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So I'm thinking of building a weird baritone-esque guitar, and am trying to figure out what kinds of parts I need. Has anyone here done any silly down-tuning, Bongripper style? Drop F and such? IF so, what size strings, scale of neck, etc did you use?

I want to have an instrument tuned between two octaves, so the low two strings are one or maybe two octaves lower than the higher ones. I tune in drop Bb, and would like to keep that arrangement, but have the low strings be...well, lower. Thoughts, ideas?

Ancient Astro just set up a guitar for G. Gibson scale if I'm not mistaken!

Welcome to my long long journey of experimentation

Skully is right I did just setup a guitar for drop G tuning (GDGCFA) but it's not a gibson scale guitar. It's a Fender Jaguar Baritone Special, it's a 27" scale Jag. I used .14-.68's (D'addario xl157) but there's just a little too much slack in the G so I'm stepping up to some .14-.72 Ernie Ball Baritone Slinky's next string change. With any gibson to standard scale fender (24.75-25.5" scale) the lowest you will be able to achieve and intonate correctly is in the B-A range, any lower and you run out of bridge adjustment and throw the scale off. I have tuned to octave down Drop D before on a 28" scale Agile 8 string, and even with a .84 low D it was still too lose, to get anywhere near an octave below Bb you would need a .135+ gauge bass string (I have a p-bass in BEAD with a .125 currently and its borderline too warbly to tune the low B so i have some .65-.150's I'm throwing on it soon). I've talked to Ron (the bassist from Bongripper) a couple times about how they achieve their low tunings and he uses a 34.5" scale RD bass with a .192 low F string and his guitarists use a 24.75" LP copy and a 24.75" scale dearmond 7 string both with .80 low strings and extremely high action, so apparently it is possible to get them playable but i can also listen to their cd's and hear how off the intonation is when they play higher fret chords (side note: I listen to them ALOT.... sometimes obsessively). My suggestion to you is to find a 28" scale baritone (like a baritone tele) and throw .16-.80 strings on there, there should be enough adjustment to get that intonated correctly with medium low action, OR you can get a Bass VI style 30" scale guitar and throw a slightly smaller set of strings on there (like .16-.80's) and tune it up a step or two. If your going to parts build a guitar and you like fenders, pickup a 25.5" scale body of choice, order one of the 28" scale conversion baritone ebay necks (that's where skully got this believe) and piece it together. I helped do skullys 28" scale baritone jazzie and it worked out great with a little tweaking and it would definitely support tuning's as low as F (but probably not much lower), also if your piecing it together I've done some pickup's experimentation and I highly recommend low to mid output pickups, they retain the clarity and the extra mass of the strings helps it feel like a hotter pickup then it is, I would recommend a p90 or a PAF style humbucker. Hope this helps and if you have anymore questions let em rip, I've probably tried it at some point

I had a bass setup for Eb0 and a .215 string from Circle K. Does that count?

I'm considering buying/building a Les Paul with a custom baritone neck from Warmoth. Bring that sucker down low for some nice stoner/sludge shit.

Thanks doods!

I've dug around online.....and I know it's come up on here a couple times....but what the fuck does Gentry Densley tune to? I've read that the low strings are in bass tuning and the highs in ??????? tuning? He's said in an interview that the low strings are in fact lower than standard bass tuning. Those guitars are definitely baritones but are they 27"-28" scale or 30"?

I was thinking of trying one octave lower if possible, before trying two.

Ancient Astronaut, where have you been all my life...
My doom band tunes AGCFAD, and AA is absolutely right on ALL counts. String selection, correctly (re) intonating your axes, and being really careful not to pull low strings sharp are key. I've recently gotten really into the P90 for the neck position, and although I still prefer hums for the bridge, the medium output pickups are the way to go.
I did own a baritone for a while, and never got used to the scale length (which is funny, b/c I'm really more of a bass player than a guitar player.) I probably didn't give it enough of a chance and will own one again.

gunslinger_burrito wrote:Thanks doods!

I've dug around online.....and I know it's come up on here a couple times....but what the fuck does Gentry Densley tune to? I've read that the low strings are in bass tuning and the highs in ??????? tuning? He's said in an interview that the low strings are in fact lower than standard bass tuning. Those guitars are definitely baritones but are they 27"-28" scale or 30"?

I was thinking of trying one octave lower if possible, before trying two.

I'm not certain exactly but i do remember hearing it was some sort of D tuning With a tuning such as your describing it would have to be a 30" scale, that will net you octave down guitar tuning, and with some thicker than normal bass vi low strings could net you a similar tuning lower than standard bass on the lows while still having the ability to do octave - 2 octave's up on the higher strings. You will most likelyhave to have a custom nut made though.

benjuro wrote:Ancient Astronaut, where have you been all my life...
My doom band tunes AGCFAD, and AA is absolutely right on ALL counts. String selection, correctly (re) intonating your axes, and being really careful not to pull low strings sharp are key. I've recently gotten really into the P90 for the neck position, and although I still prefer hums for the bridge, the medium output pickups are the way to go.
I did own a baritone for a while, and never got used to the scale length (which is funny, b/c I'm really more of a bass player than a guitar player.) I probably didn't give it enough of a chance and will own one again.

Further down the east coast

I must agree the p90 neck + humbucker bridge is an amazing combo, I'm torn though on which i like more for the bridge p90 or paf. The p90 is grittier and has great string clarity but can sound a lil thin in comparison to the smoother and fuller PAF. I've found it most depends on the guitar their going in.

Trust me get another one, if you play in A tuning its worth giving it a viable chance. I wasn't the biggest fan of the lower fret spacing on the 28" scale but the 27" scale plays almost like a strat / tele just a lil wider and fit my hands perfectly. If you had trouble with your previous baritone and are thinking of getting another that's what I would recommend.

if i wan t to go an octave or 2 lower than my standard D or drop C tuning i just use the HOG, just saying

Ironbird13 wrote:if i wan t to go an octave or 2 lower than my standard D or drop C tuning i just use the HOG, just saying

How's the tracking on chords?

Ancient Astronaught wrote:
I'm not certain exactly but i do remember hearing it was some sort of D tuning With a tuning such as your describing it would have to be a 30" scale, that will net you octave down guitar tuning, and with some thicker than normal bass vi low strings could net you a similar tuning lower than standard bass on the lows while still having the ability to do octave - 2 octave's up on the higher strings. You will most likelyhave to have a custom nut made though.

Yeah, I was thinking that a 30" would probably be the ticket.

gunslinger_burrito wrote:Yeah, I was thinking that a 30" would probably be the ticket.

Mudfuzz VI.
It's what you want, It's what you need.

MEC wrote:

gunslinger_burrito wrote:Yeah, I was thinking that a 30" would probably be the ticket.

Mudfuzz VI.
It's what you want, It's what you need.

Agreed, Mudfuzz VI that jank.

Achtane wrote:

MEC wrote:

gunslinger_burrito wrote:Yeah, I was thinking that a 30" would probably be the ticket.

Mudfuzz VI.
It's what you want, It's what you need.

Agreed, Mudfuzz VI that jank.

You guys lost me

But whatever you're talking about sounds intriguing.

It's a 30" scale using a Tele body with a Dano Longhorn Bass neck.
Looks rad, sounds rad, easy to DIY!



Pre Humbucker

So, does a regular guitar nut fit on those Longhorn necks?

Also, has anyone messed around with lighter bass strings on a guitar, a la Steve Brooks?