Baritone Tele Project!

[Benjy_26]

Based on the last thread, I've decided to follow the majority's advice and set up this guitar to be a solid body. Now, the questions is, what body wood is best for a long scale, solid axe that will be used to play anything from jazz, to country, to rock and hard rock?

Currently, the specs decided upon are as follows:

*28" USACG 24 fret BAritone conversion neck in birdseye maple. It will be finished using gun oil ( as used on the old G&L's, if memory serves correctly), "Slow Hand" contour.

* Kluson Schaller or Sperzel locking tuners

* LSR roller nut.

* Jumbo frets

* Solid body

Currently, thinking of going with one of four choices: Mahogany, Swamp Ash, Maple, or Alder.

Let me know what y'all think.

 

[JaySwear]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

i've always loved all the guitars i've owned that were swamp ash, so it gets my vote. both weight and sound wise, always seems to turn out well with ash

 

[Will S-T]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

I voted for Alder because I like it's definition particularly in bass guitars and thats
the tonal range you'll be closest to with that scale length. The maple neck will
also help with the higher registers.

Klusons because the heavier string gauges will be a problem with the locking tuners.
The LSR nut wont handle the thicker strings either.
A six saddle bridge may help with intonation though a brass three saddle would be
more than fine and look great! Modern compensated three saddles may indeed
over compensate on intonation.

What pickups are you contemplating??

I'm yet to decide on my bari project.
It's a Warmoth 28 5/8 compound radius tele headstock with a rosewood board.
Body is chambered ash with a 5mm flame maple cap, about 4.5 pounds.
Hardware is klusons, a B5 Bigsby and jazzmaster bridge.

I think I'll assemble her first to get a feel for it's acoustic properties before I decide on pickups.

Good luck with the build and do post pics!!:friday:

 

[J Moose]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

The first problem I see with your specs as they sit is that an LSR nut won't take the large diameter strings. Typical set of bari strings is 14-70 so you'll have to use a standard nut... I've even seen 20-90 sets!!! Sperzel tuners might be another issue... I'm not sure they'll accept the fat strings either.

Another thing you may also want to consider is going with a 1 3/4" nut or wider to accommodate the fatter strings. Its not a guitar, its more like bass... if the nut width is too narrow it won't be comfortable to play.

The 'best' choice for body wood, would I think largely depend on what sort of pickups you want to put in. One of the best sounding bari's I've ever played was a Music Man silhouette that was owned by john petrucci... and I think it was basswood or alder. Totally stock with the two humbuckers.

My own bari-tele is the hotrod tele that was owned by Wattage & painted by butnut. Fairly shortly after I took delivery I decided to set it up as a baritone though it has a 25.5 scale and not longer. That was based partly on the width of the neck which is super wide and the fact that I've missed having the Dan-O bari around since it was sold... even though it always played like complete junk.

Not sure what the body wood is... ash? Its on the heavy side but sounds fine. With the heavy strings tuned to B standard its got a vibe for sure! In this picture its got a hot rails & jazz that were seconds away from being yanked. Now it has a quarter pound & Prails with triple shot. MUCH better! Has more snap & midrange complexity now.

For me the bari isn't an everyday ride... its more about having some versatility inherent so it can slide in & live among other elements in a crowded musical environment. The lower output pickups & having all various switching options helps a lot with that. The hot-rails with the low tuning & heavy strings was often "too much" for anything but DI's or "metal" amps.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

Thanks for the tips, everyone.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

i've got two telecasters...one's a Lite Ash, the other's a Jim Adkins model

both are swamp ash and have been tuned to C standard at one point or another

i'm gona recommend getting as close to the JA-90 as possible with this project. It sounds so so so so good.

 

[John_L]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

Swamp Ash, it's a great wood to work with and it gives you a more woody tone for Jazz.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Baritone Tele Project!

Dang, ash and alder are in a dead heat.