Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

[mongrollo]

It is just an idea that came to my mind. My be if you load the guitar with heavy gauge strings (13-56) and tune it to B... Or may be not even necesarely a fixed set, you could use something like 22-56.

The main problem should be to have a stiff action so the strings doesn't sound too dull and floppy.

Does anybody think it is possible?

[Rich_T]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

i use 13s in C. works just fine for me. Slightly stiffer than 10s in E. another half step down would work fine. i find baritones too much of a stretch, but love the dark sound of low tunings. this does the job!

[msplines]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

If you've got a long scale neck then you can use tunings down to B without too much drift in the tuning. Unless you've got big holes in the tuning pegs, you won't be able to get much past 54 on the thickest string, which is still a bit rubbery. The others should be OK, but you'll need a wound third string.

[mongrollo]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

i use 13s in C. works just fine for me. Slightly stiffer than 10s in E. another half step down would work fine. i find baritones too much of a stretch, but love the dark sound of low tunings. this does the job!

Does your neck suffers from the tension? Or with the drop tune there isn't much tension?

[Kent S.]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

A frien d of mine did it with great results about 8 years back when he was playing thrash originals, I'll have to find the string gauges that he used, he search, and experimented like crazy to find them (25.5" scale), but they felt really good (and this is coming from someone who plays .008s ... I hardly even noticed the strings being larger ... I'll have to look thru my stuff, but I've gotten them written down somewhere. B,E,A,D,F#,B , that played trhu a Mesa 50 caliber+ and two 4-12's ... heavy indeed.
I'll get back with the gauges.

[Rich_T]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

Does your neck suffers from the tension? Or with the drop tune there isn't much tension?

it works out at about the same tension as 10s in E because of the tuning. its absolutely fine for he neck.Thats why ive never really understood the point of baritones, when you can get just the same effect with heavy guage strings, with very little change in feel.

[southadc]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

Put a baritone conversion neck on the guitar if you want the scale length, otherwise just put some heavier strings on and tune down. I have two 25.5 inch scale seven string guitars, where I use a 56 for the 'B' string, and that doesn't flap about too much.

Don't Slipknot do this?

[Kent S.]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

My bud used this gauge of strings, he used to have to order a dozen of each individual string, he would work a deal with his local music music store ... His set ran as follows: .012 plain, .017 plain, .026 wound, .036 wound, .050 wound, and .066 wound. Worked great, although I refer to a guiatr tuned down to *B* as a contra rather than a baritone, that's probably backwards actually ... oh well ...

[XSSIVE]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

If you don't want dull and floppy go BIG on the strings...i have one 21 fret mexican fat strat with EMG pickups (85 in the bridge) set up for my low tunings mostly a form of Drop C (C G D G B E) with a set of Zakk Wylde GHS Boomers 11-14-18-36-52-70 yeah that's right, a 70 low E hehehe. With those Wylde strings and the 70 low E, the tension on what is normally the low E tuned to C is about the same as a 46 set to E...so going to B on these isn't a problem at all...going to B feels like a 46 tuned to Eb or so...strings are cheap, can't hurt to try a few things out to get the sound and feel your looking for. But try out the Zakk Wylde Lo Tune signature strings if your nuts enough to play a 70 gauge...and 11 gauge is fine for B tuning also, not floppy at all. I hardly play in B so i just went and tuned to B to test them out before answering and they work like a charm, no problems at all, no floppy strings, sounds great...i guess i'll play around in B today haha...anyone know any good heavy songs to learn in B? hope that helps a bit.

-Mike

[Dime59hum]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

I use 10-60 in standard, so I would recommend that you use 15-80 for B. And yes, I had to file a little to get the 60 in there.

[mongrollo]

Re: Can you get a Baritone from a normal scale guitar?

Thanks every one for the inputs! I think i am going to tried it on my danelectro...

Thanks again!