Baritone guitars.

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I think tone has to do more with if the guitar is a baritone or not, then tuning. I think few would argue that a Bass VI's E-to-E tuning is actually a bass. It sounds more guitar-like than a bass, just really low.

It’s tuned the same as a bass. Put flats on it, like it would have had back then, and it sounds like a bass.

With instruments you have a pitch range: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contra bass.

So a Bass VI is a bass guitar, just like a regular 4 string bass.


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[texred]

Re: Baritone guitars.

A longer scale length dedicated baritone guitar is really unnecessary. Just put 11 -13s on your strat, depending on what tension you like. Job done.

Bass VIs look pretty cool. You could use it in place of a regular bass, or not. Have 2 basses going, maybe 1 clean and 1 dirty.

You KNOW what I like. . .
But I'm not the one after the Bass VI.
I had a mf come undone when I saw that Martian guitar in the link. WHATISITIGOTTAHAVEITORILLDIE

BTW Oscar, thanks for the cool tip. When I grow up, I'll get some 11s!!

 

[texred]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I think tone has to do more with if the guitar is a baritone or not, then tuning. I think few would argue that a Bass VI's E-to-E tuning is actually a bass. It sounds more guitar-like than a bass, just really low.

That is basically, well IS, what I'm after. Change my name to BassFreak (ohno please don't). Then I got too much education up to 30" necks. And then I lost my mind over that green creation in the link I posted to Silence Kid. What IS it???

 

[texred]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I think tone has to do more with if the guitar is a baritone or not, then tuning. I think few would argue that a Bass VI's E-to-E tuning is actually a bass. It sounds more guitar-like than a bass, just really low.

Link on post #16

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Baritone guitars.

A longer scale length dedicated baritone guitar is really unnecessary. Just put 11 -13s on your strat, depending on what tension you like. Job done.

Thanks, but I like my Strats the way they are. Why don’t you put a synchronised trem and SSL-1’s on a baritone?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Baritone guitars.

It’s tuned the same as a bass. Put flats on it, like it would have had back then, and it sounds like a bass.

With instruments you have a pitch range: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contra bass.

So a Bass VI is a bass guitar, just like a regular 4 string bass.


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I don't believe that. If you are relating it to voices, (soprano, alto..etc), it has more to do with the tone than actual range of the singer. Music major and all.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Baritone guitars.

The Bass VI has a different timbre than a P Bass, but it still sounds the fundamental same as any other bass. So if you put flats on it, or eq your amp for a fat sound, and play it like a bass and not a guitar, it will sound like a bass.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I don't believe that. If you are relating it to voices, (soprano, alto..etc), it has more to do with the tone than actual range of the singer. Music major and all.

You’ve heard of a tenor guitar? And a bass guitar? Same thing. This is standard terminology that’s been around hundreds of years.

A baritone is typically tuned a 4th below standard (B-B). A Bass is an octave below.

And no, it has to do with the range of the singer, not the tone. You never took any music theory classes?

From Wikipedia. See the note ranges?

“Soprano: the highest female voice, being able to sing C4 (middle C) to C6 (high C), and possibly higher.

Mezzo-soprano: a female voice between A3 (A below middle C) and A5 (2nd A above middle C).

Contralto: the lowest female voice, F3 (F below middle C) to E5. Rare contraltos possess a range similar to the tenor.

Tenor: the highest male voice, B2 (2nd B below middle C) to A4 (A above Middle C), and possibly higher.

Baritone: a male voice, G2 (two Gs below middle C) to F4 (F above middle C).

Bass: the lowest male voice, E2 (two Es below middle C) to E4 (the E above middle C”


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[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Baritone guitars.

And:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_guitar

“A standard guitar's standard tuning (from lowest–pitched string to highest) is E2–A2–D3–G3–B3–E4.
While no standard tuning has been established for baritone guitars, popular tunings for the instrument are: a perfect fourth lower than a standard guitar (B1–E2–A2–D3–F♯3–B3), a perfect fifth lower (A1–D2–G2–C3–E3–A3), or a major third lower (C2–F2–A♯2–D♯3–G3–C4).

Typically strung with 13 gauge (.013-.062) or 14 gauge (.014-.068) baritone guitar strings, as well as 12 gauge (.012-.060) guitar strings can also be used.”


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[Mincer]

Re: Baritone guitars.

Sorry, not buying it. This is literally what I went to school for. As intended, with standard strings (not flats) a Bass VI doesn't sound like a bass. It was never really used as a bass on recordings and used as another voice- like a cello would..playing alternate melodies. The type of instrument has absolutely everything to do about timbre, and it just isn't about range. But hey, I am not debating what I know for a fact as a composer. This is about instruments, so back on topic.

 

[texred]

Re: Baritone guitars.

The Bass VI has a different timbre than a P Bass, but it still sounds the fundamental same as any other bass. So if you put flats on it, or eq your amp for a fat sound, and play it like a bass and not a guitar, it will sound like a bass.

I think, they shouldn't have resurrected the name, for that very reason. If it's a bari guitar, it's not a bass. I don't know how it sounds yet (tomorrow), but Oscar, if it has a different timbre than a bass, before any changes, and guitar setup, and left E to E, doesn't that make it different than a bass?

Asking for a lesson-

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I think it's interesting to note that the Bass VI "sounds like a guitar" vs. a bass, all things being equal in string types. My definition would have been more centered on scale; a Mustang Bass, a Bass VI, and an EB0 all have the same 30" scale, and are tuned with the same lowest note. Yet I also classed a Bass VI as a baritone in my previous post.

Another way to think of it: a Musicmaster bass is also 30" scale, and uses *basically* the same pickup as a Bass VI (they're both just six pole Strat pickups: the Bass VI has a Jaguar claw or chrome bezel, the Musicmaster has a Mustang cover.) So is the Musicmaster Bass able to be classed more a "four string baritone guitar" than a bass?

What about the Bass V for that matter; a 30" scale five string bass with a high B string and 15 frets?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I'd have no problem at all playing bass traditionally on the VI. From watching demos, people seem to be all excited to be playing a unique instrument so they always play it like a guitar. I suppose it could be viewed as either a baritone guitar or a bass. It doesn't matter to me tho.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Baritone guitars.

This is true. There is no definitive answer on what it is. People use it to create new music, so I am cool with that. You can kinda compare it to a 5 or 6 string violin. Is it really a viola, too? Not really, it doesn't have the timbre of a viola...it sounds like a violin playing in the viola range.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Baritone guitars.

Didn’t Jack Bruce use a Bass VI for awhile in Cream?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Baritone guitars.

Yes he did, but it wasn't his best bass sound. The timbre of the tone was all wrong.

 

[texred]

Re: Baritone guitars.

I'd have no problem at all playing bass traditionally on the VI. From watching demos, people seem to be all excited to be playing a unique instrument so they always play it like a guitar. I suppose it could be viewed as either a baritone guitar or a bass. It doesn't matter to me tho.

Get back in your can.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Baritone guitars.

Yes he did, but it wasn't his best bass sound. The timbre of the tone was all wrong.

Do you know if he used it on any recordings? I’ve only seen concert pics with it.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Baritone guitars.

Get back in your can.

 

[Zombiwoof]

Re: Baritone guitars.

A Bass VI is tuned E-E an octave lower than standard. A baritone is usually B-B, so it’s not as low and easier to work into music than a Bass VI.


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Many players have restrung Bass VI's with baritone sets, either with a low B or low A, and used them as baritone guitars. I would guess that over the years more of them have been used that way then tuned as a 6-string bass. Of course, these days there are many more options for baritone guitars then in the past, but the Bass VI can be used as a baritone guitar.
Al