Anybody double on Baritone guitar ?

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 27 Feb 2009 7:46 pm

I`ve been bringing a Baritone guitar and using it very sparingly, maybe one song per set. The band and the crowd really dig it, and the steel amp seems perfect for baritone guitar.

Heres the problem: Obviously the output is way higher on the steel pickup (trutones at 18k) compared to the stock strat type pickups in the Baritone. Jacking up the volume knob for the bari is not the way to go, I would like to run both instruments into an A/B box, and into the amp.

So...I guess I need a way to boost the signal of the Bari going into the A/B box.

Any Ideas?? I saw the Seymour duncan pickup booster on another posters pedal board. Would this do the job without adding distortion? Anybody fool with one?
Thanks!!

Lee Jeffriess · Post by **Lee Jeffriess** » 27 Feb 2009 8:00 pm

Steve, does your amp(what is it) have two channels with individual Vol controls??.
Lee

Loren Claypool · Post by **Loren Claypool** » 28 Feb 2009 8:44 am

I've used the Seymour Duncan unit in a similar situation and was pleased with the results; more volume and the unit is transparent.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 28 Feb 2009 9:15 am

If I play bari, it's usually triple or quadruple. I almost always have a steel and a guitar, and sometimes a bari or banjo is called for.

I have an old Silvertone Danelectro 2-pickup red-sparkle amp-in-the-case that I have set up with uber-heavy strings tuned A-A or B-B. Then there's a new Fender Jaguar Baritone Guitar (basically a pretty dead-on copy of an old Fender 6-string bass with a slightly different scale length) that I sometimes set up down to E-E and other times set up G-G or A-A. The other thing that does that is a reissue Danelectro Mod 7, which is just a 7-string guitar with the low string tuned down to B.

I love the sound of the baritone guitar - sometimes tic-tac, sometimes with tremelo or vibrato. It requires quite a bit of sonic space and both the bass player and I have to stay out of each others' way.

I usually use a single rig - NV 1000, NV 112, or either a Dual Showman Reverb or component system with a heavy duty speaker cab - and use a Pod for guitar and bari. The Pod sits right next to me, and I can just tweak the levels any way I need to. I just set it up as close to my blackface Deluxe Reverb as I've been able to do, and let the big rig scale the volume as needed. The pedal steel just gets plugged straight into the amp, and the output of the Pod gets plugged into the power-amp in of the solid-state rigs, or into the 2nd input of the Dual Showman. Sounds complex, but it's really not that bad.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 28 Feb 2009 3:07 pm

same problem here, two instruments with wildly varrying output levels

I want an A/B box with good ground and a volume control on one of the inputs. I think I am going to go over to general guitar gadgets and ask them if their a/b box kit can be modded in such a manner and could they help me out with the schematic and parts...

Craig Stenseth · Post by **Craig Stenseth** » 28 Feb 2009 4:06 pm

I used the same amp for lap steel and bass guitar, running from the instrument into a Digitech stomp box (RP 50). I made the 1st program on the pedal my "mute", to totally cut the volume when plugging/unplugging the instrument cable. The 2nd program was set up for lap steel (a little reverb, etc.). I used the pedal's "bypass" function most of the time (for bass). This was probably a compromise, but didn't take up much extra room on stage, and the price was right.

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 28 Feb 2009 4:49 pm

Lee, if I had a two channel amp, man that would be the answer. I use a Ken Foxed NV 400 (which sounds unbelievable) or a WEBB, or a NV112. All three sound great for both Bari & Steel, with no tweaking of EQ or effects, just a mis-match of volume. It would be hip if the A/B box had the volume boost for one channel.

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 28 Feb 2009 4:55 pm

I forgot to mention, I like to switch instruments during a song. I might start off on steel, hit the A/B and squeeze off a Bari solo, and back to steel. It`s really tough to be unplugging, fiddling with knobs in the dark, trying to turn around 180 degrees with a guitar in your lap etc..I need to just hit the A/B box and let it rip.

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 28 Feb 2009 5:05 pm

Lee, if I had a two channel amp, man that would be the answer. I use a Ken Foxed NV 400 (which sounds unbelievable) or a WEBB, or a NV112. All three sound great for both Bari & Steel, with no tweaking of EQ or effects, just a mis-match of volume. It would be hip if the A/B box had the volume boost for one channel.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 1 Mar 2009 7:29 am

I love playing Baritone! I use a split-cab Twin with a 15" speaker. Kline through the Normal channel, Bari/guitar through the Vibrate-Oh! channel. Bari is B to B using SIT Pro Spec 1164 string set. It plays just like a normal 6-string cuz I use a 22p for the third. Favorite song to play on baritone is "Highlander Boogie." Sounds cool "down low!" Not much call for Tic Tac, but that would be done with the Dano. Whenever I need to clean boost something, I use a Keeley Katana pedal.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 1 Mar 2009 8:12 am

Forum member Mark Van Allen made something close to what we want:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=151129

I want to combine this with an a/b box.
Mark if your reading this, would you be willing to share with us how a volume pot might be wired into this DIY a/b box from fulltones site?
http://www.fulltone.com/PDfFiles/AB_switcher.pdf

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 1 Mar 2009 8:40 am

Ben, it looks like you could use that A/B box with a clean booster on the guitar with no problem. Steel into A, guitar with boost into B.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 1 Mar 2009 9:44 am

Thats sort of what Im doing now John, but I'd rather be able to use the boost for solos, and have the a/b box do the task of evening the signals if I could. also i just like to build stuff

It doesnt seem like it should be complex to throw a volume pot into that circuit but i dont know how to.

ON the subject of Baritones, nice guitar above, thats cool! I have an Eastwood Baritone and I got what I paid for. Its heavy and kinda cheap. Im not in love with it.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 1 Mar 2009 10:40 am

Ben, perhaps you could set the boost with the volume lowered on your guitar, and then just turn up the guitar's volume for soloing?
My baritone is a Warmoth body and conversion neck, with Fender electronics. It was kinda expensive to build, but is a guitar that amazes everyone who tries it. I had ordered just a plain grained neck from Warmoth, but they charged me and then lost my order. To rectify their error, they sent me the most beautiful curly/birdseye neck in it's place! Good company!

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 1 Mar 2009 11:28 am

John, Ive always wanted to build a warmoth guitar. a baritone tele would be what I'd do. I was admiring that neck on yours. I'll probably do it some day if the economy ever rights itself again.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 1 Mar 2009 12:16 pm

Ben, I'd had that body for a couple of years with a Tele neck on it. When I found out that the Warmoth conversion necks just straight bolted onto a Strat or a Tele, I couldn't resist! Keep watchin' their site, sometimes they have closeouts, blems, or overstock that they sale out.

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 2 Mar 2009 6:38 pm

John,
Your guitar is super hip. I`m trying to figure a way to tic-tac without being too busy, but mostly just soloing. I rarely play the treble strings, or past the fifth fret. It`s a blast!! I`m tuning A to A, using it mostly in songs in A or D, to blast those open strings.
I purchased the Seymour Duncan Pickup booster off e-bay, and that shoud solve the output problem without having to jack the amp knobs.
I would love to hear some tricks/tips from those who play the Bari.
Thanks to all who responded.

James Mayer · Post by **James Mayer** » 4 Mar 2009 5:31 pm

This thread is a fine excuse to show off my bari. It's a custom Jerry Jones, handmade in Nashville. I tried several baritones, including the Eastwood, and nothing even came close to the spaghetti western tones this guitar produces. I'm in love with it.

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John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 4 Mar 2009 6:04 pm

Jerry's guitars are abdo-lutely fabulous! Try my string gauges. Get rid of the wound third string. You'll be very pleasantly surprised.

James Mayer · Post by **James Mayer** » 4 Mar 2009 10:36 pm

John, info? Link?

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 5 Mar 2009 12:49 am

Info is in his earlier post:

Bari is B to B using SIT Pro Spec 1164 string set. It plays just like a normal 6-string cuz I use a 22p for the third.

and here: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=1155325

John, is that a purely custom set they make for you or is it commercially available? I've been using SIT strings on most of my electric guitars (except jazz boxes with flat wraps) for a long time, but I've never seen a stock SIT bari set. Even juststrings.com doesn't list one.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 5 Mar 2009 6:46 am

Dave, I don't know if it's commercially available, but they did name it. You'd have to contact them to find out. However, here are the gauges for the PRO SPEC 1164 set.
.012-.017-.022-.036-.050..064
Keep in mind that the Warmoth conversion necks have a scale of 28 5/8 inches. I can't measure the scale on my Dano because Neil Zaza refuses to give it back! So, depending on scale lengths, some adjustment might be necessary. I spent quite a while working on that string set, as I wanted a baritone that played just like a regular 6-string. I wanted to be able to easily bend strings at least a whole tone. And I wanted an unwound 3rd string. Although it takes a bit more finger strength, I can play anything on it, Donahue and Gatton stuff sounds great down deep! All those double and oblique bends can be done with this set. You might want to try a 24p for the third.
Also note that my guitar has a Hipshot "D" tuner, although, in the case of a B to B baritone, it's actually an "A" tuner. An extremely cool sound! The Hipshot did not require any modification to accept the .064 string.

My buddy's site. I played pedal steel on his cd "Staring At The Sun" and Lapsteel on one of his Christmas cds. I lent him the Dano, and he fell in love with it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Zaza

Loren Claypool · Post by **Loren Claypool** » 5 Mar 2009 10:22 am

Here's a link to my custom Baritone Tele - http://budurl.com/8pyd . Click on the "baritone tele chronicles" link for a play-by-play of the conversion process.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 5 Mar 2009 10:33 am

LC,
What's the value of the tone cap? I always like to experiment. I already have a pull pot that turns on the bridge pup on my baritone Warmoth/Strat. I could put in another one to switch between caps.

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Anybody double on Baritone guitar ?

Anybody double on Baritone guitar ?

what amp

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what amp

Baritone guitar