| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| DennisC |
Posted - 07/09/2012 : 07:08:38 AM
I played around a bit with a baritone guitar and really liked the lower overall tone. Baritones are tuned B to B; 2 1/2 steps below standard guitar tuning. Seems like a baritone would sound great for much slack key but I haven't heard anything of baritones in slack key playing. I'm just curious what the opinions are. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| haolebrownie |
Posted - 07/25/2012 : 1:46:21 PM
Cool. Glad you are following up and posting your experience. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 07/25/2012 : 07:49:34 AM
My Alvarez baritone (ABT60) arrived Thursday evening and has been getting a lot action since. Without getting all gushy, it suffices to say the spread in tonal quality and playability between this mass-produced baritone and the high end instruments costing many times more is far, far closer than the price spread. Looks good too...even has real abalone. I can strongly recommend it to anyone curious about adding a baritone to their repertoire...if you can find one! PM me and I'll pass on the info on the super deal I found with a good brick & mortar shop.
My initial adjustment is getting the baritone tunings straight for the tunings I commonly use; the B-Baritone equivalent for Taropatch is A-D-A-D-F#-A (I hope). I'll be experimenting with strings too. And suddenly my pinkie is again too short for some chord stretches! I'm still a beginner in slack key but the baritone is yet another motivator. I'm really glad I snagged this one. |
| Earl |
Posted - 07/15/2012 : 12:02:31 PM
Sounds right to me. I am very intereted in hearing your opinions on the Alvarez.
From your post on another channel, my in-laws summer in Flagstaff to avoid the Phoenix heat. Next time I am planning a trip to AZ I will let you know. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 07/13/2012 : 12:00:53 PM
Well, I just placed my order for the Alvarez and should have it in a week. So a baritone tuned for Taro Patch tabs will be A-D-A-D-F#-A? |
| RWD |
Posted - 07/12/2012 : 03:43:23 AM
A blast from the past...anyone remember myspace! Probably not LOL
Bill Benzel has some recordings using a baritone in slack style. Not all in baritone but I think you can tell by listening.
http://www.myspace.com/billbenzel |
| Retro |
Posted - 07/11/2012 : 6:54:55 PM
quote:
Originally posted by westernmost
If you want to hear an excellent instrument, check out the sound the Linda Manzer baritone guitar as used by Pat Metheny on his CD, "One Quiet Night"
Yeah, that's the one I was talking about; he also used it on "What's It All About." Linda was Jean Larrivee's protege, and she makes some wonderful instruments. She has built several for Metheny (including the bizarrely structured "Pikasso"). A friend of mine in Canada got one of her "Cowpoke" steel-string cutaways years ago and absolutely loves it (in fact, he's quoted on the page for that model, http://www.manzer.com/guitars/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=20). |
| thumbstruck |
Posted - 07/11/2012 : 4:26:59 PM
Shoots! I've been thinking about a baritone to play for acoustic gigs with the polka band. The alternatives: bajo sexto (bass 12, EADGCF- low to high) or a bajo quinto (bass 10, ADGCF). Bajos have heavy strings but a great back-up sound in the "polka" context (AJUA!). Ovation makes a baritone for about $600. Pardon my cross culturalness. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 8:19:57 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Fran Guidry
My buddy Tsuneyuki "Tony" Yamamoto is something of a baritone specialist. He can't match Alvarez on price, but he can do better than many custom luthiers. Here's a look at his models including a multi-scale baritone: http://yamamotoguitar.com/models.htm
Fran
Gorgeous instrument, but Mr Yamamoto would have to offer a heckuva senior discount for me! I'm about 90% decided to snag the low cost Alvarez to play around with. I found one at an Indiana dealer for $329 and free shipping! |
| westernmost |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 6:07:28 PM
I used a Tacoma baritone tuned to open D on my "Kimo Style" CD. If you want to hear an excellent instrument, check out the sound the Linda Manzer baritone guitar as used by Pat Metheny on his CD, "One Quiet Night" |
| Earl |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 6:07:12 PM
Fran, thanks for the point out. Interesting that Tony uses a zero fret. And my big paws would like the 1-7/8" neck width.
It happens that I will be heading for the Bay Area next month. I might have to make an appointment and try Tony's baritone.
As for the Taylor baritone, I cannot understand why they built it on the GS body, instead of the larger jumbo. When pursuing the lower frequencies, volume is very important. I think that is why the Taylor baritone is acoustically anemic, especially the lowest B string. I had the several opportunities to play their eight-string baritone. Even my friend who is hard of hearing thought that it was lacking something in the low's. There was a jumbo 315ce sitting nearby. Grabbing it, I tuned the two lowest strings down to match the baritone. The jumbo body clearly sounded better, even with standard scale length and regular medium gauge strings.
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| DennisC |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 08:32:56 AM
quote:
Originally posted by cyril
Aloha, I have an Ovation I tune to B Flat. Like a tenor or baratone ukulele, I also use heavy gauge strings instead of medium. I like to play it in A tuning. Sounds very good.
It's interesting how some guitars can tune down considerably and others don't seem to like it. I have a little Taylor GC Mini with a short (23.5) scale and it plays quite nicely in Taro Patch with the factory med. ga. strings, though the salesman was doubtful it would handle it without buzzing badly. |
| DennisC |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 08:28:29 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Earl
I'm not sure how scale length relates to projection, Dennis. It does help determine intonation and controls the string tension.
My scale comment is just a data point from my googling of info on baritones; but it does align with your comment on the Taylor, which has a 27" scale. I'm not enough of a steel-string guitar techie to comment on the physics. |
| cyril |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 08:14:27 AM
Aloha, I have an Ovation I tune to B Flat. Like a tenor or baratone ukulele, I also use heavy gauge strings instead of medium. I like to play it in A tuning. Sounds very good. |
| Fran Guidry |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 07:28:29 AM
My buddy Tsuneyuki "Tony" Yamamoto is something of a baritone specialist. He can't match Alvarez on price, but he can do better than many custom luthiers. Here's a look at his models including a multi-scale baritone: http://yamamotoguitar.com/models.htm
Ledward is playing my Yamamoto OMY in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ungc5L_eAY
Tony builds his bari guitars with a Manzer wedge, an approach pioneered by luthier Linda Manzer. The wedge construction gives a very deep body at the lap side, but narrows to a more manageable depth under the arm - 5" to 3.5" is the usual arrangement. The result is a large body volume for improved bass resonance while providing comfortable ergonomics for the player.
Here's my buddy Doug Young playing a Yamamoto 7 string baritone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ-YwXeUgJE
Fran |
| Earl |
Posted - 07/10/2012 : 06:16:03 AM
I'm not sure how scale length relates to projection, Dennis. It does help determine intonation and controls the string tension. I have not been able to play either Alvarez baritone. Larivee made a limited run of $1700 baritones last year, but they were pretty much sold out by the time I discovered them. Nothing this year that I know of.
For me neck width is a big deal. I need it to be 1-3/4" to feel right, and that probably becomes even more important when using the bigger diameter strings. The $1500 Alvarez is 1-11/16" neck width as I recall. I would have to actually play it to see if there is an issue.
Last August I went to the Headlsburg Guitar Festival with the specific goal of seeing baritones. I saw several and they were all quite nice, but the *least* expensive was $6500. Granted I was at a luthier-built guitar show, but that's a bit rich.
My Seagull dreadnought is currently wwearing much heavier strings (0.060" - 0.016") as a trial and is tuned down to B-B. The intonation suffers quite a bit on certain strings, but the acosutic tone easily beats those expensive Taylors. I actually picked up an extra used Seagull with the idea of routing out the slot to put in a double-wide saddle and compensating for the heavier strings. It won't be perfect, but there is some potential there. I should just go ahead with the experiment.
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