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Baritone guitar suggestions

#21
I have an Alvarez ABT60E which is basically a jumbo body with a baritone neck and LR Baggs electronics. It actually sounds really nice and I can plug into an amp or PA if I want. I got it on sale at GC for like $400. Very happy with it; for certain things I prefer it over my acoustic guitar. But if you play ensemble you have to transpose, and that’s kind of awkward.

I also had a tenor guitar, mandola, and octave mandolin for a while, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
 
#22
I play a Bass VI (30") and a Wurlitzer 7771 bari/bass (27"), an Alvarez acoustic bari (28"), and I have two 26" jazz guitars restrung for baritone range. (I use Thomastic 7-string guitar sets for those.)

For tictac the 30" scale is great (overtones!), 27-28" offers more chordal versatility, and for me the 26" scale is best for playing guitar-style. It's all about handspan in the lower register.

Something I've been enjoying with the 26s is tuning down to Bb for jazz comping.
 
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#23
Ostie said:
if you play ensemble you have to transpose, and that’s kind of awkward.
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What I've found with the different tunings is that moving among them gives me more mental flexibility, and I'm more tuned in to intervals rather than positions. And yeah, it can get weird at a grass jam when someone's trying to follow your fingers for clues, but for me that's just giving a free lesson in listening.
 
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#25
AGCurry said:
Baritone electric guitars have actually been around since around the late 50s. The Danelectro (Hodad) actually nails that tic-tac sound that you'll hear on ballads from Patsy Cline and others. I had one for a few years and liked it when I needed it. Its problem was its cheapness; there was either no truss rod, or the truss rod couldn't be adjusted, not sure which... so the neck started bowing and there was no way to fix it.

Other than the Dano, there aren't many "affordable" choices. You'll find what's available on eBay.

I've also had a couple of acoustic baris: An Alvarez Yairi and a Taylor. The Yairi was better. I've found only two uses for those: First, to play songs with the right chord shapes in lower keys, like a capo in reverse, and second, to add a different color to recordings.
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This is why I'm a no go on dano's. I bought one like the one Jimmy Page plays when I was in my 20s. No truss and the neck was terrible, action was a quarter inch right out of the box. I was bummed because I loved it otherwise. Almost kept it for slide only, and even contemplated putting a truss in, but went the easy route.

I've never played baritone guitar, enjoying this thread fellas....
 
#26
Ripper75 said:
I've been thinking about getting a baritone guitar because I struggle playing the 60s Harmony Bobkat guitar I have now, in general guitars just feel too small for me being a bassist for 25+ years. I played a Danelectro baritone at the local guitar shop that was pretty cool. I tend to like older guitars(1960-2000) but seems like baritones are a fairly newer thing..? just not seeing many old baritones plus my budget is around $800 at most, preferably less. I'm also not a huge fan of buying things made in China if possible. Any suggestions on a good baritone guitar thats not too expensive..? I might just go for the Danelectro, those seem fairly inexpensive but prolly made in China so I'm on the fence about it. thanks
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The PRS se baritones aren’t bad. I played a dano a long time ago in a little mom and pop shop in the suburbs of Chicago back in the day. Still wish I’d have bought it I think it was actually their 30” version of a bass vi though not a regular baritone. I’ve owned a 27” esp baritone 7 string. Neck wise it felt very good for me being more of a 5 string bass player but had a very “metal” aesthetic. I’ve been playing in bands with the same rhythm guitarist for about 20 years. At one point he had a an Ibanez mmm1 that was actually really nice and they are in the price range but they can be really hard to find now because they only made them for a couple years. Another option is to build a parts guitar. Warmoth sells baritone conversion necks if you want say a baritone tele for example.
 
#28
Fender Subsonic! To die for! Regret selling the ones that I had. These are really nothing more than a standard hardtail strat body, routed single,single,humbucker, but the neck is different. Sweetwater is apparently listing the replacement necks. Takes all the standard Fender hardware etc. Worth some research, but it’s a killer deal all the way around. Just an FYI.
 
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#32
The Schecter Hellcats are pretty nice, but not sure if the cost is over budget. The 30" scale is comfy. Nice Korean build and finish. I suck at it, but enjoy noodling around on the thing, almost as much fun as a Coral Sitar or a Fender electric VII for noodling, but those are a tad outta my price range for a once-in-a-while amusement toy.

20151121_124726.jpg
 
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#35
GIBrat51 said:
View attachment 3770955 I have this one - an Eastwood Sidejack Baritone. I'm sure there are "better" ones, but this one plays and feels fine, and stays in tune. Sounds good, too - I use the 13-72 EB Slinky baritone strings on it. Currently, a right handed DLX model (with a tremelo) will set you back $600 (case is extra). And, by the way - new Danelectros are made in Korea, now. And have been for a while...:cool:
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I’ve eyed a few Eastwood models. Good looking stuff, but I’ve never tried one.
 
#37
I have a Bass VI (love it!) and have played many a Squier/Epiphone/Danelectro/PRS baritone.
Currently building one as I wanted to have my bari be a 27"ish scale, 30" gets too long and snappy for baritone guitar. 30" works great with my Bass VI, but it has much heavier strings (102 low E) and is tuned E to E. What I am doing is using a hard tail Strat body I have laying around and getting a maple board Strat Sub-Sonic neck and some 13-68 strings on it so it will do A to A or B to B more guitaresque. It's a pretty easy conversion and you get the 27.5" scale. They offer both Strat and Tele necks with maple or Pau Ferro fingerboards. Link here: Invalid Link Removed
 
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#38
I’ll add a recommendation for a PRS SE (i.e. made in S. Korea) Baritone. The 277’s are about in your budget new, and can be well within your budget for a used one... note that there have been 277 pickup changes in recent years, and I get the impression the newer 85/15 S pickups may be worth having over the older model (same name, 277) even with a price difference for newer.

Also a few years ago there was a Mike Mushok signature model and those pop up used sometimes for good prices, but those have older pickup models and I think the body is more square cut, less contoured, if that matters to you. I had an MM, but realized that my original curiosity about a baritone far outweighed my actual needs or usage. Fun, worth having in a collection of instruments, but my recommendation or approach if I were to buy one again in the future would be to only buy a great deal in case I’d part with it, to get most of the $ back.
 
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#40
If you can get past the slightly creepy Bob Ross vibe this guy has going, the Ibanez SRC6 looks and sounds great. I've tried a real Fender Bass VI and the Squire copy, not real impressed. Both need a bit of finagling to sound good and play well. I don't know about the semantics, where baritone ends and Bass VI begins, but this seems to bridge the gap quite nicely:

 
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