8-string Thunderbird conversion

[BreadBin]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

All the 8-string basses I've owned had necks at least as wide as the narrowest 5-string I've had. 

That's what I thought, the bridge I have here has blank saddles but even at the narrowest possible placement will not fit with the Thunderbird nut.

[BigRedX]

22 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

That's what I thought, the bridge I have here has blank saddles but even at the narrowest possible placement will not fit with the Thunderbird nut.

Surely the problem isn't with the nut, but at the other end of the neck?

[BreadBin]

8 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Surely the problem isn't with the nut, but at the other end of the neck?

I haven't even looked at the other end, if I am to keep the octave strings parallel there simply isn't room at the nut end. I'm not a fan of narrow necks as it is so no matter what I'm going wider 👍

[Rich]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

That's the plan mate 👍

Does it need to be moved? Obviously not a problem if it does 🙂

Good man.
Yup, I've just moved it to Build Diaries, left a link in the original subforum.

[Rich]

Does anyone here have an actual factory-made 8-string? It'd be interesting to know the neck widths at the nut & 12th fret.

[BigRedX]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

I haven't even looked at the other end, if I am to keep the octave strings parallel there simply isn't room at the nut end. I'm not a fan of narrow necks as it is so no matter what I'm going wider 👍

Got you.

I was thinking that the spacing at the bridge for each course Vs the spacing available at the nut would mean that the outer string(s) would no longer be over the fingerboard at the of the neck.

Not that there simply isn't enough room at the nut to keep the string spacing in each course constant along the whole length.

Although having had a look at photos of the two 8-string basses I used to own, it looks as though the strings in each course are slightly closer together at the nut then they are at the bridge.

[NancyJohnson]

29 minutes ago, Rich said:

Does anyone here have an actual factory-made 8-string? It'd be interesting to know the neck widths at the nut & 12th fret.

I've got a Spector 8-String.  The nut is 38mm, 12th fret is 54mm.

[BigRedX]

10 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've got a Spector 8-String.  The nut is 38mm, 12th fret is 54mm.

Is the spacing between each string in the course the same at both the bridge and the nut?

[Rich]

10 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've got a Spector 8-String.  The nut is 38mm, 12th fret is 54mm.

By comparison, my Sire 5-string is 44 and 64. 

[NancyJohnson]

22 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Is the spacing between each string in the course the same at both the bridge and the nut?

Yep, the same; the strings are 4mm on centre.

The image below isn't mine, but it demonstates how close the strings are.

[Rich]

Just measured my Thunder 1A and the measurements are the same -- so your Spector 8 has what is basically a 4-string neck. Wow. I'd always assumed they'd be a bit wider than that.

[NancyJohnson]

33 minutes ago, Rich said:

Just measured my Thunder 1A and the measurements are the same -- so your Spector 8 has what is basically a 4-string neck. Wow. I'd always assumed they'd be a bit wider than that.

As I posted earlier, the 8-string is actually narrower than my Euro LT 4 string.

[BreadBin]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

As I posted earlier, the 8-string is actually narrower than my Euro LT 4 string.

I think yours is pretty unusual, from the little information I can find.

It's all moot anyway, I can't live with a 38mm nut on a 4-string let alone an 8!

[NancyJohnson]

Have you seen the size of my hands??  It's easy!

#sizedoesn'tmatter

[BreadBin]

8 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

Have you seen the size of my hands??  It's easy!

#sizedoesn'tmatter

It's nothing to do with hand size, I get crippling pain across the back of my left hand when I play a jazz neck.