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.
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.