When does a Baritone Guitar become a Short scale bass?

[shmulik]

I assume you mean BEAD where the b is higher than the low e on a usual 4string bass?

Yes, exactly.

 

[shmulik]

I don't have any hard and fast answers, but Barritone, Bass, etc are monikers that refer to an instruments range. Scale length is not really the best descriptor of whether a bass, guitar or something else. I would focus more on what the instrument's range is rather than other factors. This could mean that the instrument can change based on what strings are put on it, but that's ok.

That's a fair point. I'm thinking about this more from the perspective of knowing what range I want, which is approximately the typical baritone guitar range, and wondering whether I'll run into any issues with tension, action and intonation.

Perhaps a clearer way to put the focus of my question is: most info about baritone guitars or short scale basses deals with lengths of 27" to 30", so I don't have much reference for the alternate tuning possibilities of an oddball instrument that's got a 24" scale but that I presume is otherwise set up to be played as a bass - whatever that entails for nut, bridge, action etc. I'm wondering whether anyone has seen this done or has any thoughts on how I could make it happen smoothly...

 

[Eilif]

That's a fair point. I'm thinking about this more from the perspective of knowing what range I want, which is approximately the typical baritone guitar range, and wondering whether I'll run into any issues with tension, action and intonation.

Perhaps a clearer way to put the focus of my question is: most info about baritone guitars or short scale basses deals with lengths of 27" to 30", so I don't have much reference for the alternate tuning possibilities of an oddball instrument that's got a 24" scale but that I presume is otherwise set up to be played as a bass - whatever that entails for nut, bridge, action etc. I'm wondering whether anyone has seen this done or has any thoughts on how I could make it happen smoothly...

Unless you're looking at a bass uke with fat silicone strings, at 24"(standard gibson guitar scale) it sounds like you're just dealing with a downtuned guitar. Still, you can put the bottom 4 strings of a 5string bass on a 24 inch instrument and tune pretty close to EADG...

As I think others have said, in my experience at 27" you're dealing with a Barritone guitar and at 30" you're working on a bass. Between 25" (Fender guitar scale) and 27", you're probably looking at guitar variations designed for higher tension with thicker strings (kind of like 35" or 36" basses).

Of course the thing about stringed instruments is that if you're willing to mod a nut, you can put most any strings on an instrument of any scale. Whether they will work well or not is another story.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Any thoughts, or has anyone seen this kind of thing done?

There are baritone guitar strings, so you'd just be using the lowest four of a lighter six string baritone set with something like BEAD on a 25" scale instrument.

 

[B-Mac]

Good read from the manufacturer

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