Mermaid/Undertone baritone build

[u.9]

I'm in hell... saving up for my next Warmoth build. I know you know these blues! This will be my third Warmoth... I converted my W padauk strat into a baritone a few years ago due to tone issues and extended range curiosity. I've since figured out the issues and want to move that baritone neck to a new body and reunite the previous strat body with its 25.5" rosewood/ebony neck. Just waiting for my bank account to also restore its rainy day buffer

My intention for this baritone will be somewhere between progressive rock/metal and ambient/experimental... articulate and assertive but also capable of exploring 20,000 leagues under the sea and luring sailors to the rocks I've been reading that swamp ash is a great core for baritones but the context often seems to be prog metal/djent which is much higher gain than I'm aiming for (I prefer low-output/organic pickups). Also, swamp in trans turquoise is visually brighter than I want, and RSA is too dark. So I'm going with roasted alder after seeing pics of it with black korina (ideally, I'd run with all BK but not convinced of its tonal suitability). Based on descriptions of alder, this should work for me since the pickups seem like they'll be plenty articulate/bright. *Would love to know anyone else's experience with alder as a baritone wood*

Specs so far will be:

• Soloist body, roasted alder core with black korina cap
  • H-X-H config (Seymour Duncan Pegasus bridge, Sentient neck)
  • Recessed TOM (angled strings)
  • All contours
  • 1 vol (500k audio taper), 1 tone (500k linear taper), 3-way LP toggle switch
  • 7/8" jack hole with football jack plate, black
  • Transparent Turquoise, satin
  • knobs TBD
• Telecaster baritone neck (2020 showcase buy)
  • modern tiltback construction
  • right-handed reverse
  • roasted maple shaft/ebony board
  • 1-11/16" nut
  • standard thin profile
  • 10-16" compound radius
  • SS6100 frets
  • TUSQ nut, black
  • Gotoh Magnun locking tuners, cosmo black
  • MOP dot inlays, white side dots
  • Strat heel shape
  • no finish (raw)
  • D'addario XL 14-68 nickel wounds (unless these are no longer long enough for the rev headstock on a TOM string-thru config)

Planning some other customizations, like a custom/DIY neck plate and either a MOP inlay mermaid cover plate or headstock tattoo, also bringing abalone into it somewhere! (I wish W did abalone block inlays) I wanted to do the dark wood accent line but Spike convinced me that it would most likely not be visible after paint/finishing. We'll see how disparate the top and core come out, maybe I can DIY a hairline pinstripe.

Here's my super-crappy mockup/preview that's helping me save up coin and tormenting me for a couple/few more weeks...

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Back in 2008/2009 when I worked at Warmoth, we had a number of “shop”guitars that we used to swap components on to try out. We had an alder body Strat with a Bari-neck on, I felt it was very balanced as my basswood bodied bucksin covered Tele was for many years until I sold that neck last year. Swamp ash May still keep a lot of the snap of the attack, but a different body would and a good pickup choice can give you a lot of tonal flexibility.

 

[u.9]

Hey Tony, good to hear from you! Appreciate your insight on this. My aim is indeed more versatility/flexibility (but not so much that I'll add a middle pickup/5-way) than just swampy snap, and with a touch of added warmth/mids so I'm reasonably optimistic about alder with these pickups after hearing your experience. Thanks!

 

[u.9]

UPDATE: The body order is in and confirmed! (extra thanks to Spike and Aaron for answering my rube questions on Unique Choice). Also updated my super crappy mockup in the OP.

I referenced a LOT of showcase and google images to estimate the color of trans turquoise on BK and RA but it will never be exact! I hope more people will post pics of their transparent and burst finishes on roasted woods.

 

[u.9]

This body has been many years in the planning, originally a VIP with black back/burst-over and turquoise dyed quilt maple in gloss but not a baritone, then a Diamondback standard scale or baritone in satin trans turquoise but in all black korina.

I always felt that Rabea Massaad's Chapman ML3s with the similar reverse Tele-ish headstock was an interesting look for baritone but didn't care much for the Tele body shape and prefer super-strat. The Soloist and reverse Tele pair up real well IMHO for a swimmy mermaid-ian look.

My only remaining major concern now is string length. The reverse headstock with TOM string-thru puts the wound strings at the limit of my D'addario XLs. The overall length (43") should be adequate but not the wound length (39") by the time you add in body thickness. I'm sure there are longer strings available but could I also just wind the string core (locking tuners) if the wound part doesn't reach?