Let's discuss Baritone guitars and lower tunings

ThePrettyDamned

Bucket;393447" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Folk, such as bonomassa, will tell you to buy a bass, but they're rather missing the point - it's a completely different timbre.












This would work better if Bonamassa didn't actually own and regularly use several different baritone guitars.

It was in a video lesson of his - he says there is no need for a guitar to go lower than e standard or drop d, or you may as well use a bass.

It's a video of his top tips or something, I couldn't believe it either...

It's one where he's in a big, plain room with a few guitars and a tweed amp, part of a lesson series.

samzadgan

i was also thinking about the squire bass iv....but there's a bit to do with it to get it to guitar specs i think...and plus i didnt like all the extra knobs and switches. Plus...with the tight string tension it was going to be too sharp of an attack i thought. 

that eastwood looks good (first time i've seen it, and now I have GAS)...but also, have you seen the Hagstrom Viking? im not a fan of those necks, but you might like them...also theres a PRS SE bariton too in silverburst.

If you get thick enought strings (70+) then the 27" scale should be fine...If your thinking doom, I think the 30" might be too much to be honest, the tension will be very tight and you wont get that nice warmth of looser strings if that makes sense.

ToneControl

littlethoughts said:

I've heard quite bad things about the Fender blacktop baritone. As in, it's a good guitar in many ways but it is fundamentally poorly designed, and to properly intonate it on the low strings you need to modify the bridge since the travel isn't enough as stock.

I have one, you can turn some of the saddles round and remove some bits. Worst part is the stock pickups, not very well suited to the guitar really. I think 27 inch is too short for anything below D really

ToneControl

samzadgan said:

i was also thinking about the squire bass iv....but there's a bit to do with it to get it to guitar specs i think...and plus i didnt like all the extra knobs and switches. Plus...with the tight string tension it was going to be too sharp of an attack i thought. 

that eastwood looks good (first time i've seen it, and now I have GAS)...but also, have you seen the Hagstrom Viking? im not a fan of those necks, but you might like them...also theres a PRS SE bariton too in silverburst.

If you get thick enought strings (70+) then the 27" scale should be fine...If your thinking doom, I think the 30" might be too much to be honest, the tension will be very tight and you wont get that nice warmth of looser strings if that makes sense.

I have 27, 28.6 and 30 inch scale electric guitars, I'd recommend 30 inch for A-A or B-B

I recommend the 30 inch schecter, I had to import, but now a UK shop has it :
http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/products/schecter_hellraiser_c_vi_electric_guitar_bch.asp?gclid=CJGX6ueOzcECFdTLtAodeF8AHw
http://www.thomann.de/gb/schecter_hellraiser_c_vi_bc.htm


btw Watch out for ultra thick plain strings, they can be hard to bend without sounding strange, wound ones seem to work better sometimes

ToneControl

other option is buying a Warmoth baritone neck for tele or strat, 28.5 inch I think

Loobs

Ibanez Mike Mushok is what I'd get.

ThePrettyDamned

@tonecontrol I've always found wound strings snap when used for bending.

Used to be a big fan of using 12s with a wound third string, loved the huge sustain but I'd break that string quite quickly.

Did I get a bad batch? I only up a step, though often on lower frets - maybe that was the mistake.

Loobs

I use 12s in standard with a wound 3rd on my jazz guitar and I've never broken one. I don't bend strings on it though.

ToneControl

ThePrettyDamned said:

@tonecontrol I've always found wound strings snap when used for bending.

Used to be a big fan of using 12s with a wound third string, loved the huge sustain but I'd break that string quite quickly.

Did I get a bad batch? I only up a step, though often on lower frets - maybe that was the mistake.

dunno, I just noticed that thick plain strings are a bit odd, it's worth trying wound to find your own preference

Fortheloveofguitar

ToneControl;393967" said:

other option is buying a Warmoth baritone neck for tele or strat, 28.5 inch I think

Great idea. I have a fully loaded body kicking around and at only $205 before shipping and import tax it's not a bad deal.

Edit : $75 shipping via ups

Lew

Thanks for the offer @GSPBASSES. Nope not played a fanfret. We're too far apart otherwise I'd like to give it a go. It looks far too progressive for me, though :-0

@samzadgan aye this would be for retro/surf/spag/60s rather than the riffs. I'm thinking 28" at a minimum. The Hagstrom looks cool but guess it may feedback alot if I kick the fuzz on.

@ToneControl is that this model that Aen uses? Imagine that'll be way out of my budget.

USACG is an option but that'd get expensive fast and I want something quirky rather than a Tele with a long neck. Hopefully something'll come up used but I may have to buy new if I want the Eastjack. There's no rush anyway.

Reverend

Gibson scale length is best for down tuning. The best thing for down tuning is the loose sound of Iommi and Realm Of Chaos.
To thick a string and it goes all nu metal.

ToneControl

Lew said:

@ToneControl is that this model that Aen uses? Imagine that'll be way out of my budget.

I have 3 Schecters, and had an 8 string too

They are all USA Fender type quality, I'd say 2 of them were better
yet the guitar you have mentioned is discounted to £650 new
http://www.gak.co.uk/en/schecter-ultra-vi/76628

When I went shopping, the Schecters in this range went for £300-£400 used, so the Hellcat VI would be in that range now

Lew

@Reverend horses for courses. I'm not trying to get those tones :-)

@ToneControl ta! I've got my eyes on eBay.

Bucket

ThePrettyDamned said:

It was in a video lesson of his - he says there is no need for a guitar to go lower than e standard or drop d, or you may as well use a bass.

It's a video of his top tips or something, I couldn't believe it either...

It's one where he's in a big, plain room with a few guitars and a tweed amp, part of a lesson series.

I didn't realise this - in that case he's a filthy closed-minded hypocrite and we should burn him. Shame, he's a good player.

ThePrettyDamned

Bucket;394406" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

It was in a video lesson of his - he says there is no need for a guitar to go lower than e standard or drop d, or you may as well use a bass.



It's a video of his top tips or something, I couldn't believe it either...



It's one where he's in a big, plain room with a few guitars and a tweed amp, part of a lesson series.





I didn't realise this - in that case he's a filthy closed-minded hypocrite and we should burn him. Shame, he's a good player.

Brilliant player.

Actually, one of my favourite licks of all time was stolen from one of his videos. Just a simple pentatonic thing in groups of 5, but it has a wonderful "tumbling down" sound to it.

I actually remember not liking him in this video anyway - the whole thing had a kinda smarmy feel to it, he said a couple of other things that made me cringe a bit. And I actually like him usually, even if I'm not a fan of his music. Maybe he was having a grumpy bad day

Bucket

ThePrettyDamned said:

Brilliant player.

Actually, one of my favourite licks of all time was stolen from one of his videos. Just a simple pentatonic thing in groups of 5, but it has a wonderful "tumbling down" sound to it.

I actually remember not liking him in this video anyway - the whole thing had a kinda smarmy feel to it, he said a couple of other things that made me cringe a bit. And I actually like him usually, even if I'm not a fan of his music. Maybe he was having a grumpy bad day

I don't care what people say about him, this is some truly stunning guitar playing (and tone).

About 3 minutes in until about 5 and a half minutes in is just glorious.

ThePrettyDamned

Yarp. Agreed, totally.

I saw him at download and can attest that he's just as good live! It's really not the sort of music I enjoy, but I quite enjoyed watching him do his thing.

ab2014

I saw Joe Borethemasses at Download. I liked some of the black country communion stuff and have listened to him a bit but I find his voice annoying, his songs seem just vehicles for soloing and his tone too refined for a blues sound and too smooth for rock. Blanket over the amp kinda sound to me. Obviously talented player but Gary Moore did it better.

Bucket

ab2014 said:

I saw Joe Borethemasses at Download. I liked some of the black country communion stuff and have listened to him a bit but I find his voice annoying, his songs seem just vehicles for soloing and his tone too refined for a blues sound and too smooth for rock. Blanket over the amp kinda sound to me. Obviously talented player but Gary Moore did it better.

Don't you mean Joe Massiveboner?