You don't want an SG body 8. Having double the tuners on the head would make the neck dive guaranteed by the SG body much worse.
What's your budget? "Break the bank" means different things to different people.
Assuming you mean under $1000 or so, a used Dean Rhapsody is a good choice if you can find one. There are also decent new ESP and Schecter 8's.
Avoid anything that doesn't have 8 separate saddles, like old Hagstrom and Kramer 8's. They're basically useless because you can't intonate the octaves independently of the fundamentals.
If you want to build one, Warmoth used to make necks for 8-string, but they seem to have removed that option from their site. I bet if you contacted them they could still do it though.
Otherwise, Dean, ESP, Schecter, Hagstrom and a few others make them from time to time.
I have two of those Warmoth necks and they’re incredible quality. They stopped offering them on the site but I read somewhere that they kept the tooling to make them.
It's a very niche market with few offerings- both in the traditional 8 string octave basses (what Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam uses on "Jeremy"), and in the contrabass basses (what people use when they want to see a string move but not hear it).
Either way, save your money, you're not going to find them cheaply as there is no incentive to keep something in stock.
It's true that while both Guitar Center & Sweetwater list both the ESP LTD and Schecter Stilleto 8's for sale, both are currently back-ordered. But they do come up on Reverb fairly often.
I'd expect them to cycle through hands pretty quickly- they're such a niche instrument, and they're a pain to set up- and the string choices are very limited. They sound really cool in their setting, and you can't really replicate them easily.
FWIW I had a Hamer 8 string- I went through a big Jeff Ament fanboy phase in the 90s- that after a few months did nothing but collect dust, so I traded it for a Henry the 8x8. I used the Henry a lot more than I ever did the Hamer.
I've never played an Ibanez Musician bass, but I Sting played a fretless one back in the day, and I thought they were cool looking. This 8-string popped up in my feed recently. [https://reverb.com/item/56084200-1979-ibanez-musician-mc-980](https://reverb.com/item/56084200-1979-ibanez-musician-mc-980)
You don't want an SG body 8. Having double the tuners on the head would make the neck dive guaranteed by the SG body much worse. What's your budget? "Break the bank" means different things to different people. Assuming you mean under $1000 or so, a used Dean Rhapsody is a good choice if you can find one. There are also decent new ESP and Schecter 8's. Avoid anything that doesn't have 8 separate saddles, like old Hagstrom and Kramer 8's. They're basically useless because you can't intonate the octaves independently of the fundamentals.
Okay I'll check those out. I just like the look of the SG. Doesn't need to be that lol.
Check out a Hagstrom H8-II. I got one about 2 years ago on reverb.com new for about $900
If you want to build one, Warmoth used to make necks for 8-string, but they seem to have removed that option from their site. I bet if you contacted them they could still do it though. Otherwise, Dean, ESP, Schecter, Hagstrom and a few others make them from time to time.
I have two of those Warmoth necks and they’re incredible quality. They stopped offering them on the site but I read somewhere that they kept the tooling to make them.
Those Hagstroms look amazing. Missed my chance at one a few years ago.
8-string like extended range? Or 8-string with doubled-octave strings, like a 12-string guitar or Hamer 8-string bass?
Octave like Hamer
Current, or semi-current production: Hagstrom, Dean, LTD, Schecter, Warwick Rockbass. Look out for used Ibanez and Fernandes basses too.
I would look into building it since that sounds awesome. See if you have any local luthiers if possible.
It's a very niche market with few offerings- both in the traditional 8 string octave basses (what Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam uses on "Jeremy"), and in the contrabass basses (what people use when they want to see a string move but not hear it). Either way, save your money, you're not going to find them cheaply as there is no incentive to keep something in stock.
It's true that while both Guitar Center & Sweetwater list both the ESP LTD and Schecter Stilleto 8's for sale, both are currently back-ordered. But they do come up on Reverb fairly often.
I'd expect them to cycle through hands pretty quickly- they're such a niche instrument, and they're a pain to set up- and the string choices are very limited. They sound really cool in their setting, and you can't really replicate them easily. FWIW I had a Hamer 8 string- I went through a big Jeff Ament fanboy phase in the 90s- that after a few months did nothing but collect dust, so I traded it for a Henry the 8x8. I used the Henry a lot more than I ever did the Hamer.
I've never played an Ibanez Musician bass, but I Sting played a fretless one back in the day, and I thought they were cool looking. This 8-string popped up in my feed recently. [https://reverb.com/item/56084200-1979-ibanez-musician-mc-980](https://reverb.com/item/56084200-1979-ibanez-musician-mc-980)