Got my 2nd unit after the first one arrived from the factory with banged-up strings and frets, something mustve happened in shipping I guess. The tuning pegs also don't line up properly AT ALL. The tuners line up okay, but the screw holes are misaligned which causes most of this problem. Nut was misaligned and quite high.
The replacement I got did not have scratches but the tuning pegs are still horribly misaligned, and nut is just a tiny bit high and needs some filing. Minor finishing flaws on the back of the guitar, no big problem though. It's HEAVY -- 4kg-4.2kg on average. And a little bit of neck dive as well. Use a good strap when you play it!
But in good news:
- The pickups are moderate. 17-18K ohm impedance and sound is acceptable, as an 8-string entry-intermediate guitar. The potentiometers on this are 500K ohm. Pickups are passive. I'll replace them with a set of Fluence 9-string modern pickups later (9-string pickups, NOT 8-string!).
- I was able to fit a 74 gauge string in the peg so that was nice, the factory tuners are alright and do the job. Not superb or horrible by any means. Factory strings are horrible, so you'll want to replace them.
- The nut is made out of NuBone which is somewhere between graphtech and bone in terms of feel. I don't see a need to replace it at the moment, I'll post an update later if I do swap it out. I did have to file it down to have proper intonation at on the 1st fret
- The fretboard and frets needed the usual polishing but I can live with that. For any fret leveling, be careful because obviously you wont be able to remove the neck from the body.
In conclusion:
If you are really new and just testing the waters with 8-strings, this and the R-458 Multiscale are awesome options. The R458 is more modular with bolted neck and 8-string pickups, and it's 150 euros cheaper. For 150 euro you can get it professionally setup. And because of that, it is more future proof so I would suggest buying the R458 instead of the Multiscale8. (Although the multiscale 8 looks much hotter!)
