Multiscale Guitar Demo | Full Mix Metal Song | 8 String Guitar | Abasi Concepts Larada 8
6Multiscale / fanned frets for electric guitar. A discussion around the pros and cons of a varying scale length on a guitar, which is usually built into an extended range guitar i.e. a 7 string or 8 string. Stay tuned for the demonstration of playing a multiscale 8 string at the end of the video!
Larada review: https://youtu.be/6nq4g5zic0o
Multiscale discussion: https://youtu.be/LHQ5cEghqNM
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00:00 Low end tension on 8th string
00:04 Easy bend on high string
00:07 More low string demonstration
00:16 Split coil bridge + longer low string scale length for modern metal sound
00:34 Easy high string leads with bends and stable low string chug
00:50 Open low string into chugs plus harmonized high string lead
01:01 Cleans don’t sound too brittle even with DI mixed in
01:30 More low string fun and intro reprise
01:50 Tapping across multiple strings is harder with angled frets but not so bad across 2
The multiscale has a striking and exotic appearance. One benefit is greater tension where you need it, on the lower strings, while maintaining a reasonable scale length on the treble side to preserve tone and ease of playability.
The spirit behind this design is to increase tension for low tunings while keeping the scale length at a playable measurement for the treble strings. In theory this gives the best of both works for modern metal downtuning while enabling easy lead work. In practice the varying angle of the frets makes it difficult to play and difficult to see what one is playing, especially in live show situations.
Overall I’d recommend trying any multiscale guitar before buying a specific one. They seem good in theory but they feel like an entirely different instrument when playing one. It can take a lot of getting used to and the difficulty might not be worth it if you already have a solution that works well enough. For example, instead of buying a multiscale instrument for a separate extreme low tuning, use a pitch shifter to tune down several steps with your existing guitar.
Would I recommend one? I like mine but can’t recommend one based on the drawbacks noted in this description and in the video. Ultimately it’s up to you, and if you get one, cane make it work, and are happy with it, power to you!