R-458BK Fanfret : Absurd for the money

This is an exceptional guitar for the money, and if you're curious about eight strings you should absolutely get this one.

The quality control on this guitar was quite good - a couple of small rough marks on the back, but otherwise the setup and intonation was very good, given how cheap it is and how far it flew to Australia!

The weak parts of this guitar are the pickups, the tuners, and the fretboard. The pickups are quite iffy, but for a practice instrument they're definitely serviceable. The tuners are pretty unstable and they slip/stick a bit. The fretboard feels a bit rough and cheap too.

But these downsides pale in comparison to what you're getting for the price: this guitar comes in at under half the price of the next-cheapest 8 string (including shipping!), it has fanned frets, and it feels good and easy to play. If you replaced the tuners and the pickups, this thing could probably even be stage-worthy.