As others have noted this is the best 9 string you can get and has exactly the right scale length.. anything less than 30" and you might as well string that guitar with some heavy duty spaghetti! EMGs are obviously aiming at the metal market but I would say with some EQing you can pull off other passable sounds. This however is a rock machine through and through. Fantastic build quality and not as massive as you would think (especially if you have handled the odd 8 string guitar beforehand). The neck is beautiful and not a massive adjustment, especially if you are used to thin (depthwise!) neck profiles. Likewise if you have ever played a 8 string guitar or a 6 string bass, this will be no challenge at all (and I do not have gorilla sized hands before you ask). If you are looking to go to this scale, short of spending custom-guitar level money, this is by far your best choice