Another baritone question (brands etc)

Creed_Clicks

Hi all. I recently sold a Squier Jazzmaster baritone. Nice guitar but fancy something a bit different in terms of a baritone. Taming the high end frequencies was always an issue with it but overall it was ok.

I'll most likely have to buy online. The Reverend Descent seems to be one of the better reviewed ones but a new one will be out of my budget for now. (I might keep an eye out for a used one in the meantime)
My options would look to be the following:

Danelectros. They *look* pretty good but reviews seem to hammer the build quality so might be a risk. Lipstick pickups would be a nice option.

Anyone play a Dano baritone?

Esp Ltd Viper 201B: Not tried one of these but had a regular Ltd Viper years ago and it was a decent guitar. I like the idea of a hard tail bridge on the Viper baritone too and it's a slightly shorter scale than the Jazzmaster. Would totally be buying blind here. Pickups could be upgraded.

Ibanez Iron Label: Seem to be geared towards metal heads, so has active pickups, and I'd be playing clean mainly and a bit of indie rock / post rock. Could be a mismatch for me, but I'd say the build quality would be good, like most Ibanez guitars I've played.

I don't fancy the Gretsch with the Bigsby and not sure about the lower end Chapman baritone as again, it seems to be geared towards metal/shredding.

Other options could be looking out for a Supro Baritone (the pickups sure look ugly on it though) or a conversion neck for a tele (e.g. a classic vibe or MIM tele) but the money you'd spend on the neck + guitar would add up to just buying something.

Hagstrom baritone. Again, would be out of my price range new, but could be an option used.

Or I could just bite the bullet and go back to a Squier baritone and change the pickups!

I don't fancy a bass VI.

Anyone play any of the above?

Creed_Clicks

PRS. I forgot about the HH one

NelsonP

Gear4music have a PRS SE baritone on sale for 599. Might be worth a look?

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/PRS-SE-277-Baritone-Tobacco-Sunburst/1QBI

Creed_Clicks

Yeah, I saw that. They look like a good option, and I also came across the Third Eye Guitars Baritone as well, which is around the same price. I'm inclined to lean towards something with passive humbuckers.

smogmonster

What about a second hand jaguar hh special baritone with a 27 inch scale? I have its little brother with the 24 inch scale and it is a beautiful instrument.

Or would that be too close to the jazzmaster?

DarnWeight

Worth keeping an eye out in the usual places for used Cort Sunset Baritones.  Really nice.  You might spot one in the £300-500 range, which considering they have TV Jones Magnatrons as stock pickups, isn't too bad at all.

Creed_Clicks

smogmonster said:

What about a second hand jaguar hh special baritone with a 27 inch scale? I have its little brother with the 24 inch scale and it is a beautiful instrument.

Or would that be too close to the jazzmaster?

That could work , I’ll keep my eyes peeled

Creed_Clicks

DarnWeight said:

Worth keeping an eye out in the usual places for used Cort Sunset Baritones.  Really nice.  You might spot one in the £300-500 range, which considering they have TV Jones Magnatrons as stock pickups, isn't too bad at all.

Saw one on reverb or eBay recently for sale in Italy for €600 if I remember correctly 

Creed_Clicks

Sold a guitar so back in the baritone market again. Options are to wait for a used jazzmaster or dano bari or get a squier tele and a conversion neck. What say ye....

StuartMac290

I play a Danelectro - it depends what kind of Baritone thing you want, but for that Twin Peaks sound, nothing does it like the Dano.

You can hear it on these tracks:

Creed_Clicks

@StuartMac290 Those tracks sound great, as does the guitar!
Yeah, I thought about a Dano, if not only for the lipstick pickups which would be something different.
I wouldn't be playing metal on it, maybe slightly overdriven and clean. There's a lovely sparkle green one for sale on Norms Rare Guitars for not a lot of dollars....
There's a Gretsch one for sale near me, but don't need another guitar with a trem...

StuartMac290

I tried a few different types out when I bought the Dano, including a Gretsch and a Reverend. Despite the fact we'd have got the Gretsch for next to nothing (my partner Louise has a deal with Gretsch) the Dano was the only one that sounded the way I wanted it to. The build quality on the others is clearly higher, but the Dano has that twang. It also does the Cure baritone thing really well - we nicked that a bit for the third track I listed

Creed_Clicks

Very nice sound in those tracks! I'm getting some demos together myself to record professionally, and it's in the ballpark of your links..

I don't have the luxury of being able to test ones side by side. It's really difficult to find a selection of baritones in a shop in Ireland. I guess I could get a flight to the UK, but I'm going to be spending high end, so would take a chance buying online..

StuartMac290

The Danos are so cheap I don't think you can go wrong.

Glad you like the tracks! That's my "day job"

Creed_Clicks

I'll check out some more online now

Jalapeno

Not a Baritone per se, but I loved Brett Kingman's demo of the ESP Stef Carpenter T7.  Now a non-sig TE417 I think

EDIT:

Creed_Clicks

A random query. If I got heavy gauge strings, could I put them on a regular electric and tune B to B or C to C? 
Pepper Keenan of CoC fame seems to use regular scale SGs tuned low.

Creed_Clicks

I change my mind like the weather. I think I'm going to go down the baritone neck conversion route for a baritone telecaster.
I have seen people convert strats, and the Tom Delonge style strat looks pretty good with just the humbucker, but I think I'll stick with a standard tele with a baritone neck. Sorted!

Moe_Zambeek

Creed_Clicks said:

A random query. If I got heavy gauge strings, could I put them on a regular electric and tune B to B or C to C? 
Pepper Keenan of CoC fame seems to use regular scale SGs tuned low.

Check out David Torn, he plays a lot in C-standard with regular 25.5” scale bolt ons, and sounds amazing doing so. Doesn’t seem to have an issue...

Creed_Clicks

Just ordered an allparts tele bari conversion neck, so now need to either get a blank tele body and get it sprayed, or pick up a used body online. Would the Squier bodies be ok? Or should I go for a blank to be on the safe side?

ToneControl

what budget?
what scale length?
what tuning?
what style?