Let's talk baritones.

[Chankgeez]

They're both strung up with heavier strings. Bass VI strings are the heavier of the two (maybe a tad lighter than regular bass strings though).

Usually Bass VIs are tuned E to E and baritones are usually tuned A to A or B to B.

There really aren't any rules about scale. Although Bass VI type instruments are usually 30" and baritones about 28" or so.

I think it's more about how the instrument is set up and how it's intended to be used.

[ChetMagongalo]

I'm thinking of offering the cosmonaut (the offset design I recently posted) in guitar, baritone, and bass.
I might as well just make up a few baritones. The fretting template is the only thing I'd need to purchase as I've decided that my existing neck tooling will work for it.
I just don't know how many I should make????

Maybe you could just build them to order?

[Nelson Instruments]

Yeah that's a possibility. I'll still need to make at least one for advertising purposes. I might make a few. It won't hurt to have a few on hand. I think I'll have a better shot at selling a few baritones for $995 than a handful of 12-strings for $1,500.

[ChetMagongalo]

yeah that's true, it just seems like you've been getting stuck with more guitars than you can move, it might be safer or less stressful for you to only make them when they are ordered.

[Nelson Instruments]

For sure. Now I'm not being delusional here but I do realize that right now my only outlet to sell things is facebook and facebook is really not the place to find customers.
When these Cosmonauts are done I'll start my outreach campaign and will also see if my two dealers are interested in stocking them. So with that in mind it might make sense to build a few to see what happens.
( though if the dealers reject these budget guitars then I'm going to take a risk and go back to direct sales only.)

But anyway I didn't mean to hijack this thread. :-) sorry about that!

[Strange Tales]

Alright, I have a good lead on selling my Gibson SG, so I have a couple questions:

Anyone ever hear of this company before? Wondering if these pickups are good or there is something else I should look out for.
http://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/cream ... p-set.html

How wide of a neck should I look to get to fairly compensate between bass and guitar? I love playing chords on bass, but I've always had a little bit of annoyance with guitar because the strings are closer together than I'd like sometimes.

Should I just go ahead and buy all the body stuff first, wire it all together, and then go for the neck to finish it off?

[Disarm D'arcy]

This company is my favorite pickup company. Everything I've heard from their pickups is absolutely great. Plus they're in the EU so no unexpectedly high customs fées and such.

I've got a set in my '72 AVRI Telecaster. Really great. Especially the Wide Range.

[Bon Hoga]

Interesting thougthts. When I had the bass VI instruments one if them was sold to a fellow who made it a baritone because he likes that scale for a bari.

The off-the-shelf fret template I can get is 28.5". I'll probably just do that since it would cost me over twice as much to have a custom one made and I don't feel like putting extra money into something that may not get people excited.
But I think 28.5" is a reasonable compromise?

28.5" is quite all right for a bari. I have tuned mine to E-e with Bass VI strings, it worked but the strings were floppy and the intonation was off. 30.5" and not a fraction of an inch less for a VI, says I.

[neonblack]

I'm about to start building a tele bari from parts. Maybe get a thinline body like one of the modern players for semi hollow tones. But I do love the classic telecaster body too.

[Strange Tales]

This company is my favorite pickup company. Everything I've heard from their pickups is absolutely great. Plus they're in the EU so no unexpectedly high customs fées and such.

I've got a set in my '72 AVRI Telecaster. Really great. Especially the Wide Range.

Oof, well you've definitely got me sold on going for those pickups then.

UK is the only place I've been hit with customs fees before (or, MWFX at least), so I'll cross my fingers they don't go for me.

[aen]

Ooooh, baritone time. I have had many baritone experiences.

First I put huge strings on a Squier Tele Custom II. This was the one with p90s laid out like the 72 deluxe. It was actually pretty awesome. I started in B, and got it down to A without too much trouble. It was a little floppy, but pretty damn usable.

I then went to a baritone conversion neck from Warmoth. I put this thing on a couple guitars, and while the tension was better, the overall feel was worse. Something about that conversion neck felt really weird and clunky.

Eventually I went with the Blacktop baritone from Fender, which was pretty awesome. The electronics needed work, which I never really did. The pickups were unbalanced, but there were good sounds to be had.

Now, the one that really kicked my ass was MagicLawnChair's Agile baritone (with upgraded pickups and stuff) this thing is amazing, actually. Sounds and feels great all the time. They are not super easy to find though.

My current favorite is the Fender Jaguar Baritone custom. The feel is amazing! The pickups are pretty bright, which at first kind of bugged me, as i was testing with a guitar amp. But the brightness really helps when using a bass amp. Unfortunately they are expensive and rare. I got mine instead of a vintage strat for a super special "you're a grownup/silver rose preorder" celebration. I've got that fucker down to G with no problem.

[neonblack]

Right now I have my Bass VI in B but I really want a slightly shorter scale length though. It does sound fucking amazing, I'm just a small guy and it really hurts my back.

[Pop]

Do I even need a baritone if I'm only tuning down to full D? Or would it be worth it to see if I could go even lower?

Do baritones come in smaller neck scales than 30"?

I saw a fucking SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET Squier Jazzmaster type thing that's a baritone. The only thing wrong with it is a Strat input, but I bet I could put a big metal straight-in input on it. Lemme see if I can find it.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/ ... ric-guitar

I mean that thing looks REALLY COOL and I mean it. Especially the fret markers.

And with the BASS VI, do you use that like a guitar or a bass or both or what?

I have no idea about these things but I just recently found that I recorded a lot of my songs in E standard (how I wrote them), but I can sing them WAAAAY better in D and maybe even Db.

You know?

Thanks!

[voerking]

Do baritones come in smaller neck scales than 30"?

the Fender Blacktop Baritones are 27". i have one & really love it. i did have to make some modifications to the electronics, but YMMV.

[Pop]

Do baritones come in smaller neck scales than 30"?

the Fender Blacktop Baritones are 27". i have one & really love it. i did have to make some modifications to the electronics, but YMMV.

Cool, thanks.

So if I was just wanting a guitar that could tune down really well, but just to like a full D or full C, should I go for a baritone, or would I be better off just getting a basic Fender that has a 25.5" scale and tuning down to D?

Does the Blacktop Baritone tune UP well? I see the standard tuning on it is B to B, but I'd only really need to go as low as D or C.

Thanks!