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?

 

[rskirkpatrick]

I am a big fan of baritone guitars. That looks very nice.

 

[u.9]

We all know the joy when that first UPS notification comes in! The body was done in half the lead time, too... only 7 of the 14+ weeks!

 

[Rick]

Sometimes they take a picture and send it to you of the box on your front stoop. One of my favorite pics!

 

[ghostrider25]

My UC body just arrived today as well, almost 7 weeks to the day.

 

[u.9]

My UC body just arrived today as well, almost 7 weeks to the day.

Woohoo!! What did you get and how did it turn out?

 

[ghostrider25]

Woohoo!! What did you get and how did it turn out?

I got my first Tele body. It’s all black korina body with a top similar to the one in my sig. I didn’t want to hijack your thread so I didn’t post a pic, but it looks absolutely killer. I’m super stoked with it. I’ll probably build it sometime after the first of the year. I still need a neck so hopefully my secret Santa will get me a Warmoth gift cert

 

[ghostrider25]

Woohoo!! What did you get and how did it turn out?

How did YOURS come out though?!

 

[u.9]

How did YOURS come out though?!

It's still on the UPS truck for another day. Luckily I'm off work tomorrow so will be here to receive it! Will post pics

 

[u.9]

I got my first Tele body. It’s all black korina body with a top similar to the one in my sig

That should make for a nice themed set of guitars! I'm also beginning to contemplate my first Tele build.

 

[u.9]

Body arrived today! Preliminary pics:





Turquoise really is hard to capture on camera!! I tried to color correct these a bit but they certainly do not capture how gorgeously deep and even it looks. The pics tend toward blue but it is a bit more to the green shade (cool, not warm; a deep jade!). Also the top appears a bit brighter in pics, whereas it blends really well into the darker sides/back. The back is almost black, but in good light the color is there and the hue matches the top perfectly (I had a concern that the roasted alder might go more green vs more blue on the BK; it did not).

As per the cautions with trans finishes on roasted woods, it IS dark, a bit darker than even I expected, and I'm very happy with that upon seeing it. Thanks to Spike for steering me away from the dark laminate access line as it would have indeed been invisible! The "eyes" (actually a bug burrow) on either side of the bridge pickup rout still managed to be visible, while the orange streaks behind the bridge post holes are happily not orange.

The neck pictured is not the baritone for this build (it's the rosewood/ebony strat neck that will be swapping out for the bari neck on my AutumCaster Warmoth). But I might use it for a bit since they also look great together.

Only one hiccup so far... in the last pic you can see the paint is chipped on the edge of the neck heel (verified with a loupe that it IS underneath the clear coat). Didn't notice it until after I fit the neck in place. For $800+, I'm kind of irked that it was not caught in QC but I can live with it (I'll patch it) as the body is otherwise exquisite!

Neck step is to start sourcing the actual hardware (not what's pictured). Planning on cosmo black where I can, to match the tuners, and black for anything else.

 

[bagman67]

I would not have expected transparent turquoise to look so good on black limba; but obviously I don't know jack. That's a gorgeous instrument you're building.