#4 Baritone Fretless

[FaustoB]

soooo.... this happened.
Pitbull had this among the specials and I couldn't resist...
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[FaustoB]

30" Baritone guitar, the plan is to keep it fretless...

After a quick dry fit, it all seems ok, except:
# the neck pocket is a little bit abundant. First time I experience this on a Pitbull kit
# the neck seems a bit "angled away from the body" (see photo below). Not sure, perhaps it's normal on this type of instruments. Haven't checked with the bridge height yet, worst case scenario the next will need some shimming.
# the strings provided with the kit are too short (this is a 30" scale)
# in terms of strings, I am doing some research, for 30" baritone some people recommend bass VI strings. Not sold on this yet, and lots to read about strings tensions and type of tunings... Standard B, or E one octave lower (basically like a bass)...
# all the electronics came loose and will need to be soldered. I am not an expert but one or two bits and pieces seem missing to me (nothing major, like, there's no capacitor, and maybe something else missing, not a biggie though, could be fun)
# advertised as ash, but it feels very light (again not an expert, but way lighter than the fretless PB4 ash I build some time ago)
# the bridge pickup slots is slightly too small, the pick up fits "just", will have to use a Dremel to gently carve 1mm or so

[FaustoB]

I have done my good years playing metal and cover bands and all that, I think the body and head stock look great on this kit, but the idea is to mod them to make it less aggressive, still maintaining some interesting angles and shapes of the original design

here some ideas I just sketched
#1 Maestro


#2 Stalker


#3 Spigolosa



Currently more incline towards #1 and #2


Here a couple of "blank" photos in case someone feels like drawing something to share and idea or two! I am open to suggestions!!!
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.and here a photo of the back (notice the electronics cavity position, sort of far back into the body)

[Trevor Davies]

Nice pickup. I will admit that I was also looking closely at this kit!

I think the neck being angled away from the body is to compensate for the high tune-o-matic style bridge.

I recall that Simon B has mentioned the black ash versus the white ash. Black ash does has a lower density.

[FaustoB]

Thanks Trevor for the info!

here a couple more tests.. I feel like it's getting closer!! this is fun!!

#4 Maestro 1b




#5 Unico

[Trevor Davies]

My 2 cents:

I like the base of the #5 Unico, but I'm not sure about the horns. Maybe SG style (1 point) horns!

But in the horizontal position, I like the base of #4

Sorry, I'm no help!

[FaustoB]

Great suggestions Trevor!! Thank you!!!

here we go: (I like to sketch it out as it helps visualising it a bit better)

#6 Maestro EsseGi'



#7 Unico EsseGi'


Anyone else?

[neverwas]

Hi FaustoB,

Your drawing #7 looks good to me. You mentioned the body feels light, and with a longer scale length there may be a potential neck dive issue. Keep as much as you can on the upper horn so there is room for playing with strap button placement (won't be a lot but something to think about).

This is a one off, so it would pay to check the neck angle is correct with the bridge you will be using. Being a bolt on, adding a shim if needed is easy enough.

It's a bold shape, do you have a bold colour scheme in mind?
Enjoy being creative with this one.

Grant

[Trevor Davies]

#6 and #7 are much better IMO. Please note that I have no art skills at all!

Still my 2 cents:

the right horn looks too much like Shrek's ear trumpet! Maybe the curve needs to be the same as the left horn!

[neverwas]

Shrek green, there's a colour scheme for it.

There was a reply to my post but it hasn't shown here, strange. The reply copied from email notification;

"All very good points Grant... Thank you! Re: the bold shape, 100% definitely yes! all respect to Fender Gibson etc... stunning shapes and stunning instruments... but sometimes we just need something else a bit different out there! Re: the colour, I don't think it's will be too eccentric... an unusual body, long scale baritone, fretless... I think that's already a lot there! I'm doing some research about the strings... and like everything it's basically a universe on its own!" FaustoB.

Grant