Novax Guitars Charlie Hunter 8-String

I bought my CH-8 in January 2006 straight off the Novax website. Of course, this means I didn't play it before I bought it -- but then hearing Charlie Hunter play the thing in many different contexts gave me a very good idea of what it could do. And I was sure that what my playing and compostional style needed was amove up to an 8 string. So, I selected a lovely Swamp Ash CH-8, and after delivery all the way to the UK was factored in the total price was 3500US (I'm mnot including the additional 25% customs and tax I had to pay once it go to the UK). Bartolini passive pick-ups give a beautiful tone, Novax fan neck (takes 2 hours of good playing to get used to, after that you never notice the freaky pattern) and Novax independent saddles. Two outputs (one for the bass pick up and one for the guitar p/us). Perfect quality, gorgeous feel on the neck, the swamp ash is very attractive. Excellent standard of finishing.

This is the sound I always wanted -- straight out of the box, plugged into my (frankly low end) Laney acoustic amp, a touch of reverb on the guitar output. This is jazzbo heaven. The tape strings on the bass side are very close to an upright in general feel and sound and the guitar sound is very clean and very sustaining (this is a HEAVY guitar, though!). But you know, words can't really do this justice because the main thing is the combination of the bass and guitar: turn the amp on, plug the two outputs in and sit a couple of feet away and just play a nice traditional m7 or maj9th bar chord holding down the bass on that 8th string....that's when you're going to go, "aaaahh..that's why I bought this!". It's just magnificent, man. You've got to be there. But, hey, you can get pretty close by listening to Prof. Hunter himself...though remember, this instrument is still capable of a lot more than the stuff he pulls out of it. It's perfect for backing jazz singers, for example. Stop me before I gush more. If you play bebop, jazz standards, bossa, americana, folk, blues...this instrument will stretch you and give so much to yuor sound and musical conception.

After I placed the oprder via the Novax site I had the chance to chat with Ralph on the phone so that he could set it up the way I wanted it. We talked about action, string choice extra and he made useful suggestions. When the guitar arrived in its very nice black flightcase after a juorney from the US to the UK it was in perfect tune and the set up was exactly what I had wanted.

Well, I've owned this instrument for 3 months or so now. Reliability so far is great. Everything is very solid, electrics are quiet as a church mouse (the really shy type who hardly ever go out). I don't have any doubts that this guitar will withstand some very heavy playing...but I think I'd always play it sitting down!

Novax where very helpful and prompt in all their email dealings with me. Very happy about the support. And it's great to talk to the guy himself and know that he wants your input for the set up. No need for repair yet (and getting it back to the US for repair would be a major headache for me but I am not sure I'd want anyone else touching it!).

I love this instrument. If it were stolen or lost I would go through extreme grief and anger and lots of truly nasty things I just don't want to think about right now because writing this review has got me into such a positive mood. Really, maybe some of these comments get you thinking "hey, this guy sounds likes he working for the company or something". No, I'm just a VERY satisfied customer who is finally playing the instrument he has always wanted. I have a Yamaha Martin Taylor Archtop which was my main axe before the Novax. I liked that, it was a joy to play and had a lovely tone that never let me down on many gigs. I am kind of ashamed to say that I've only got it out of its case for one evening since the Novax came stay.

A walnut Charlie Hunter 8-string, natural satin finish. Ebony fretboard. Bartolini pickups, custom 5-way rotary switch. Two 1/4 inch outputs, one from the bass side and one from the guitar side. Only two knobs, one for guitar volume and one for bass volume. Rotary switch effects the Bartolini guitar pickups in a matter very similar to the way a 5-way on a Strat would. Here's the break-down that I opted for...
pos1
Neck pickup both coils series humbucking
pos2
Neck and middle pickup inside coils parallel humbucking
pos3
Neck and bridge pickups both series humbucking pickups linked in parallel
Pos 4
Neck and bridge pickup outside coils parallel humbucking
pos5
Bridge pickup series humbucking

The Bartolinis are humbucking, and dead quiet. No battery, no preamp circuitry. Simple, and effective.
The neck is very similar in dimensions to my Ibanez 6-string bass. Unlike Charlie, I am approaching the instrument as a bass player...not a guitar player. So the neck feels just like home. Phenomenal fretwork and finishing on the neck!
For anyone curious about the backside of the instrument (which isn't pictured on the Novax site), it features a really cool brass 'bar' that the strings feed through, and a simple black plate where the neck bolts on.
Definately an instrument worthy of the $4000ish price tag. Don't worry about being limited tone-wise. You can coax just about anything out of the CH8 with your hands and/or a pickup switch. Just to clarify...I think that the stock CH8 offers a 3-way Gibson style switch, and I opted to add a 5-way switch for a few more options. Not entirely needed, though.

Sound-wise, the CH8 is a dream come true. As mentioned above, I make my living (until the Novax gigs pick up...) as a bass player. Check out my latest gigs and some audio samples (Novax 8-string audio samples will be up within a few weeks...) at www.samadhiproject.com. I have been playing bass for 15 years, and I generally focus on jazz/funk work...
I was presently surprised with the bass tone. Dub bass/raggae tones to punchy James Brown sounds are all possible depending on your attack and your thumb position. Palm mutes are especially nice.
Guitar wise, I have been able cop the Hunter sound (perty easy to do when you combine this axe with a H&K Rotosphere) as well as exploring new territory. At a recent gig, a washy Radiohead type pedalboard setup reacted nicely to the CH8.
My current setup is a MesaBoogie 400+ and a Hartke 210 cabinet on the bass side...and a MesaBoogie Mark II on the guitar side. I've thrown in a Rotosphere, an AKAI Headrush, an EH MiniQtron, a vintage ADA Flanger, a KLON Centaur, a Tim overdrive, a Boss DD4, and a Boss CE1 chorus, all with positive results.

As mentioned before...immaculate! The only minor adjustment that I made was in the pickup height...no big whoop.

Definately has withstood live gigs well. The finish is a natural satin that is already showing (tasteful) signs of wear...but only when you really are examining it closely.
Strap buttons are solid, and balance is ok. I feel I can depend on it, but I doubt I can afford to have a 'spare' around... :)

I met with Ralph Novak and played it at the shop. He's a cool guy. Bill Carrico is the shop manager, and he was really cool getting the process started. Funny guy in emails, too.
I'm sure that if I had questions, problems, or concerns...Ralph would help me out. Top-notch service.

Overall thought...
If you have the time and energy to really apply yourself to learning the technique required to play the instrument well, you will not be disappointed.
Otherwise, you will not be jamming on the CH8 anytime soon. It does take a new set of voicings, a new righthand technique, etc...it's not as easy as Charlie makes it look...

But well worth it.

Not sure of the year it was made, this was Charlie's personal guitar that he traded back to Novax for another new guitar. 21 frets I think. Body is paduak, top is maple. One pick up on the 3 bass strings, two pick ups for the 5 guitar strings, pick ups by Bartolini, passive. Bass pick has its own output jack, guitar pick ups share an output jack. Bridge is a Novax design, given the fanned fret system and each string being of a different scale length. This guitar is 25" on the treble and 30.25" on the bass side. Came in Novax hardshell case. Body shape is similar to a Les Paul, except the neck is bolt on. Neck is maple, ebony fingure board. Two volume controls, no tone knobs, three way selector to choose guitar pick ups (up = neck, down = bridge, middle = both).

I am going to give this a "9", since there is no tone controls. I'd prefer to have stacked dome knobs to have a tone for both the bass and guitar sides, BUT this is the way Charlie wanted it. Charlie's tone control is his string selection, the tape wound LaBella bass strings are dead sounding on purpose, so it is like having the tone down on "2" anyway.

This guitar does not suit your musical style, you suit your musical style to it. It is a very unique piece and was designed to do one thing, the Hunter sound. I hope to someday expand beyond the Hunter sound, but first let's get to point A and worry about the rest at a much later date.

I am using both pick up outputs to my Victoria Bassman (w/reverb) amplifer at the moment. I run the guitar side to the Bright 2, and the bass side to the Normal 1 inputs. This is NOT how Charlie does it, he uses seperate guitar and bass amps, that he can then alter the EQs to his taste, THUS he does not require the aforementioned tone controls.

The guitar is dead quiet when played clean, i have never used it dirty yet, so no comment on that.

The bass side is very dead dull flat, but this is by design in that Charlie uses tape wound strings. If you want a more traditional electric bass tone, go with normal bass strings. The tape wounds give off a more upright tone, and have zero string squeak.

Charlie uses 13s on the guitar side, I went with 10s. The guitar side is bright and full, however, I maybe going to chrome strings on this side to reduce string squeaks and "tone" down the brightness a tad. Again, I am using a single amp so my EQ settings are a compromise of both sides. I may just use an old Boss EQ pedal however, who knows? The string changing, if it works, means less junk, less batteries, etc...

Here is an aspect that worried me. I knew nothing about Novax's quality, I use Hamer USA guitars and a Pedulla 6 string bass, which always come from the factory dead on perfect. I was pleasantly surprised that this guitar/bass hybrid was equal in quality to perfectness I am accustomed to.

A note of warning to you, the bass strings are very close together, there is no more space between the strings than on a traditional guitar. If you envision that wide spacing between strings like a normal bass has, you will be disappointed. To keep the neck compact, while adding 2 additional strings, this is a necessary trade off. I can slap bass lines on guitar, but on this instrument it is proving to be more difficult in that the strings are of bass diameter, in a guitar type spacing. I just have to work on it.

Don't worry, the fanned frets do not freak you out, I do not even notice them, and the guitar is so in tune it is scary.

It survived Charlie's using it, so I guess the answer is yes. It is going to be YEARS before I can gig with this, there is a lot to learn.

Mr Novax and Bill were both great, they answered all my questions, no sales pressure, a complete pleasure to deal with. This is the kind of customer care I always get from Kim Keller from Hamer Guitars. I think the warranty is two years. I ordered the guitar from their "in store" web site on Monday and had it on Friday, and it had to go from CA to NJ.

I do not care how good of a bass player or guitarist you are, this is like starting all over again. I can play both instruments, guitar much better though. I have been playing guitar in a Satriani type trio for over 10 years, and I am hopelessly lost on this. I knew this going in however, and I purchased this instrument because of a desire to add a new instrument to my abilities. Truth is, I am bored. While I am not Satch or Yngwie on guitar, I am still better than 95% of the guitarists I see when we play out. I've gotten lazy, I know I will never be a rock star (I am 35, married w/ kid), so my desire to improve on guitar has wained. The Hunter is a fresh start for me, back to square one, so I am forced to improve my playing.

The instrument is tuned:

E A D on the bass side.

A D G B E on the guitar side.

I know this is how Charlie wants it, however, I may wind up tuning the "D" on the bass side up to E. This would make the instrument appear to be a guitar E A D G B E, with just the added E and A bass strings. Either way is a compromise, either the bass "D" string is major second flat in relation to guitar, or it is major second sharp in relation to bass. It certainly would be easier on me to go the sharp on the bass side method, as all my scales would then "fit" right. I will wind up experimenting with this, and I may not decide on either, but tune for the given song.

There is nothing traditional about this instrument, so in my mind, half of the beauty is that it "allows" you to experiment beyond the ruts most guitarists settle into, myself included.

If you are a bassist, you will have a MUCH harder time with this instrument, since the string spacing will be a killer for you. I feel this instrument is a guitar with an expanded range. Charlie has developed the independence to play it like a bass and guitar at the same time, but it could be used for detuned NuMetal as well, it does not have to be played like Charlie uses it.

The only other brand that I can think of that could produce such an instrument would be Warr. They however are more from the Chapman stick vain, so this would be unique for them to build. I would fear the guitar would not turn out as well, since Novax has years of experience up on them. Also, a custom one off would be expensive and have no resale value, getting the Hunter limits your downside risk if you ever decide to sell.