Most Basic Question Ever

[JoryGriffin]

I apologise in advance but what exactly IS a Baritone guitar...

 

[angryman]

Don't apologise buddy, I'm not exactly an expert but my understanding is that it's just a Guitar with a longer scale to make low tunings sound more defined & give better string tension if you look in the extended range section you'll find iut more there

I also see you're still looking for a main 7, if you've still not found one you could do a lot worse than a Ibanez 1527! They're an awesome Guitar, great to play & quite cheap too I picked one up for a little over £500.

 

[metalfiend666]

To expand on that slightly, a baritone guitar is actually a guitar designed for a specific lower range than a regular guitar. Although the term is commenly used to describe guitars with longer than standard scales, they're not true baritones. However that is the most common usage of the term now.

/terminology-nazi

 

[angryman]

^^^
Yeah what he said

 

[Naren]

Yeh. What Metalfiend666 said.

They're usually like 28"-30" scale or so.

There are a lot of extended scale guitars that are like 26" or 27" and are referred to as "baritone", but aren't real baritone guitars.

Now, real baritones are oftentimes the same length as a bass.

Ibanez's Mike Mushok signature is a good example of a baritone.

 

[rogue]

am i right in saying that generaly they're just the bottom 6 strings of a 7

so.... b to b instead of e to e

 

[Naren]

am i right in saying that generaly they're just the bottom 6 strings of a 7

so.... b to b instead of e to e

No, that would be incorrect. You COULD do that, but that is not common by any means. That wouldn't be good for playing open chords either, because that'd be 4-4-4-4-3-4 instead of 4-4-4-3-4-4.

I've heard two common baritone tunings are E A D G B E (except 1 octave below a standard guitar) and A D G C E A. I have also heard of B E A D F# B.

 

[rogue]

ahh yes i never thought about the tuning pattern, thanks it makes more sense now perhaps one day i'll get one
thanks

 

[Firebeard]

I apologise in advance but what exactly IS a Baritone guitar...

Yeah don't apologise man, we're all here to help. I was wondering that myself until I found one and tried it out.

 

[metalfiend666]

I have also heard of B E A D F# B.

That's the tuning I use on one fo my Roswell Rhoads.

 

[bostjan]

Most of the pre-1990 baritones were tuned ADGCEA, and the really old six string basses were tuned EADGBE (one octave lower than a standard guitar).

There is no strict definition of Baritone guitar, but it is generally considered a guitar with a scale length of 28"-30", although 30" is also a bass scale, so there is some overlappage. Guitars from 26"-28" are generally termed "Extended scale."

There are also Soprano guitars (one octave higher), Alto guitars (tuned either a fourth or a fifth higher than a regular guitar) and Tenor guitars (tuned either like a four string banjo or the four smallest strings on a regular guitar). From this pattern, we see that a "Baritone guitar" is what is intended to be tuned either a fourth or a fifth below the guitar, and a Bass guitar is meant to be tuned an octave lower.

With alternate tunings, and varying scale lengths used by different manufacturers, these instruments can overlap with each other and be easily confused.

 

[Drew]

There is no strict definition of Baritone guitar, but it is generally considered a guitar with a scale length of 28"-30", although 30" is also a bass scale, so there is some overlappage. Guitars from 26"-28" are generally termed "Extended scale."

There are also Soprano guitars (one octave higher), Alto guitars (tuned either a fourth or a fifth higher than a regular guitar) and Tenor guitars (tuned either like a four string banjo or the four smallest strings on a regular guitar). From this pattern, we see that a "Baritone guitar" is what is intended to be tuned either a fourth or a fifth below the guitar, and a Bass guitar is meant to be tuned an octave lower.

You kinda hint at this, but from a strictly technical perspective, a baritone guitar is one that's intended to be tuned a fourth below standard (generally), regardless of scale lenght. Generally, baris are extended scale, but just as a 27" scale doesn't make a guitar baritone (i.e - the 1077), a baritone could definitely be 25.5. It just would probably sound better if it was longer.

 

[JoryGriffin]

Thanks... I get it now

And on the subject of my first seven.. I think i might be getting a Washburn WG587V with a handmade (i think) Warpig Bridge pickup

*Cheap and Cheerful*

 

[bostjan]

Go for it!

 

[David]

I'm going to have to admit that I too, didn't know exactly what the baritone meant. Good question.

 

[jtm45]

handmade (i think) Warpig Bridge pickup

*Cheap and Cheerful*

The guitar may be cheap but the Warpigs aren't that cheap.
Yes,they are hand-wound and made to order.

I have yet to try the Warpig7 but i ordered a Custom Warpig 6(they normally have a distressed metal cover but i ordered one with normal open black bobbins) a year or so ago for my SG.It cost around £90 i think.
I ordered and paid for it on the Friday and it was delivered to my door by the following Tuesday. That's exceptional for a custom made to order pickup.
It's a beast of a pickup too!

I was going to put a Warpig7 in my RG2027 but considering it'll cost me half the price for a Dimarzio D-Sonic7(£40 plus postage) or X2N7(£45 plus postage) from Eric i think i'll be trying one of those two first.

 

[JoryGriffin]

I wanted a distressed one but it's a regular... As long as it sounds good i guess

 

[metalfiend666]

I wanted a distressed one but it's a regular... As long as it sounds good i guess

I spoke to the guys at Bare Knuckle when I went to the London Guitar Show. They'd love to offer the distressed covers on the 7 string models, but noone makes covers for 7 string pickups. I see a gap in the market, I must learn how to manufacture these and I'd have every 7 string pickup manufacturer knocking at my door! Mwah ha ha ha ha.....!!!!!