6 strings is just right...it's what ya do with what ya got! And you can get nice octave sounds either by using dadgad or with a little practice in standard tuning (start by playing the G string open and your pinky on the third fret, high e string...move up the fretboard, and learn to slide around like that. It's very juicy. You'll sound like george benson in no time. )

course, 8 is great too...

w-o