Baritone recommendations?

domforr · October 2016

Hi all. I'm looking into adding a good baritone to my acoustic armoury. Seems like they have a real depth and resonance that might be lacking from the usual 6 string acoustic. The one that grabbed my interest was the Yairi YB1, which I recently saw on ebay. I didn't bid on it as it wasn't possible to play it before buying, which is too much of a risk for me. Anyone use a baritone, or used one in the past? Any thoughts on best value/sound in this area?

ToneControl · October 2016

I had a Yairi YB1, I was not very impressed - It was a bit dead sounding, I think the top was too thick

I have 2 excellent acoustic baritones:
Avalon L1-320C
Alan Arnold Beltane (I am not sure if he still makes guitars)

What is your budget?

domforr · October 2016

I was hoping under a thousand really, although maybe it's worth holding out a bit to get something of a higher quality.

paganskins · October 2016

The north american guitar have got an Avian baritone reduced

domforr · October 2016

Looks interesting, although I've never heard of the brand before. Have you played them?

paganskins · October 2016

domforr said:

Looks interesting, although I've never heard of the brand before. Have you played them?

No, but they have been well received by the cork sniffing bunch on the acoustic guitar forum and the video demos I've heard sound good.

Even reduced it's still a lot for a Chinese made guitar though even if it is master luthier designed and hand crafted with high QC, saying that it does have a pickup and case.

There isn't much out there under £500. The stanford big bang one sounds OK, there's a few videos out there and Thomann carry them.

Also if you look around there are some Taylor baritones under £1k 2nd hand which would have a case as well.

domforr · October 2016

Furch seem to have some around the thousand mark, although again, it's not a brand I've tried before.

paganskins · October 2016

domforr said:

Furch seem to have some around the thousand mark, although again, it's not a brand I've tried before.

They seem to get good reviews, If you're OK with cedar tops this furch seems good value.

domforr · October 2016

He's actually got a few interesting baritones there (http://rguitars.co.uk/products/auden-edgar-baritone-cedar-fullbody), so might be worth a visit.

paganskins · October 2016

domforr said:

He's actually got a few interesting baritones there (http://rguitars.co.uk/products/auden-edgar-baritone-cedar-fullbody), so might be worth a visit.

Indeed, he does seem to stock a higher than normal quantity of baritones.

A baritone acoustic is something I'm considering but I need to pull my finger out and sell something first to free up the funds and more importantly make some space.

domforr · October 2016

Tell me about it! I find it's far easier to buy than sell for some reason

ToneControl · October 2016

domforr said:

He's actually got a few interesting baritones there (http://rguitars.co.uk/products/auden-edgar-baritone-cedar-fullbody), so might be worth a visit.

I saw one of those in Manchester:
https://www.forsyths.co.uk/guitars/128018-auden-edgar-.html

ToneControl · October 2016

what note range do you want to play?

I found the Arnold 29 inch can do B-B
28 inch and below I would recommend D-D

Larrivee did a very good baritone based on the SD60 body btw
the BT-03
they go for less than £1k used in the US

Gassage · October 2016

Robert Merrill.

Widely regarded as the greatest Baritone in history.

domforr · October 2016

tricky to get hold of though (without a shovel).

domforr · October 2016

I do like the idea of dropping below D, as I already have a 12 string that's DADGAD and an acoustic that's tuned half a tone down.

ToneControl · October 2016

the Yairi scale is 27.5 inch for example, which sounded poor with a baritone set run B-B

I have the Avalon (28 inch) tuned D-D, it sounds amazing
the Alan Arnold can do B-B, but be aware that the low B is quiet, as with all unamplified acoustics - since the normal guitar body cavity is too small to reinforce lower notes well, on real contrabass guitars (E-E) the bottom E is almost inaudible

I'd recommend a longer neck for B-B, and consider C-C as well, there seems to be a sweet spot for gauges and pitch for any guitar

domforr · October 2016

The Avalon does look amazing. I agree about the sweet spot. I've only just found it on my 1966 Gibson J50, which needed a heavier 12 gauge set of strings to really sound good.

EreforGuitarGear · October 2016

I have an Alvarez ABT-60e that I'm thinking of selling for around the £300 mark inc hard case.

domforr · October 2016

Hi, I'll look into it and get back to you.

domforr · October 2016

So, back on this subject. I have an old rather unused Cort jumbo acoustic. Is it possible to use this as a Baritone by simply adding on a baritone set of strings, low tuning and having it set up properly. It would be nice to get some use out of the guitar, but maybe it would just be a 'virtual' baritone mimicking the real thing? Neck length seems to be important and I'm not sure off hand what mine is, so I'll need to check this.

ToneControl · October 2016

domforr said:

So, back on this subject. I have an old rather unused Cort jumbo acoustic. Is it possible to use this as a Baritone by simply adding on a baritone set of strings, low tuning and having it set up properly. It would be nice to get some use out of the guitar, but maybe it would just be a 'virtual' baritone mimicking the real thing? Neck length seems to be important and I'm not sure off hand what mine is, so I'll need to check this.

Just don't insist on going to A-A or B-B, find the lowest the guitar wants to go whilst sounding OK
With normal scale length and 16-70 strings, it might be C-C

play with this tool to find which strings get you to the same tension on the neck as your normal set
http://vinic.free.fr/strings/

domforr · October 2016

Thanks, that's handy. Looks like the closest in a C-C drop tuning with a 25.3 inch neck are the 14-70 strings. Still a difference in tension though. Normal tension is 146.1834 and with the baritone strings and tuned to C-C it's 151.4482. Would that be ok tension wise?

ToneControl · October 2016

domforr said:

Thanks, that's handy. Looks like the closest in a C-C drop tuning with a 25.3 inch neck are the 14-70 strings. Still a difference in tension though. Normal tension is 146.1834 and with the baritone strings and tuned to C-C it's 151.4482. Would that be ok tension wise?

very little difference, maybe a small tweak to the truss rod. Check the difference between 11s and 12s in a normal tuning, I bet it's the same or a little bit more

domforr · October 2016

Thanks mate - very helpful.

EreforGuitarGear · November 2016

Alvarez no good then?

domforr · November 2016

Sorry, should have got back to you on this. I've converted my old Cort Jumbo into a sort of baritone and it seems to be doing the job for the moment. Thanks for the offer though.

sticker · November 2016

EreforGuitarGear said:

Alvarez no good then?

@EreforGuitarGear I'd be interested in seeing some pics & details etc. are you going to put up an ad for it ?

EreforGuitarGear · November 2016

Hey @sticker I can send you some pics... PM me your email address and I'll send you some inc a link to the blurb on the ABT-60e

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