What are the chances?I have a six sting Orion 34scale.It has signature electronics,stereo/mono switch,a maple body,Koa top,standard cone headstock and a E-A-D-G-C-F-tuning.Alembic had no problem providing me with strings.Ofcourse I ordered extra sets at the time and have not had to change them yet.Outside of the cost of my options I paid no more than a standard Orion six price at the time.I can't speak for Alembic but,I can't see any more labor involved than with a standard tuned instrument.My strings are the standard gauge Alembics from the E-C the high F is an .018 gauge.The strings are not so much the pain in the ass you would think.Conklin instruments has overseas strings made for them in certain gauges.Also the highest tuned string just happens to be closest to the nut on a cone headstock so length is not an issue.That being the case,Fender's bassVI and the baritone tele have replacement sets in their catalog as does Ernie Ball.Both GHS and DAddario have eight string sets so I guess you could order the higher strings as separates.The set neck gives me the punch and midrange warmth that I'm looking for out of the instrument.On my acoustic piccolo bass I use DAddarios.so try their website.These may work as well it just depends on the gauges you would be comfortable with.The Orion gives me every thing a four string and the higher register of a six string has to offer with the added bonus of going into a rock guitar range as well with that higher F string.I use this bass with a Boss loop station to play a bass figure then I solo the highs using a Roland virtual wahwah pedal(all the settings track bass excellently).It has a special bass setting as well but I use the overdrive feature on it for those searing lead tones.With the signature electronics,it's possible to achieve guitar tones.SO go ahead and spend several thousand and tell those finicky guitar players to pound salt!LOL I hope this helps.
