i can this instruments so ,when time comes, i hope to be able to the the luthier what i want coming from this guitar. body size is an issue of course. to get sound from this low strings you need a really big soundbox, like a jumbo or baritone. seems that yours is a Grand, which also should work great. as long as carbon gets more sound form smaller size instruments, maybe it could go not that big... so many points to think about it. i want this guitar to be not too big. i need something confortable to travel with. lately i'm not too fond of huge guitars (mostly because i discovered the great joy of playing the cargo!). i'm also thinking a lot about string spacing, maybe a regular acoustic guitar spacing. too many points to think about XD

i definitively would add a bass pickup for the low 3 strings and some soundboard transducers for the body percussion...

maybe this topic only matters you and i XD thanks for your info and chatting ;)

PK,

Willie Porter has a 9 string acoustic that, I think, is the best I've heard.  It's not  fan-fret and I don't know how it's strung but it sounds big and round and complex.  Interesting you bring out the mid-range issue.  I think my Sandin is a little too bass heavy, probably at the expense of the mids.  I attribute this to what looks like Brazillian rosewood on the back and sides, which is big and boomy, but is not friendly to rich midrange.  I was going to ask Mike Doolin to make me a 9 string fan fret, but I think it would sound better made from koa than rosewood,   Yes, I'd love to have a carbon 9 string, and before CA closed its doors, one of the guys said they were actually going to try something like that.  So close. . . :)

dave_elliott

WOW! SO SO CLOSE!!! arg!!! you shouldn't have told me this! XD

9 string? do you have any link to this Willie Porter wonder? if you are thinking about a 9-string, how would you tune it? for me i think 8 strings is enough. i have all the strings of the guitar and the bass. the options would be an extra bass (no really know if i need it as i detune frecuently the lower string) or and extra tremble... interesting

i think the perfect extended range guitar would be a carbon ;)

PK,

http://www.bischoffguitars.com/9-string_story.htm

Here's the link.  I didn't realize it was a baritone 9 string.  See below.  I agree about carbon being a perfect medium for harp or extra string guitars.  Still waiting for someone to do it though.  I think that three basses would give me the full baritone range plus the full six.  With enough of a Novax fan, maybe koa wood, I think it has the advantages of range that a harp guitar has, but is frettable, and more easily fingerpicked.

dave_elliott

I'd probably tune the three low low strings in some variant of the open tunings I usually use: D, G, or C.  There's no rules :)