Baritone guitars... And, go!

Congrats on your new setup. Hope it works out well for you.

If you wind up wanting to go a different route down the road, I suggest looking back into the Reverend Descent that you mentioned in the OP based on what you said you were looking for.

I don't have first hand experience with this particular Reverend but I love my Jetstream 390. I currently have the PRS SE 277 HB and Mike Mushok (selling the Mushok on reverb though). My baritone use is for alternative metal kind of stuff in Drop B mostly though.

The pros with the Descent is the relatively more manageable scale length at 26.75 makes it easier to play but the big thing is the bass contour knob. This knob really helps to thin out humbuckers and P90s into single coil territory (I got rid of my strat and lost my GAS for a tele after I got my 390). If all you want is single coils then you should be set with what you have now, but if you want something more versatile the Reverend would probably be best option to consider.
 
Tiger1016 said:
Congrats on your new setup. Hope it works out well for you.

If you wind up wanting to go a different route down the road, I suggest looking back into the Reverend Descent that you mentioned in the OP based on what you said you were looking for.

I don't have first hand experience with this particular Reverend but I love my Jetstream 390. I currently have the PRS SE 277 HB and Mike Mushok (selling the Mushok on reverb though). My baritone use is for alternative metal kind of stuff in Drop B mostly though.

The pros with the Descent is the relatively more manageable scale length at 26.75 makes it easier to play but the big thing is the bass contour knob. This knob really helps to thin out humbuckers and P90s into single coil territory (I got rid of my strat and lost my GAS for a tele after I got my 390). If all you want is single coils then you should be set with what you have now, but if you want something more versatile the Reverend would probably be best option to consider.
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I was very impressed with that bass contour knob in the videos I reviewed. That, plus the scale length and the Wilkinson trem were the things that got my attention.

I'm still interested in a Descent.

I wasn't familiar with the 390 but that looks tasty!

In my case, my pickups are actually single coil sized rail humbuckers but I think I might prefer single coils.

How do you like the 277? I'd probably like the P90 model better.
 
It might be cheating a bit, but I get my very occasional baritone jones covered with a Fender American VG Strat. It does usable emulations of that, 12 string acoustic and electric, open tuning, drop D, even sitar (including baritone sitar, if that’s a thing), and more. Pete Thorn demoed it here, and mine looks like the one he has. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like him when I play, but that’s likely not the guitar‘s fault. :oops:

 
unix-guy said:
I put a set of Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky strings on it - .012-.056.

I'm thinking it will definitely work it's way into my music...

I need a bit of truss rod adjustment (a little too much relief), though I think I also want to try a string set that is just a touch lighter (I normally use .009-.042 so probably an .011 set.
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Got a set that is .011-49. Got the truss rod adjusted (much better!).

I feel like the 11s are just a smidge too loose in when tuned to B... But just about perfect with C. The challenge there would be getting my brain used to that. I think B and A are much easier because I'm familiar with the relative placement of notes.

So... I'm looking for a middle ground set of strings. The 12 set that I had was pretty heavy the middle with an unwound 3rd string at .024 - it was like paperclip wire!

I might use a string tension calculator to try and put together a set that has similar tension to my normal 6 strings.
 
Rick said:
It might be cheating a bit, but I get my very occasional baritone jones covered with a Fender American VG Strat. It does usable emulations of that, 12 string acoustic and electric, open tuning, drop D, even sitar (including baritone sitar, if that’s a thing), and more. Pete Thorn demoed it here, and mine looks like the one he has. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like him when I play, but that’s likely not the guitar‘s fault. :oops:

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The other guitarist in the band has a Variax which has passable emulations of those, too.

I have a GK-2A equipped guitar and GR-30... But I've grown to really not like the 13-pin cable.
 
I play baritone guitar in one of my bands. I have a few baritones... (1) Gretsch doubleneck baritone / regular guitar with Bigsby Trem on each bridge (!), (2) a Danelectro, and (3) a Fender blacktop baritone tele. The tele is my #1. I replaced the factory pickups with SD lipstick tube pickups, and tune it BEAEF#B. It's a great guitar and super fun to play, delivering the cool spy / spaghetti western / surf / twang tone that I love.
 
unix-guy said:
I was very impressed with that bass contour knob in the videos I reviewed. That, plus the scale length and the Wilkinson trem were the things that got my attention.

I'm still interested in a Descent.

I wasn't familiar with the 390 but that looks tasty!

In my case, my pickups are actually single coil sized rail humbuckers but I think I might prefer single coils.

How do you like the 277? I'd probably like the P90 model better.
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The 277 is a work in progress but should turn out great. Problem is a new guitar tech that I tried out botched a couple of simple pick up swaps and I have not had an opportunity to find a place to get it fixed (note for the search engines, avoid Rockin Robin in Houston!). Acoustically the guitar is exactly what I was looking for. Sounds like an extended scale version of my core/USA Custom 24. The Mushok was a flawless guitar, but my only complaint (aside from not being a Staind fan) is the lack of a maple cap left the guitar a bit darker and lacking some clarity in the mids and highs for my preference. I put Bare Knuckle Black Dogs in the 277, and if I am not a fan of those after gettng the wiring fixed, I'll try a set of PRS USA HFS/VB pickups next, which is what I had in the Mushok. My baritone use is for mostly for covers of Chevelle stuff at home, so different territory for what you are looking for but baritones are certainly capable of doing more things than just that.

The SE 277 Semi-hollow Soapbar seems really cool and I liked the sound clips I found for it on youtube. The thing is the semi-hollow part mellows the guitar out some and leads to a naturally warmer tone. The extra bite and clarity of the P90s help to balance this out, so the question is whether the net result is where you want to wind up. If you want relatively more bite and less warmth than the semi-hollow but with P90s, then you would want to consider the regular SE 277 with humbucker sized P90s (I was a a big fan of Bare Knuckle Natuckets that I had in a LP special that was setup for humbuckers). This might be naturally a bit more bright and clear than the Reverend since it has the benefit of the maple cap (both have maple necks) but the Korina body and bolt on neck of the Reverend might even the playing field a bit.

I know Railhammer, Reverends sister pickup company used to do something that was supposed to be a hybrid of a P90 and telecaster pickup in a humbucker size, think it was called a Tel 90. I recall that the changed their line up but I think they had something comparable still being offered. Dont recall there being any great clips out there, but something to consider looking into.
 
By the way, my end game is a rare and seemingly impossible to find Gibson Les Paul Baritone. Consider this a WTB in case someone with a lead on one runs across this post at some point. Been looking off an on for years for one to no avail.
 
unix-guy said:
The other guitarist in the band has a Variax which has passable emulations of those, too.

I have a GK-2A equipped guitar and GR-30... But I've grown to really not like the 13-pin cable.
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That’s the cool part of the VG. Just a regular guitar cable and sounds good through a regular amp. At the base of it, you’ve got an American Standard Stratocaster, so there is always that plus. I like having it around, even though I don’t play it a lot. Every time I think about selling it, I play it for a bit and decide it needs to stay. Fun guitar! Not sure where you’re located, but maybe I could loan it to you to check out for a bit!
 
Rick said:
That’s the cool part of the VG. Just a regular guitar cable and sounds good through a regular amp. At the base of it, you’ve got an American Standard Stratocaster, so there is always that plus. I like having it around, even though I don’t play it a lot. Every time I think about selling it, I play it for a bit and decide it needs to stay. Fun guitar! Not sure where you’re located, but maybe I could loan it to you to check out for a bit!
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Oh, interesting... When I looked it up what I thought I found was the Strat with the built in GK pickup (I didn't have time to watch the whole video). Looking now, I see I was wrong.

Seems to be very similar to the Variax. Have you ever tried one of those?

I'm in California but occasionally make it to Fort Worth to visit my daughter and her family.
 
unix-guy said:
I'm in California but occasionally make it to Fort Worth to visit my daughter and her family.
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Yes, it does look very similar to the pickup you’d mount for the 30 series synth modules. All the electronics are onboard though. I use rechargeable batteries, so there’s nothing for ongoing cost. It’s pretty cool. If you seriously interested in trying one, PM me. I’m sure we can get it done.

Never tried a Variax. I was always worried the guitar might not be something I’d like to play. Once I saw the VG option built on a Am. Std. Strat, I knew that wouldn’t be a concern! There are a lot of cool options out there!!
 
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