Cheap guitar for experimenting with low tunings - baritone or other option?

[Dollywitch]

Basically for the longest time I've wanted to grab a guitar for low tunings - particularly for playing stoner/doom type stuff like Boris, Electric Wizard, Kyuss, and also for vibing off retro Baritone type sounds in general.

Obviously for the latter an actual Baritone would be a good option, but the cheap options are very limited now. I'm looking at something for 350 or under, a guitar I can upgrade if I like the base idea. The Subzero Rogue VI would be ideal - but it's a full Bass VI type guitar and I'm not sure I want to commit to that. I am a fan of the Bass Vi as it's used by the Cure and other, but all the demos are of playing some Djent sub genre that was cool the first time I heard it and very boring after the 6th vid.

What should I do? If I'm just down tuning, there's a lot of interesting options. I could pay for a setup with a low tuning - so something like the Harley Benton Cabronita Tele copies could be really interesting for copping some of those more vintage tones. After hearing some demos of the Gretsch Baritones, I actually really like how Filtertrons sound for heavier sounds despite being low output. Another option could be something like a Squier Telecaster Deluxe which has brighter pickups, or even the regular pitched SubZero Rogue which comes with a Bigsby(huge plus).

I really regret not picking up the secondhand blacktop Tele I saw years ago, but I'd probably want to put something different in the neck if I'm playing heavier regardless(not a fan of a humbucker in a tele bridge unless it's a Filtertron).

[HarlowTheFish]

For the stoner/doomy kinda stuff a baritone seems a bit backwards to me -- they're really good for the tighter proggy/djenty stuff because you can run thinner strings and get a bit more brightness and clarity overall, but for the bands you're naming I feel like you'd want a standard scale length with chonky strings tuned low to get that big, fat midrange and tons of low end.

The Gretsch baritones are super cool, sans and avec Bigsby, but more around the $500 mark, as is that baritone Cabronita Squier put out (and that non-bari HB one, which always looks cool as hell every time I see it), but if I had $350 to drop on a baritone I'd pull the neck off whatever Fender I'm not super attached to and give it one of the Fender Subsonic necks they sell for around $300. IMO you can pay $300 (or even less) for a phenomenal neck, but when you want the rest of the guitar for that price tag, then something's gotta give and it's usually playability, stability, or both.

[Dollywitch]

Yeah I should probably go for a regular scale guitar in that case - just a matter of figuring out which one I like best and setting it up up accordingly.

[LossyShades]

I’ve been curious about similar things and have tried a few of what you mentioned. I put a pretty hefty custom set of 14-72 strings, on a CP Jazzmaster once and wrestled that for a bit. The TOM bridge just always irked me. Just recently I put a subsonic neck on a blacktop tele. Swapped the bridge for a Rutters Burrito bridge which I I think is was better (looking at least). The longer neck is cool and with 12s on it plays nicely but the HB pickups are still just plain muddy despite changing out the cheap cap. Bought a pair of Lollar Novel 90s I’ll put in there at some point and I think that should scratch my itch for a baritone for a while at least. There was a Bilt Relevator baritone that @blake480 was selling a few years ago that I passed on and still think about now and again. IIRC it was like lavender mist or something I wouldn’t think I’d like on paper but was just amazing in photos.

[Dollywitch]

I'd love a lavender mist guitar. i've always wanted either a green or purple guitar but never found one in my price range i really liked.

the Harley Benton comes in green but it's a bit much.

[Zork]

Another option could be something like a Squier Telecaster Deluxe which has brighter pickups, or even the regular pitched SubZero Rogue which comes with a Bigsby(huge plus).

I really regret not picking up the secondhand blacktop Tele I saw years ago, but I'd probably want to put something different in the neck if I'm playing heavier regardless(not a fan of a humbucker in a tele bridge unless it's a Filtertron).

I'd love a lavender mist guitar. i've always wanted either a green or purple guitar but never found one in my price range i really liked.

the Harley Benton comes in green but it's a bit much.

Well how about this then? https://www.thomann.de/de/fender_sq_aff ... ref=mobile

If you don't like the humbuckers, a pair of gfs mean 90s would still be in your budget and would be really great for that stoner doom sound. I also think that a standard scale with heavy strings would be the way to go for that sound, still a baritone is a ton of fun and I personally would have a few looks on the Squier Paranormal baritone tele.

[Dollywitch]

oh damn that tele deluxe is tempting. i'm also looking at some of the other HB guitars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYoCRixnZYo

[Dollywitch]

Checking some more demos of the Tele Deluxe, the pickups sound kind of dark and flat to me. Good for jazzy tones but they lack the sort of DANG of what I'd consider a good humbucker so I'm still leaning towards the HB which even in different demos/through different amps has more going on in the high end.

would P90s really be good for a Stoner/Doom sound? I have to admit I generally avoid them since they just seem like noisy overly middy single coils to me and a lot less complex than a JM pickup. But maybe that'll work here.

If so this is an option:

https://www.musicstore.com/en_IE/EUR/Ep ... IoEALw_wcB

[burpgun]

For the stoner/doomy kinda stuff a baritone seems a bit backwards to me -- they're really good for the tighter proggy/djenty stuff because you can run thinner strings and get a bit more brightness and clarity overall, but for the bands you're naming I feel like you'd want a standard scale length with chonky strings tuned low to get that big, fat midrange and tons of low end.

The Gretsch baritones are super cool, sans and avec Bigsby, but more around the $500 mark, as is that baritone Cabronita Squier put out (and that non-bari HB one, which always looks cool as hell every time I see it), but if I had $350 to drop on a baritone I'd pull the neck off whatever Fender I'm not super attached to and give it one of the Fender Subsonic necks they sell for around $300. IMO you can pay $300 (or even less) for a phenomenal neck, but when you want the rest of the guitar for that price tag, then something's gotta give and it's usually playability, stability, or both.

Can you just pop a baritone neck on a guitar that was otherwise designed to be normal scale and everything's cool? I ask because I used to own a Fender Blacktop Baritone Telecaster. For whatever reason, the bridge was just a hair too close to the neck and it made it very hard if not impossible to properly intonate the instrument. I've got a Squier Jazzmaster I've wondered about taking into baritone land via a longer neck, but the Tele experience made me wary.

[Zork]

Depends. There are 'conversion necks' which will just drop in with the normal bridge placement. Some baritone guitars are constructed like this from the factory (Danelectros come to mind), but not all of them. You can buy aftermarket conversion necks from different manufacturers, they're usually designed for Fender scale length. The already mentioned Fender Subsonic neck is a conversion neck for example, but there are others. I just put a Göldo conversion neck in my Esquire and it's fantastic. Longer scale and a tad less expensive than the Fender neck, at least in the EU. Warmoth offers baritone conversion necks, too.

[Dollywitch]

I'm really torn between the Special SG with the P90s, and the Harley Benton guitar.

I like the looks of the SG more and the P90s are great for a retro flavour, but it's more expensive and I won't be able to slam on the distortion as heavy without getting buzz. The Harley Benton on the other hand is nice but doesn't look quite as good, potentially more generic(but still good sounding) pickups. Has some surprisingly premium features like the stainless steel frets, but I hear the SG also hits way above it's price range too.

(also the matter whether I want hardtail or trem on the HB)





If I had the money I'd probably get both(as opposed to one higher quality guitar).

[BoringPostcards]

^^^That Epi SG Classic looks absolutely tasty. I do not need another SG, but now I am GASsing.

[Dollywitch]

Sorry about that haha! Apparently it's an excellent guitar.

Considering selling a guitar to get both of them. Maybe my Tele copy, but i'd hate to be totally without a traditional tle.

[Lost In Autumn]

you can get a baritone conversion neck for around $150- add that to your favorite Squier and you have a potentially great baritone.

[timtam]

Huw Price at Guitar.com did a 27-inch conversion with the Fender Subsonic neck recently. Minor issues in fitting it to a strat body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rremIcub06c
https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/ ... ne-guitar/