Not truly new bari strat

[tfarny]

So, my hardtail strat, I've had it for a few years and it never got enough playing time. Great guitar though. And I decided I needed a baritone - if I'm going to have a bunch of guitars, why not get some variety. So I got this basic maple / rosewood neck off the showcase and some SG38 tuners and here we are! Just set it up last night, the nut needs just a touch of work here and there but I'm very pleased.

Notes: The Ernie Ball bari string set is great because the low string is huge, you can tune right down to A and no flop, but the high string is very short - just barely, barely long enough to wrap it with a string-through bridge and strat neck. Locking tuners would help that but then you have problem #1 - no tuner can handle that huge low string (.075 or something). I had to drill out the SG38 with a hand drill to accept it. No big deal though. Turning down the bass all the way on the amp totally clears up any "mud" issue so far - just playing quiet and clean, anyhow - I have a SD cool rails I may eventually try out depending on how these Area 58s hold up at proper volume. This is mainly for clean country sounds though. The neck itself is very straight after just one truss rod adjustment, the best fret and nut job I've seen out of warmoth yet. I also really, really like dark and oily rosewood boards. This board is a reminder that rosewood is a fine quality wood for musical instruments, if you get the right piece.
So, nothing flashy but a fun change-up to the collection.

 

[TroubledTreble]

Diggin it!! I wish I had one... In fact I have a body lying around wondering what to do with it and I think I now know  :sign13: .. Thank you!

Was this an "F" strat or a "W"? Did all go smoothly other than the setup?

 

[JimBeed]

Nice guitar, id say your travelling into a normal A bass string thickness with that low string, or D String hehe

 

[tfarny]

Thanks - TT, the body is a W that I've had for a few years in a couple of different incarnations. I did the sunburst myself in nitro. I even sold it and then bought it back at one point. Setup notes: You definitely want vintage fender (wide) string spacing, due to the thickness of the strings. The fretboard on the bari necks is slightly wider too which eliminates the issue of strings sliding off. Intonation was easy, the low string has to go back quite a ways though. The W nut was the best I've seen from them, and they clearly intended the slots for bari strings. I appreciate that. The 3rd string is a bit high, but that's an ez fix.
I'm tuning B to B for now but can drop the low string to A (drop D down a fourth) and still have a bit of snap in the string. Daddario makes a couple gauges of bari string, but their low strings are a bit light which to me is stupid in a bari.
It is just begging to play Folsom Prison Blues & Big River, but for more atmospheric types of uses I'll have to experiment with some settings. It's not a metal guitar by any means though, and I don't have that kind of amp anyhow. I might try it with DADGAD down a fourth or something like that, just for grins. I also have a HH pickguard and pups I may try at some point, but vintage output strat pickups seem to be getting me near what I want so far.

 

[Donierio]

:hello2:
Good Work!!!!!!! I love the 24 frets guitar with top rout and your pickguard!!!

Where you buy the pickguard?

I was thinking about build a 24 frets top rout guitar and I don't know where I find the pickguard for this guitar.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Cool.  :guitaristgif:

 

[tfarny]

:hello2:
Good Work!!!!!!! I love the 24 frets guitar with top rout and your pickguard!!!

Where you buy the pickguard?

I was thinking about build a 24 frets top rout guitar and I don't know where I find the pickguard for this guitar.

It's just a normal pickguard, any normal pickguard will work. You understand it's a baritone guitar, right? The 24 fret does not overhang much at all, you just bolt it to a standard body.

 

[TroubledTreble]

Cool! I'm getting closer to pulling the trigger on a neck. The body I have does have a vintage ( wider ) spacing on the bridge. Glad to hear the nut comes set up for the proper string set. I have to say I'm always a bit apprehensive about getting a neck that's listed as "standard thin" since all my other necks are fat. I think you have a fat neck or two. How does the bari neck feel going from one to the other? Does the wideness of it compensate for the thin profile. I wonder if they could make a fatter profile?

Have you done any clips?

 

[tfarny]

Hey Ken, sorry no clips I've been super busy. The sound I'm getting is mainly that Spaghettti Western kind of thing, I haven't even tried to make it sound heavy. As for the neck, it is pretty then, even though it is wider. I am a thicker neck fan like you, but this is not uncomfortable. Standard thin really is a pretty common neck size out there, it's not crazy thin. Looking forward to seeing yours man!