A standard guitar's lowest string is E. A seven-string adds a B below it, five semitones lower. An eight-string adds an F# below that, almost as low as a bass guitar's E. Both are mostly metal instruments, although jazz guitarists have used seven-strings for decades.
On November 3, 2026, Thomann had these in stock:
| Guitars | Median price | From | Multiscale | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7-string | 202 | $1,457 | $167 | 19 |
| 8-string | 48 | $1,120 | $201 | 23 |
The eighth string doesn't make a guitar more expensive: 8-strings are a smaller niche served by a few brands, Harley Benton among them with 17 models. The difference is in how the guitar is built.
Seven strings: a low B on a familiar neck
Jackson JS22-7 King V, $298
A seven-string King V with a 26.5-inch scale, a 48 mm nut, 24 jumbo frets and two high-output humbuckers, for $299. It's number one of 88 seven-string guitars in our ranking. #1 of 87 7 string guitars.
Most sevens keep a normal guitar scale: 86 of those with a listed scale are 25.5 inches, 41 are 26.5 and 17 are 27. A seven-string neck is around 48 mm at the nut, against 42 to 43 on a six, wide enough to notice but easy to get used to.
Eight strings: where multiscale takes over
Schecter Omen Elite-8 Multiscale, $1,115
Frets fanned from a 25.5-inch scale on the high strings to 27.5 inches on the low ones, a 56 mm nut, Schecter Diamond Heretic humbuckers and a Hipshot bridge. It's number one of 18 multiscale guitars. #1 of 17 fanfret guitars.
A low F# needs a long string to stay tight and clear, but a long scale makes the high strings stiff. A multiscale, or fanned-fret, neck gives each string its own length, which is why 23 of the 48 eight-strings use one, against 19 of the 202 sevens.
Harley Benton R-458, $200
The cheapest way to try eight strings: a straight 26.5-inch scale, a 54 mm nut, a maple fingerboard and two humbuckers, tuned F#, B, E, A, D, G, B, E. #2 of 15 8 string guitars.
Which one?
- You play metal in drop tunings and want lower riffs without floppy strings: a seven-string. Most music written for "extended range" uses it.
- You play progressive metal or djent, or want to cover bass-range notes: an eight-string, preferably multiscale.
- You aren't sure: a $300 seven-string is the safer experiment. An eight-string's neck takes longer to get used to.
Strings, amp and pickups matter more here than on a six. Low notes get muddy fast, so these guitars usually come with tighter, higher-output pickups, and you'll want a thicker string set than the factory one if you tune down further.
Where the numbers come from. Every electric guitar Thomann had in stock on November 3, 2026, from its partner feed, without bundles and sets. String counts, scales and nut widths are read from Thomann's descriptions. Places are from our rankings of 7-string, 8-string and multiscale guitars. Prices are Thomann's US-dollar prices.
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Denis Kataev runs AudioFu. Every night the site records the prices of more than 38,000 instruments and studio tools at Thomann, and he writes about what those numbers show: what got cheaper, what just arrived, and which discounts are real.
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