IYV- IEHLFF8-300 Multi-Scale Headless 8 String, Red Black

$285 IYV headless multiscale 8 string. For the price you're not going to beat this beast. Vietnamese luthier, good reputation and most of their instruments are closer to $150, I think this was the most expensive one. I'm picky about 8s, a lot of them are just too chunky but this is a reasonably comfortable neck with a good fan angle and my fingers aren't stumbling over each other or straining to reach anything. Very very pleased. Pickups sound great, hardware is solid, very minor cosmetic flaws are the only complaint. With most of these budget exotics, the hardware and electronics are the weak links, but the bridge hardware is more solid than what my $600 NK7 uses, and it has the best pickups of any cheap guitar I've owned. Unlike the others I have Zero inclination to replace the pickups, I genuinely don't feel I need to. I don't know what they put in it but it's good and it's wired up clean, no noise. Not quite the richest most dynamic pickups but they're so noiseless it's surreal, and its got good clarity. I can dial in tones to add depth easily enough, I don't mind that these are a little sterile when they're such a solid pedal platform. I think it's worth noting that unlike almost all of their other models which are imitations of traditional guitar shapes, this is an entirely original proprietary design the luthier came up with on their own and it's indicative of how legit this brand is and the commitment to quality in their work-ethic that they clearly put so much thought into the ergonomics of the design. Yes, what makes it stand out most is that this guitar isn't merely well constructed, its well designed. The ergonomics of the body shape and the fret-angle are easily on par with my $600 NK7 or my Steinberger bass, and the extra bevel on the cutaway to allow easier finger access to the highest frets is a clever touch I really appreciate. The next profile is about as comfortable as you could hope for with a conventional C-shape; although I think a more novel profile like the Strandberg EndurNeck or the Asymmetrical profile on my NK7 would be a substantial improvement, this is still quite serviceable at half the price of my NK7 and a quarter of the price of the cheapest Strandberg. It's the most comfortable 8-string I've laid hands on by far, and I was relieved to discover I'd chosen well because I've hated most 8-strings I've tried and I was really hesitant to buy an 8 even though this one was calling to me. I've named it Ho-Chug-Minh and it will Djent for Communism and the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism, which has brought exotic boutique-style guitars to the poor lumpenproles like me. 👍

Been playing guitar for a long time..very particular about the guitars i buy however i am currently deployed and wanted an 8 string just to play with while here..and for the price this guitar is awesome…action is great..built very sturdy and pick ups sound surprisingly good..was completely in tune right out of the box..overall i am very very pleased with this guitar and highly recommend it for anybody looking to purchase on a budget..for the price this one is hard to beat..

Unless you have the ability to repair damaged hardware, threads, mechanical components, stripped holes in wood, and have the tooling and know how to level and crown frets, this guitar is useless and a waste of money. I am a professional machinist with over 20 years experience and a hobbyist luthier. I’ve been building and repairing guitars for more than 30 years. Without these skills, this guitar would be a paperweight. It arrived with stripped micro-threads in one of the tuning mechanisms. Both male and female parts were stripped, this means that the tuner was useless. I had to chase threads because they’re micro sized. The only other option is buying new bridge tuners (expensive). The nut uses individual anchors for each string. They are held in place by wood screws. There are two truss rod holes at the top of the neck which leaves only about 1/16” of wood thickness for the screws to grab onto. That’s the equivalent of about 1 thread of a wood screw so, basically nothing. Once the string is brought up to tune, that one thread of the screw immediately rips through the altogether way too thin piece of wood. Stripping the neck and sending a nut anchor at your face. To make matters worse, the screws that were used are about the hardness of butter on a hot day. They are the cheapest, softest steel I’ve ever seen. Two of them broke upon re-installing and had to be drilled out and the wood plugged and re-drilled. All of them stripped at the Phillips head drive. I replaced them all with higher grade hardware. I have another IYV guitar that rivals high end Ibanez and the likes. This one is garbage. The frets were dressed nicely but were far from level and required re-seating and a complete level and crown job to remove dead spots and buzzing. The finish is also terrible. The red and black were masked off with tape to achieve the separate colors but when the tape was removed it took large chunks of black off leaving a jagged, ugly finish. It looks great from a distance though. After I spent two full days repairing this thing, it is now usable. It sounds and plays well with low action and the electronics are perfectly serviceable. The nut is a ticking time bomb however and I’m just waiting for it to fail again. The only proper fix is to machine a custom one piece bar style nut that can thread into the thicker wood and span across the truss rod holes. After repairing the damaged tuner/saddle, I’m also waiting for more of them to fail. I understand it was cheap and didn’t have high expectations but without my many years of experience this guitar would be utterly useless. I would not buy it again.

Seriously amazing quality, far better than I had expected. That’s not to say the other reviews calling out issues are wrong. Mine showed up perfectly usable, but it required time and effort to get it fully sorted - filed down a few high frets and some sharp edges, a bit of cleaning and polish across the fretboard, dialed in the neck and saddles to get the action where I like it, etc. So yes, some basic knowledge and a bit of effort up front is required - but the same is true of any new low- or mid-level Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, etc. What ACTUALLY matters is the underlying design and build quality, and IYV really came through where it counts. This guitar blows away my old Legator 7 string multiscale (of very similar design), just far more playable and stable. Even the pickups are solid enough that I’ve changed my mind about upgrading them, as I’d assumed would be needed. So I am very happy with the purchace, and the value for the money is undeniable. Probably not a great choice for beginners, but that’s true of any 8-string, really.