Like with 7-strings, when looking for the best 8-string guitar, you’ll find that the biggest decision you’ll have to make tone-wise is whether to go for passive or active pickups. Because 8-strings are used widely within metal, you’ll find that a lot of them come equipped with active pickups. These feature a built-in preamp and often yield a very high output, making them break up or distort quicker. They sound great with heaps of gain, but remain nice and clear – ideal when you’ve got such a wide frequency range. The active pickups can really help keep everything sounding fat and tight in the low end. Passive pickups are more traditional, and are usually more dynamic allowing for more expression in your playing. If high gain tones are your thing, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should discount passive pickups though. Many of the sets fitted in our pick of the best 8-string guitars have high-outputs and have actually been made specifically with chunky high gain sounds in mind. Find out more about how we make our recommendations and how we test each of the products in our buyer's guides.