Extended-range guitars, regardless of whether they are 7 or 8 string guitars are highly popular among modern day musicians. The reason is that the extended range permits them to produce lower music without detuning, recalling an attentive and hostile tone, while still being able to produce bumpy melodies on the lower strings. But, as many things are to be focused in shopping for the 8 string electric guitar, most buyers are overwhelmed with the available choices. We have shortlisted some of the best 8 string guitars available in the market to make your job of selecting the best one easier.
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Top 10 Best 8 String Electric Guitars
 | Schecter 1925 Hellraiser Hybrid C-8 |  (5 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Ibanez Iron Label RGIF8 | (5 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Schecter Blackjack Slim Line Series C-8 EX |  (4.9 / 5) | Check Price |
 | ESP LH408BFMSTBLKSB-Kit02 FM STBLKSB |  (4.8 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Washburn PX-SOLAR180C Parallaxe Double Cut |  (4.7 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Schecter OMEN-8 | (4.7 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Jackson JS32-8Q Dinky |  (4.6 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Schecter Damien Elite-8 | (4.6 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Dean C850X CBK Custom Series |  (4.5 / 5) | Check Price |
 | Agile Septor 827 RN CP Lizardburst Flame |  (4.4 / 5) | Check Price |
Schecter 1925 Hellraiser Hybrid C-8
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The Hellraiser Hybrid C-8 model from Schecter has its item number as 1925. The Trans Black Burst guitar looks highly pleasing. So, if you are concerned about the looks, you can very well go for this model. This guitar with right-handed dexterity has the Mahogany body material. The top material used in this guitar is quilted maple. With arched top and carbon fiber multi-ply binding, the fretboard material in this guitar is ebony. The shape of the neck is ultra-thin C and the frets are 24 X-jumbo size. The material used in the production of the neck in this guitar is Maple 3-pc w/carbon fiber reinforcement rods. It has cool features that most guitarists demand from a quality guitar.
Ibanez Iron Label RGIF8
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Ibanez ensures that you can get a new path to the new vista with the help of Ibanez Iron Label RGIF8 guitar. This guitar was created for the fearlessly innovative guitarist by Ibanez. This is a made-for-metal guitar that delivers a unique new method of exploring the low-end territory of the electric guitar. For a multi-scale construction instrument, due to the slanted mounting angle, wider-than-normal pickups are needed. Not just the size, but also the sound is attractively created by Ibanez on RGIF8. The ash body of this guitar helps in providing louder and brighter tonal characteristics and excellent sustain. It tightens low end and strengthens mid-range tone. So, if you are looking for a guitar that can reproduce the deeper range of down-tuned instruments, this is the best 8 string electric guitar for you.
Schecter Blackjack Slim Line Series C-8 EX
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This guitar belongs to the Slim Line Series from Schecter. This series breaks new ground for this brand. This guitar is designed with a sleek contoured body, satin-finished neck, lightning fast and ultra-thin neck. Not just this guitar, but the entire SLS series from this brand come with a wide array of features. The guitar is armed with the user’s choice of Seymour Duncan active or passive humbuckers. This guitar has the ebony fretboard. In general, ebony is a material with a crisp and snappy attack with the similar density of maple. However, ebony brings stronger fundamental tone as against maple. This unit has a huge amount of percussive overtones and it makes long sustains easy for the players. The satin finish adds to the attractive look of the guitar.
ESP LH408BFMSTBLKSB-Kit02 FM
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The model number of this guitar is actually LTD H-408B FM. The STBLSB stands for See Thru Black Sunburst. This guitar will help you extend your range in a big manner and it will show you the new ways of taking your music to extremes. The stunning flamed maple top with added maple cap adds to the attractiveness of this guitar. It has a mahogany body and it encompasses a 3 Pc. maple neck. Also, the rosewood fingerboard with 24 extra jumbo frets makes playing enjoyable. This guitar also has a set of EMG 808 active pickups. The see through finish will bring you a new experience in handling a guitar, whose internal parts are clearly visible. With attractive set of features, this can be a good choice for you.
Washburn PX-SOLAR180C Parallaxe Double Cut
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With more than 130 years of experience in guitar crafting, Washburn has created the solar series with the passion and love for guitars. The model also comes under the category of Washburn Parallaxe guitars with an advanced metal body. The weight of this guitar is just 12.5 pounds and so it can bring you the best musical experience as you need not have to worry about lifting a huge weight. This double cut guitar has Duncan solar humbuckers and a volume plus a tone. The bridge section in this guitar has a standard hardtail bridge. There are 7 adjustable saddles with string-through construction. This guitar has a simple, yet attractive design and the Washburn signature is attractively placed in this great-looking guitar.
Schecter OMEN-8
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Played acoustically, the Omen-8 from Schecter exhibits defined and strong tone with plenty of sustain. The guitar has a longer neck, but it is not that much noticeable due to the other features that add to the attractiveness of this guitar. The neck also brings utmost pleasure when playing, but the wide fingerboard can be a stumbling block for some players. The fingerboard material is rosewood and the neck material is maple. This guitar has a basewood body and there are 24 frets in this guitar. It is available in a couple of different colors. They are beautiful black and wonderful walnut satin. So, you can choose one based on your preference and whichever feels good to your eyes. The looks, built, and playability are positives of this guitar.
Jackson JS32-8Q Dinky
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The JS32-8Q series from Jackson has an arch-top body. The top is dazzling with quilt maple and the neck is bolt-on maple neck. The rosewood fingerboard is 12”-16” radius with 24 jumbo frets. The headstock binding and fingerboard looks stylish and attractive. The single volume and tone controls, dual high-out Jackson humbucking pickups, hard-tail bridge and die-cast tuners everything adds to the attractiveness and usefulness of this great guitar from Jackson. The body shape is Dinky and material used in the body is quilt maple top. The guitar has a glossy finish and the transparent black color adds to the aesthetics of this guitar. The neck has scarf joint and graphite reinforcement. The tuning machine used in this guitar is Jackson Sealed Die-Cast.
Schecter Damien Elite-8
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This guitar looks gorgeous with its quilted maple top. The body is a double cutaway mahogany body, while the neck is bolt-on maple neck. The fingerboard is a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard. It comes with the Schecter CTM-8 fixed bridge to ensure the utmost sustain and stability. This guitar has a long 26-1/2” scale length to provide room for lower tuning of the added F and B strings. This unit comes loaded with a pair of EMG 808 active humbuckers. This means that you can easily achieve your goal, if you look for great heavy rock tones from this guitar. The black chrome hardware, body binding and multi-ply fretboard and stained cross inlays are added features. The scale of this guitar is 26-1/2”.
Dean C850X CBK Custom Series
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The CBK in this guitar from Dean stands for Classic Black. This means that this guitar is the best 8 string electric guitar for you, if you have a great attraction towards black color. This is actually a wallet-friendly 8-string guitar and the build quality is something remarkable. In addition, it brings a relaxed feel, and great pickups. This unit has a tight low end, clean definition all through its huge tonal register, crisp and bright attack. Thanks to the couple of DMT design humbuckers that add to the usefulness of this guitar. The rosewood fingerboard, maple neck and the basswood body combines together for a powerful tone. The great clarity is something that needs an important mention. This is something highly important for an 8-string guitar.
Agile Septor 827 RN CP Lizardburst Flame
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This guitar from Agile has an arch top body with glossy finish. The double cutaway and the lightweight are added features. This is a 27” scale guitar with 3-piece neck made out of maple wood. The fretboard is made out of rosewood without any markers. The position markers are placed by Agile on the side of the neck. The Cepheus beta is in the neck position, while the Cepheus Alpha passive pickup is in the position of bridge in this guitar. To ensure improved sustain, the guitar has a string-through body. Furthermore, for improved intonation, there are staggered string-through holes. The space between each string in the bridge is 10mm in this guitar. This is something that most guitarists look to ensure comfort in playing.
Points to look for in shopping:
Of course, you should look for built quality, irrespective of the string count you look for. Here, you should have a careful look at the fret and nut work, the quality of components and assembling quality. In addition, any features added mainly with a focus towards aesthetics like flamed tops do not have any impact on the tone and also on the cost of the guitar.
Understand the difference between active and passive pickups:
In the process of selecting the best 8 string electric guitar, you should also understand the active and passive pickups. The former employs a battery for boosting the signal and it will generally be a 9-volt battery. These pickups generally offer a better clarity level when they are used with high level of distortion. On the other hand, passive pickups are vice versa.
Some guitarists love playing the instrument as a hobby, while there are guitarists, who wish to explore each and every aspect of their musical abilities with the instrument. These types of guitarists generally go for 8-string guitars as against the normal 6-string variants. In short, 8-string guitars are not common like their 6-string counterparts, but they are highly helpful in musical genres that demand a high level of technicality like the metal, classical, and jazz. If you feel that a 6-string guitar is not going to help you anymore with your musical journey, you can very well go for an 8-string alternative, which will surely help you with improving the musician in you. But, you should be careful about selecting the best, yet affordable alternative from a dependable brand. To help you ease your selection, we have shortlisted the top 10 8 string electric guitars here. Just have a look at the details about the guitars and finally make your best choice considering your personal needs.
You can choose the best 8 string electric guitar from any of the models mentioned above to get the best practice and playing sessions.