Six of the best: eight-string guitars

This German-made eight-string teams a carved-top mahogany body with a set 24-fret maple neck that’s laminated with Santos Rosewood stripes, to improve stability under the extra string pressure. Seymour Duncan Blackout Phase 1 AHB-1n 8 (neck) and AHB-1b 8 (bridge) pickups provide the grunt, and there’s no extra cost for left-handed models.

For more information, visit the official Framus website.

The limited-edition Dinky 8 seems extremely inappropriately monikered: it promises low-slung rock tone aplenty, delivered via a combination of an arched-top alder body, bolt-on flat-sawn 24-fret maple neck with graphite reinforcement, DiMarzio D Activator 8 humbuckers and a kill switch, capped of with a single shark-fin inlay at the 12th fret.

For more information, visit the official Jackson website.

The incredible talent of Animals As Leaders’Tosin Abasi deserves a guitar like this: three Ionizer8 pickups sit atop a basswood body with a quilted maple top, plus a specially engineered FX Edge III-8 double-locking fixed bridge. A 24-fret titanium rod-reinforced wenge/bubinga neck, plus neck/ bridge coil-taps finish the picture.

For more information, visit the official Ibanez website.

Schecter claims the Hellraiser’s three-piece mahogany set neck with two carbon-fibre rods makes for extreme playing stability; that the wide-aperture coils of its EMG Active 808s solve the muddiness some eight-strings suffer; and that its Hipshot Custom-8 bridge provides perfect intonation. £1,199 gets you a Floyd Rose- equipped version, too.

For more information, visit the official Schecter website.

Guitar lord Rusty Cooley has pushed the boat out with this 25-only limited-edition eight- string, with industrial sci-fi Red Xenocide finish. An angled tune-o- matic bridge, fanned fret ebony fingerboard and twin EMG 808 humbuckers make for a unique take on the eight-string.

For more information, visit the official Dean website.

Carvin’s first eight-string is available in a wide range of body woods, figured tops, and neck wood types, while new A80 active pickups aim to improve low- register response, and the straight string-pull of the headstock is claimed to reduce string breakage. Comfort contouring promises pleasurable playing, too.

For more information, visit the official Carvin website.